4 Important Ways Timeshare Owners and Timeshare Sellers, Buyers, and Renters Can Know Which Company to Trust

I got fooled recently by a letter I personally received in the mail. It appeared to be ‘official’ and appeared to require me to file a certain form with a state agency. Yet because the letter almost made sense, but didn’t quite, I called a financial advisor with questions about it.

He said, “It’s garbage. It is a marketing come-on from disreputable company. If you call the number in the letter, you will get someone trying to sell you services you don’t need, designed to fulfill requirements that aren’t really required. Throw it away, or better yet, send it to the State Attorney General’s Office and file a complaint.”

Although relieved I didn’t have to add one more task and one more expense to life, I was also annoyed—really annoyed both with the disreputable company that had done this and with the fact that I almost fell for it. Luckily I didn’t. I escaped the ploy without throwing away any of my money.

But the experience served as a good reminder for how many consumers must feel when they try to deal with timeshare, whether they want to buy timeshare, resell timeshare, or rent timeshare.

Identifying the Reputable Timeshare Sales Companies and Timeshare Brokers

1. Look for history. Timeshares themselves are still a relatively new concept in the marketplace, not available before the 1960’s and with the global hospitality brands not moving into timeshare and vacation ownership until the late 1980’s and the 1990’s. So while there are no ‘oldies’ in the business, there are companies that have at least been around five to ten years in timeshare resales and brokerage, and longer than that as timeshare developers. A disreputable timeshare company often has to shut its doors and reopen under a new name, once, twice, sometimes even more than that. SellMyTimeshareNOW, LLC (also seen in our communications as Sell My Timeshare NOW) has been doing business successfully and consistently under the same name for more than 7 years.
2. Look for strong professional affiliations. Reliable timeshare sales companies are members of and are actively involved in the premier professional organizations for the timeshare industry, including ARDA, the American Resort Development Association and CRDA, the Canadian Resort Development Association. Sell My Timeshare NOW is a member of and is now or has recently served on various panels and committees for both associations.
3. Look for specific numbers not empty claims and promises. Because there are many naysayers out there, who want you to believe that it is impossible to sell timeshares, it is very important for a timeshare reseller to communicate the truth in precise numbers. Questionable timeshare companies will tell you they have offers for hundreds of timeshares or thousands of timeshares on the resell market. Sell My Timeshare NOW will tell you that in 2009, we generated 61,743 offers to buy timeshare resales and 85,949 offers to rent timeshares
4. Finally, look for validation from experts and professional agencies. If you are not sure about a timeshare sale or timeshare resales company with which you are considering doing business, do exactly what I did when I got the questionable ‘con’ letter in the mail from a business in another industry—turn to a third party expert for validation. Contact the Office of the Attorney General for the state or states the company does business in; ask questions of industry experts. Beware of random information you find on the internet that attacks a brand or company; sometimes it is created as an attempt at competition by the very companies you are trying to avoid—the con artists. Sell My Timeshare NOW never targets attacks on other companies; it is unprofessional and it is a waste of our time to put it out there and a waste your time to read it.

Sell My Timeshare NOW obtains formal legal advice from the highly respected law firm of Baker & Hostetler LLP, affirming that the business practices of Sell My Timeshare NOW and Timeshare Broker Services are in full compliance with Florida real estate brokerage laws. Sell My Timeshare NOW is counseled by Robert J. Webb, RRP of Baker Hostetler, a board certified Florida real estate lawyer with substantial experience in commercial real estate, timeshare and hospitality industry law.

The facts speak for themselves.