In their Business and Tech News, Time Magazine (dateline April 30, 2009) describes timeshare resales as a “buyer’s market” … and in many ways, they are so right!
Time took a long look at the timeshare resale market. They spoke with timeshare industry experts and even profiled a recent timeshare resale buyer at Sell My Timeshare NOW.
“When 67-year-old Gary Furbee and his wife Rose decided to go shopping for a time-share vacation home in Hawaii, they couldn’t believe the bargains. The couple had rented a two-bedroom ocean-view penthouse unit at Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club on Oahu in 2007, liked it and resolved to watch for resales. The Furbees thought the recession might flush out some distressed sellers, but they were stunned by how far prices had plunged. ‘At Marriott, it was [listed] for between $50,000 and $60,000, but we paid $18,400,’ Gary says. He bought their time-share through SellMyTimeshareNow.com one of a number of resale sites. ‘We don’t know if the person was in financial problems or needed the money, but we thought we would take advantage of it.'”
What the Experts Had to Say about Timeshare Resales
Scott Berman is a widely known expert on hospitality and leisure trends for PricewaterhouseCoopers. He explains in the Time article that even he has been surprised by how swiftly the timeshare sales industry has felt the impact of the current troubled economy. Berman says that timeshare sales have been influenced by the tight credit market resulting in less money available to consumers to borrow for buying timeshares and at the same time, there being a “glut” of properties available to buy as timeshare resales.
Yet adding an interesting twist to Berman’s insights is his own personal story of buying timeshare. In 1997, Berman bought a Colorado timeshare for less than $40,000. Today, that timeshare sells for $125,000 on the resale market. That’s right, contrary to the warnings you hear from consumer groups, governmental agencies, and even from us, here at Sell My Timeshare NOW, telling you to never buy timeshare with the idea that its value will appreciate, there are some timeshares that do increase in value.
Howard Nusbaum, president of ARDA, the American Resort Development Association cautioned prospective timeshare buyers in the Time article, “Don’t buy it to flip it.” Nusbaum warns that even when timeshare resales are temptingly inexpensive, know what you are buying before you sign on the dotted line; timeshares are “vacation plays, not investment plays.”
Timeshare Resales: Opportunities Abound
The Time magazine article says that Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Orlando have some of the largest inventories of timeshare resales on the market and are therefore places to shop for exceptional deals in timeshare resales. All three locations have long been popular vacation destinations. The first timeshares in the US were built in Hawaii where timeshare particularly suited a local culture that wasn’t eager to permanently sell their homeland to people from outside the islands. And Hawaii timeshares have had to deal with the added challenge of rising travel costs leading many US vacationers to bypass the expense of airfare to Hawaii and opt for a mainland vacation.
Orlando is year-in and year-out one of the top family vacation destinations in the world, while Las Vegas is one of the leading grown-up vacation destinations … it makes sense that you would find many timeshare resorts in both places. Since both locations offer nearly year-round climates, it makes sense that you will find plenty of timeshare, both new and timeshare resales available in both cities.
But for all the abundance in the market, there are still major timeshare developers moving ahead on new Orlando timeshares, new Hawaii timeshares, and new Las Vegas timeshares, even though the rate of development has slowed. Development is also moving ahead in other locations. If you are shopping for a great deal on a timeshare, don’t assume your options are limited to areas where timeshares abound.
There are great deals to be had in timeshare resales across the market, in “hot” destinations as well as in urban timeshares, regional vacation spots, and places that are truly off the beaten path. The bottom line is that for a variety of reasons, there are excellent opportunities available now in timeshare resales around the globe. And as the Furbees discovered, there is no one better than Sell My Timeshare NOW to help you find that ‘just-right’ timeshare.
Follow this link to read the full article online or look for it in the May 11 print edition of Time Magazine, available at your local newsstand soon.
