Shell Vacations Club timeshares, owner or operator of 23 timeshare resorts in the US, Canada, and Mexico, announces new leadership in three key corporate positions.

Karen Buttice has been selected to lead Shell Vacations Club’s programs that provide extensive fee-based services for resorts, condos, hotels, and timeshare owners associations. Her role specifically includes oversight of Direct Member Affiliate Programs; hospitality and association management; employee certification programs; timeshare rental; distribution of unused inventory; a comprehensive travel program; and sales and marketing services.

Buttice explains, “After decades of leadership in the vacation ownership industry and proven success with our points-based Shell Vacations Club (wwwShellVacationsClub.com), we have recognized a growing opportunity for others to benefit from our expertise and are actively pursuing growth by providing these fee-based services. This is an ideal way to expand our business by leveraging our services and management expertise. We believe the expansion of our fee-based services model validates our commitment to these strategic initiatives. We have received so many calls regarding our expertise in these areas; this is a natural extension of our business. It is exciting to formalize a program that will enable others to share in the facets of our business that have made us successful.”

Ilese Flamm has been appointed by Shell Vacations LLC as Senior VP of Legal Affairs. Flamm has 18 years as a legal professional in the timeshare industry and before joining Shell Vacations, was the Executive VP and General Counsel for Wyndham Exchange & Rentals. She has also been Senior Attorney for the Disney Vacation Club, where she was involved in all aspects of timeshares and timeshare resort development.

Bernard Freibaum is a new-hire at Shell Vacations LLC, recently appointed as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Freibaum will work with Sheldon H Ginsburg, Shell Vacations Chairman and CEO and with Tracy L Sherles, the company’s President and COO, focusing on new growth opportunities for the company and on enhancing business operations within Sell Vacation Club’s many divisions.

Founded in 1963, Shell Vacations has been a leader in the timeshare industry, remaining popular with timeshare owners and timeshare renters. Responding to consumer preferences, in 1999, the timeshare company introduced a timeshare points based system designed to give timeshare owners greater flexibility in the ways they use and enjoy timeshare.

RCI, the world’s largest timeshare exchange company, launched RCI TV as a way to get the timeshare message to more people, and at the same time make timeshare exchange and timesharing easier for timeshare owners and timeshare renters.

This week the company announced that it has passed the 1 million-viewer milestone. As Geoff Ballotti, CEO, RCI, explains, “The overwhelming usage and success of RCI TV is beyond anything we originally envisioned when we launched it nearly a year ago. Moms and dads who are planning vacations want to see more than just pretty pictures as they plan their vacations. They want to be able to show their kids and email their friends links to beautiful videos that show where they’re headed or where they’ve just returned from as a family.”

As part of their million viewer celebration, RCI is giving away a choice of either a one-week, all-inclusive timeshare vacation at an RCI affiliated timeshare resort for up to four people ($5,000 value) or a one week stay for up to four people at any of the non all-inclusive “Resort Showcase” timeshare properties featured on RCI TV. To find out more about the contest, go to: http://rcisurvey.bgtpartners.com/rci-promotion.aspx

And be sure to play the video below to get a peak at RCI TV or follow this link to the RCI TV webpage. On YouTube, check the RCI channel for videos of many of the most popular timeshare resorts.

Congratulations, RCI, you are helping spread the message of the opportunities of timeshare.

Wyndham Worldwide, parent company of Wyndham Vacation Club (Wyndham timeshare), thinks conversion to US and Caribbean timeshares is a viable solution for an estimated 5000 unsold condos and hotel units. Wyndham Worldwide’s CEO Steve Holmes not only believes it is do-able but feels that it can be profitable and beneficial for Wyndham.

Currently in a recovery period, (like much of the timeshare industry) Wyndham expects to generate around $1.8 billion in revenue this year from timeshare sales, financing, and property management fees, according to an article by Brad Berton on Forbes.com.

But Wyndham’s conversion-to-timeshare plan, it seems, has a second-hand element to it—or maybe that’s third-hand. Rather than put up the equity of fifteen to forty percent typically required in converting thousands of condos to timeshare units, Wyndham plans to do so on a third-party basis. The company will not be assuming the risk of being principal developer in this massive effort.

Wyndham timeshare currently includes approximately 820,000 timeshare owners and some 20,000 timeshare units at more than 150 resorts.

And following up on other recent attention-getting news by Wyndham timeshare is the observation that the referee involved in the ball-tossing altercation with Wyndham Vacation Club CEO, Franz Hanning, was, as predicted, suspended for one game by the NBA for his role in the incident. See: Would You Play Ball With Wyndham Timeshare CEO Franz Hanning?

When someone tells you that you need a timeshare appraisal in order to buy or sell timeshare, think twice.

Many people will unknowingly pay for a timeshare appraisal as part of their timeshare transaction because they assume it is necessary—after all, you pay for an appraisal as part of a home sale, so why not one for timeshare sales? The answer is very simple when you think it through.

When you buy a home, you pay the price the price you are personally willing to pay for that home—the true market value. But if you finance the home, your lender won’t simply trust the buyer and seller to have settled on the appropriate price. The lender will require that you hire a professional appraiser to assess the authentic value of the home so that the lender knows it is not lending you more money than the home is actually worth.

The home mortgage lender wants to see that it can get its money back on the home it holds as collateral if you default on the loan. Barring an economic freefall in the housing market (such as we have seen in the past few years), a home appraisal protects the lender from loss.

But who buys timeshare with a home mortgage? The lenders who loan money to buy timeshare typically do so through consumer loans, which are based on the borrower’s good credit history, not on mortgage loans that hold property as collateral against borrower default. When there is no lender to require a timeshare appraisal, what value would getting that appraisal serve either the timeshare seller or the timeshare buyer?

Timeshare Appraisal, the Timeshare Sales Expense You Don’t Need

Timeshare sales are based on market value—that’s the price consumers are generally willing to pay to buy timeshare of a given size, location, and season. When you want to know the market value of your timeshare, click on market value survey and Sell My Timeshare NOW will provide this information to you at NO COST.

And doesn’t knowing this make you question why a timeshare sales company might ever require you to pay for a timeshare appraisal when no lender is requiring it? Unfortunately, timeshare appraisals can be add-on or hidden costs that some timeshare sales and timeshare resales companies use unethically to pad their profits. Before you pay for a timeshare appraisal, make sure you understand why it is required for your timeshare sales transaction and who will benefit by it.