Here on The Timeshare Authority, we have a number of posts about problems buying timeshare, so it might be a good time to offer a few simple tips to help you take advantage of the great deals in timeshare resales while avoiding the type of missteps that lead to dissatisfaction with your timeshare purchase.

First, be knowledgeable. Learn about points systems, benefits, and maintenance fees at any timeshare resort where you are considering buying property. Read reviews by current owners and visit online discussion boards.

Second, when you go to closing, use a reliable and knowledgeable timeshare closing company. You want to make sure that you are really getting what you think you are getting, including an estoppel letter from the resort. The best way to do this is by using a timeshare closing company that specializes in timeshare resales transactions.

A good timeshare resales closing company will essentially walk the timeshare buyer and the timeshare seller through the entire closing process, so that neither party is met with surprises. In addition to an estoppel certificate or resort disclosure packet, your timeshare transfer company should prepare necessary transaction documents, establish a timeshare escrow fund, handle recording fees and deed recording (for timeshares in most US states), and provide the timeshare resort with notice that the ownership has changed.

Buy Timeshare Safely

Timeshare and timeshare resales continue to offer the best deals available in vacation accommodations. You can take advantage of these great deals, without becoming a timeshare scam victim or unhappy owner, by taking a little extra time to make sure you know what you are buying, and by dealing only with a reputable timeshare company.

To learn more about avoiding timeshare scams, watch this short YouTube video:

Central Florida Investments, Inc, the corporate owners of Westgate timeshares, has closed its Westgate Houston Preview Gallery and laid off all of the 106 workers employed there.

The property was located at 5177 Richmond Avenue and included a full-size model timeshare complete with living room and fully equipped kitchen. It originally opened in 2004 and was the first offsite timeshare sales center outside Orlando.

Reportedly, CFI filed documents with the Texas Workforce Commission saying that the company had, “experienced an unforeseen business emergency brought on by the collapse of the credit markets. Westgate has been unable to access its regular and customary borrowing sources and, as a result, does not presently have the cash flow to support its operations in their current form without these staff reductions.”

The layoffs in Houston follow previous announcements of employee layoffs at other Westgate timeshare locations. The blog posts listed below provide further information about cutbacks and financial concerns at Westgate timeshare.

• The Other Side to the Westgate Timeshare Lawsuit Story
• More Bad News for Westgate Timeshares, Hit with $1 Million Judgment
• Bluegreen Timeshares and Westgate Timeshare Mogul Settle Pending Lawsuit
• Hotels, Timeshares, and the Bailout

According to news in the Orlando Sentinel and other sources, the Disney Vacation Club has signed a multi-year contract with Group RCI, a timeshare exchange company.

Effective, January 1, 2009, RCI will be the exclusive exchange provider for Disney Vacation Club timeshare members. Under the terms of the new agreement, timeshare owners at Disney Vacation Club will be able to use their Disney Vacation Club timeshare points to book timeshare at RCI resorts all over the world.

Exchanging Disney timeshare points through RCI will enable Disney owners to book timeshare at non-Disney resorts. At the same time, the more than 3.6 million members of RCI timeshare exchange will now be able to exchange other timeshare for stays at the Disney Vacation Club.

A spokesperson for Disney timeshare, which is based in Celebration, Florida, says the decision to switch Disney’s exchange affiliation from Interval International to RCI exchange will provide Disney timeshare members with “‘a significantly broader range of resort experiences,’ including access to destinations across six continents and 25 countries.”

Disney believes they will be able to attract more people to buy timeshare at the Disney resorts, by being able to offer access to a wider array of timeshare exchange.

The Timeshare Authority reported yesterday that Sandy Grey, chairman of the Timeshare Consumers’ Association, has been found guilty by a London court of libeling others in the timeshare industry through his website, Crimeshare.

According to the OTE e-News (Organisation for Timeshare in Europe), “Alexander ‘Sandy’ Grey was ordered to pay substantial costs of the legal action, brought by Bob Trotta, founder and chairman of Resort Properties. Mr. Justice Eady ordered that Grey pay Mr. Trotta’s costs in proving his responsibility for publication with £25,000 to be paid within 21 days of the court judgement, made on 28th October.”

Trotta, developer of several timeshare resorts in Tenerife, and other timeshare industry interests in Malta and Italy, is credited with diligently pursuing the facts necessary to expose Grey. The courts described Trotta’s efforts as a “painstaking exercise” to collate substantial witness and expert evidence in order to reveal the truth about Grey. In September 2007, a court in Spain, determined that an earlier version of Crimeshare had also made an unlawful attack on Bob Trotta’s reputation.

Persons who worked with Grey stated that overall, he represented himself as a friend of the consumer, all the while tearing down his competitors in order to enhance his own credibility within the timeshare industry.

When you need reliable information about timeshares, timeshare resales, and timeshare rentals, turn to the vacation ownership experts at Sell My Timeshare NOW.