Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell signed a new bill into law this week dealing with timeshare real estate sales presentations. Senate Bill 886 amends the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act and requires that if someone must attend a presentation in order to obtain a prize, then he or she must also be provided a written or electronic disclosure at least once before attending that timeshare sales presentation. Verbal disclosures do not qualify as providing the consumer adequate notice about the terms of the timeshare deal.

According to the State of Pennsylvania’s official press release, “While it is common for the timeshare industry to require that a person attend a sales presentation prior to receiving a prize or gift (like a free night’s stay at the timeshare, golf clubs or a DVD player), attendees are not always aware that they must attend a sales presentation as a condition of receiving the prize/gift.”

The new bill defines that the timeshare real estate deal disclosure must be communicated in a “clear, coherent, and conspicuous manner”. In other words, no more fine print, causing the average person to overlook or fail to understand that what seems to be offered as a free gift, actually requires his or her attendance at a timeshare sales pitch first.

Good step Governor Rendell! You know what they say about the odds in life of actually getting something for nothing.

And to skip the timeshare sales presentation entirely and deal directly with the individual who has timeshare for sale, shop the excellent inventory of timeshare resales and timeshare rental at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

It was a safe prediction to say that we hadn’t heard the last of the controversy over the Trump hotel and timeshare resort planned for construction near Aberdeen, Scotland, despite the application being rejected last week by the Aberdeenshire local council.

If you haven’t been following the story, there have been too many ups and downs in this hotel and timeshare resort project for me to properly take you through all of them. Let’s just say that on the negative side there have been environmental concerns, some very resistive Scottish farmers, and a host of objections that range from the traffic and activity the two golf courses, hotel, luxury homes and timeshare condos would generate, to a general sense of “we just don’t want it here,” voiced by some of the area residents.

On the positive side, there is the promise of new jobs, a huge boost to the local economy, the possibility of hosting a future British Open, and Donald Trump’s desire to pay homage to the Scottish roots of his late mother, not to mention, I assume the chance for a number of people to make big bucks along the way.

After being rejected in November by the local councilors, the Trump Organization, according to the New York Times, announced they might just build their $2 billion project in Northern Ireland.

The fallout from that statement led to others, higher up the Scottish political hierarchy, deciding it was time to interject themselves into the situation. BBC NEWS says that Labour Aberdeen Central MSP, Lewis Macdonald, addressed parliament, explaining that the situation had arisen because, “Aberdeenshire planning chiefs had delegated powers of authority over ‘vital’ decisions in their own area.”

This prompted Brian Adam, the SNP MSP for Aberdeen North to say, “I am very concerned that if this development doesn’t go ahead, it’s going to deliver an international message that Scotland is not the kind of place to come and invest in.” The Scotsman.com quoted Lewis Macdonald, the Labour MSP for Aberdeen Central, as saying, “The bigger picture here is about the kind of message that Scotland is sending out to the world and about whether we’re able to take opportunities when they arise.”

If you have followed my over six months of writing about this in the Timeshare Owners Blog, then you know that the planned resort sounds spectacular. Trump International Golf Links Scotland would create one more jewel in Scotland’s crown of legendary golf courses, which start in the south at Muirfield, and include St. Andrews, Gleneagles, Carnoustie, Royal Aberdeen, Murcar, Nairn, Inverness, and finally Royal Dornoch in the north. The hotel and timeshare resort’s design would be elegant, a showpiece to the Scottish countryside.

Whether this is a case of a few naysayers thwarting development for an entire region, or if the people of the Aberdeen coastal area have valid concerns about negative environmental and social change to their homeland, I am just too far away from the situation to say with certainty. But I can’t help but wonder, when the local people have fought this so hard and for so long, why does a developer persist in pursuing the location? I am willing to bet there are suitable places to build this resort where the residents would welcome The Donald and his development dollars with open arms.

We’ve had a few interesting comments from people with strong opinions on the plans for this golf course, hotel, and timeshare resort, and I really appreciate it when our readers share their thoughts. Anyone else like to add to the discussion?

Here’s a very cool virtual tour on YouTube of another one of Trump’s controversial projects the Trump SoHo Condos.

As the real estate market has grown tougher for home sales, the residential real estate industry has been driven to rethinking strategies for making the most of their marketing dollars. It doesn’t surprise us at Sell My Timeshare NOW that recent statistics from the Center for Media Research show that real estate agents have increased their internet advertising and marketing and decreased their print dollar.

Total ad spending on real estate has declined 3 percent in 2007, while during the same period, the online segment has grown a whopping 25.8 percent. People who want to market and sell residential real estate are discovering that good internet marketing reaches more people, more effectively than any other tool you can use.

The profound truth about reselling real estate, timeshare, vacation homes or any other type of property is that nothing, absolutely nothing, beats the type of exposure your resale will get when it is well advertised on the internet.

Selecting a Company to Help you Sell Real Estate or Sell Timeshare

If you want to sell your home, look for a real estate agency that will market your property on the World Wide Web. And if you want to sell timeshare, or use your vacation ownership property as a timeshare rental, then look for a timeshare resale and timeshare advertising company that has a powerful and dominating presence in cyberspace.

Pick a timeshare resale advertising company that will feature your timeshare property to the broadest possible marketplace. Pick a timeshare company whose presence is everywhere on the internet!

When potential timeshare buyers or timeshare renters go online, searching for timeshare deals, you want the timeshare company you choose to market your property to be visible everywhere that buyer may be looking. The timeshare advertising company you choose should be the easiest timeshare company to find on the web, no matter what search terms a timeshare buyer might use to look for them.

It is not enough to provide good service and fair pricing. If you want to sell timeshare, you need your timeshare to be advertised by the most visible timeshare company on the World Wide Web; you need Sell My Timeshare NOW.

To read the full Borrell Report on the changing trends in real estate advertising, click here. And here’s what the Chicago Tribune has to say about online vs. print advertising for real estate.

The holidays are at hand. Will they be merry and bright, or will they mean more stress and anxiety in your already overloaded life?

I wish the book The Overworked American by Harvard professor Juliet Schor, was required reading in life. Regular readers of The Timeshare Owners log know I have quoted this book before as Schor explains that:

• At least 30 percent of all American adults admit they experience high stress nearly every day.
• More than 30 percent say everything they do, is done in a rush.
• And since 1980, workers compensation claims related to stress have more than tripled.

While widespread stress is bad and getting worse, the holidays are peak season for tension, tiredness, and trauma. Here is a link to an excellent National Public Radio interview about why we are particularly stressed this time of year. But it is little surprise that for many people, money woes top the list for seasonal stress-makers along with trying to accomplish too many things in too little time.

Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukah-no matter what you are celebrating, it can be very hard to prevent your efforts at merrymaking from adding to your stress rather than relieving it. Instead of your usual turkey dinner and tree trimming, consider packing a straw hat and your flip-flops and heading somewhere warm and relaxing for an atypical holiday celebration in the form of pure relaxation.

Timeshare resales and timeshare rentals make it easy and affordable to say, this year I want to enjoy lounging by the beach instead of dashing through the snow. Consider pooling family gift money for a timeshare vacation that will create a week of leisure and a lifetime of memories.

Rather than stressing over the perfect gift for your parents, in-laws, or adult children, consider giving them a timeshare vacation as a truly meaningful present they can enjoy for the rest of their lives. The gift of a timeshare holiday can change the recipient’s life forever, and can you imagine a better way to say “thank you” to a loved one, for all they have meant in your life?

Yes, ’tis the season to be jolly, so why not make this the year you focus on the jolly and not necessarily on the holly? Put a timeshare resale on your gift-giving list and feel like the best Santa Claus ever. Then put it on your “Gift to self” list and make yourself feel as genuinely happy as a child on Christmas morning.