Timeshares are not traditional real estate and do not need a timeshare appraisal. Here are some things to consider when determining the value of your timeshare.

In the public mind, timeshare is often viewed as being no different from traditional real estate. While some similarities exist, a timeshare is a different item altogether.

Many people who have sought a way to sell their timeshare have encountered companies which charge an “appraisal fee” for a real estate broker to appraise the property. Assessed at the beginning of the sale process, this is often a high cost, and usually followed by a commission on the back end of the sale.

These days, many people still feel that a licensed real estate broker is a necessary part of a timeshare resale transaction. For those people, we would like to highlight a few facts:

– It is not necessary for a timeshare property to undergo an appraisal by a licensed real estate broker. If you bought your timeshare from a developer, your property was never appraised. There is no reason to pay for an appraisal now.

-An estimated 50% of the initial cost of a new timeshare property covers the cost of marketing the timeshare; presenations, gifts, and other special incentives are covered by the initial cost. This is why timeshare resales generally cost about 50% of a resort developer’s original asking price.

-In order for a timeshare appraisal to be official, a broker must be licensed in the state where the timeshare is sold, the state where the timeshare actually is located, and the state where the broker’s office is. If a broker cannot meet any of these criteria, this would tend to detract from the value of the appraisal.

-Paying a commission on the back end of a timeshare transaction creates an incentive for a salesperson to inflate the asking price. Because a commission is a percentage of the sale, certain brokers may set the value of a property disproportionately high in order to increase the value of the commission. A timeshare which is not priced competitively is not likely to sell.

From our Seller FAQ page:

“Many brokers and timeshare resellers unethically insist on the buyer paying upfront for appraisals or a comparative market analysis (CMA). You simply do not need an appraisal or CMA to sell a timeshare. It is not traditional real estate. Your timeshare property was not appraised when you purchased it and does not need to be appraised to sell it now. When speaking with timeshare resellers or brokers, if you are told you need an appraisal or CMA, use extreme caution. The bottom line is if you want to be successful in selling your timeshare property, you need to be priced well under what the resort is selling the same unit and week for.”

If you are interested in finding out the current market value for your property, SellMyTimeshareNOW offers Market Value Surveys for timeshare resales and rentals. This is a service we provide free of charge because we believe that no-one should ever pay for a timeshare appraisal.

Not able to use your timeshare every year? Consider renting your timeshare!

According to a 2003 survey*, 85% of timeshare owners are happy with their timeshare purchase. However, the same survey also indicates that 26% actually use their time.

Why this discrepancy?

It is likely that the average timeshare owner can’t find the time for a week-long vacation every year. A hectic work schedule or the complications of family life can play havoc with a timeshare owner’s vacation plans.

There is always the option of exchanging a timeshare for a more convenient week, but if you simply can’t get away, this often adds up to a different unused timeshare in a different location. We have heard stories from our clients who have had the same timeshare week for ten years or more and never had an opportunity to use it. A situation like this would seem less worrisome were it not for the (often) high initial price of the timeshare unit itself, coupled with maintenance fees and other non-recoverable expenses.

Many timeshare owners who aren’t using their timeshare look for ways to alleviate this financial burden. Often, we suggest that an owner rent his or her unused timeshare. The benefits of renting your timeshare are many. For instance, if the yearly fees owed on a timeshare property amount to $600.00, and the expense associated with advertising the timeshare for rent is $399.00, renting this property for $1000.00 covers the required expenses.

Timeshare weeks vary in value, depending on the particular week in question as well as the desirability of the resort. In order to adequately determine a timeshare’s value, one has to take these factors into account.

Subsequent rentals of this property (assuming that the asking price and the fees remain the same), can yield $400.00 profit for the timeshare owner. This makes more sense than simply paying for a timeshare one is never going to use.

Thinking of renting your timeshare? SellMyTimeshareNOW offers a free market value survey for your timeshare rental property.  This will enable you to price your timeshare competitively and still feel confident when you are renting your timeshare that you are getting your money’s worth.

*Source:
Ragatz Associates Resort Timesharing Worldwide and in the United States
2003 Edition Summary Report
Ragatz Associates Resort Timesharing in the United States
2003 Edition Summary Report 8/03

Here you can find some common pitfalls encountered by people who want to buy or sell timeshare, and some resources to use when determining which timeshare resale company is right for you.

In our line of work, it is frequent that we encounter people who have been treated unfairly at various stages of timeshare ownership. Often, the property has already been advertised for months with several online timeshare resale companies, but the seller may get no offers. Some companies charge an up-front fee for their services PLUS a commission on the back end. To increase the commission, sales reps will often inflate the value of the property beyond reasonable market value. What this means is that an overpriced timeshare will languish in an obscure part of the reseller’s website for an indefinite period of time. If it finally sells, a large chunk of the proceeds goes toward the commission. This is a time-consuming, aggravating, and expensive way to sell timeshare.

Other resellers might not charge a commission on the back end of a sales transaction. This sounds good to a prospective seller, but what if a company has no incentive to deliver a fast sale? Unfortunately, many online timeshare resellers are focused on getting a fast buck from each client who signs up. Their business models are oriented toward making a big profit in the short term, with little regard for anything else. Some of these companies really don’t care whether or not a property ever sells! Their only concern is the customer’s money. After the up-front fee has been paid, again we see timeshare properties gathering dust on some webpage that no-one can find.

Worst of all, some companies do not actually exist. A prospective seller will get a call from someone pretending to be a rep from a phony company. When the seller falls for this ruse, the “sales rep” takes the money and disappears.

Naturally, because of the poor treatment they have received at the hands of other companies, at first many of our existing clients were hesitant to enlist our services. These people have learned to take a more cautious approach to the timeshare industry, but at a very high cost- often thousands of dollars!

How can a timeshare owner tell if a resale company will do what it promises?

As with everything else on the internet, the information is available, it is just a question of finding it.

-Any company that is doing business regularly will have a record with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB lists any complaints made against almost every business, so by comparing records, you can quickly determine which company is right for you. Can’t find a company’s record at the BBB site? Either the company is brand-new, or it doesn’t exist. Our Better Business Bureau record is of almost immeasurable value to us because we are determined to be in the timeshare business long-term. We care about our customers because we believe that time will either promote a business, or expose it. Our exemplary customer service ensures that SellMyTimeshareNOW will continue to be a member in good standing of the Better Business Bureau. A company that refuses to provide quality customer service in this highly competitive business will inevitably fail.

-Many companies offer their own traffic statistics documenting the flow of visitors to their sites. While this is admirable, we feel that impartial, third-party traffic statistics give us greater credibility. For this purpose, we use a company called Extreme Tracking. Here can be found detailed information on our traffic. Another third-party resource is Alexa, long considered the standard by which sites are ranked according to traffic. As our company has grown, our Alexa rank indicates that we have constantly been driving more and more traffic to our site, and that in a short time we have become a major player in the timeshare sales industry.

We believe that you should demand proof before you spend money to advertise your timeshare. We are so confident in our ability to achieve success for our clients that we choose to let the facts speak for themselves. Regardless of how you ultimately choose to sell your timeshare, you owe it to yourself to investigate the claims of any company.

It is our goal to supply informative advice for the first-time timeshare owner, but we also want to provide quality content for those already familiar with vacation ownership.

We at SellMyTimeshareNOW are pleased to unveil our new Timeshare Owners’ Blog. We hope to provide many informative and interesting posts on a subject that is frequently marred by misinformation.

As major players in the timeshare resale market, we know as well as anyone that there is a lot of dubious information on the internet regarding timeshares. Anyone who wants to learn about any aspect of the timeshare industry is likely to be confronted with misleading, contradictory, and useless information.

Let’s face it, any trustworthy online resource on the subject is virtually submerged in blog spam, unscrupulous corporate interests vying for attention, oceans of irrelevant links pages, and meaningless websites saturated with keyword-rich gibberish. When someone finally reaches a website that seems to know what it is talking about, one still needs to separate the gossip and corporate self-aggrandizement from useful tips and timeshare advice.

This state of affairs is why we have long provided critical information on our main website for those looking to resell timeshare. But, we’ve now decided to do more – creating this Timeshare Owner’s Blog in hopes of remedying the situation. We want this site to be a reliable source of information for people who want to sell their timeshare property.

As we are ourselves a prominent timeshare resale company, such a gesture might seem self-serving. However, unlike many other online timeshare companies, we derive the most benefit from educating the public about the resale market. We are not afraid to present an honest view of the industry, because we know spreading good information will, if anything, increase our business rather than detract from it.

At SellMyTimeshareNOW, we refuse to make false claims, unrealistic guarantees, employ out of work celebrities, or insult our prospective clients with phony statistics and “crystal ball” timelines. We simply provide timeshare owners with maximum exposure to the global sales marketplace and timeshare buyers with astonishing customer service. It’s simple; we believe that in business, time will either promote you or expose you. As we say on the About Us page on our website, we are in the timeshare sales business for the long haul!

We will be posting on a regular basis. These posts will include practical info, expert tips, and some ways to avoid being scammed while buying, selling, or renting timeshare. It is our goal to supply informative advice for the first-time timeshare owner, but we also want to provide quality content for those already familiar with vacation ownership. Check back frequently for updates!

If you have any questions or comments, you can reach me by email at any time: jasontremblay[at]sellmytimesharenow.com.