Condo Resales

Earlier this week CanadianBusiness.com published an article on timeshares and timeshare resales, written by D G Southen. I wasn’t familiar with Southen’s writing before, but he sure captured my attention with an article entitled, “Confessions of a Timeshare Junkie.”

Southen blames the bad reputation that sometimes haunts timeshare sales on, “…the dubious ways they’re sold. Developers entice you to presentations with come-ons such as ski-lift tickets, cheap accommodation, even cash — and once you’re seated, the developer’s sales staff put the hard sell on you.”

Then he goes on to explain how he has avoided the heavy-handed developer sales approach, and at the same time, avoided paying too much for timeshare. He buys timeshare resales! As Southen explains, “Instead of paying thousands for the rights to spend a week once a year in a resort condo, I’ve paid as little as $150. I have an annual March Break reservation in Grand Cayman where I bought into a gorgeous 110 sq m (1,200 sq. ft.), two-storey unit with full eat-in kitchen, three full baths, two bedrooms and a full balcony overlooking the ocean. I paid less than $2,000 for it — and I can use it every year for the rest of my life.”

I’m quoting the author’s words exactly, because I simply could not explain the opportunities for timeshare ownership and fabulous vacations that timeshare resales affords, any better myself. Southen writes about attending a timeshare presentation and turning down the $8000 timeshare week offered at a ski resort, only to buy the same thing shortly thereafter as a timeshare resale for the ‘whopping’ price of $865.

Valuable Insights for Buying Timeshare Resales

What makes this author such an authority? He’s owned 20 timeshares, and he admits that sometimes he has made buying mistakes. So here’s a summary of this self-proclaimed timeshare junkie’s do’s and don’ts:

Buy at a resort where you want to vacation. Southen’s says it’s easier than buying elsewhere and trying to exchange timeshare for the location you prefer.

If your heart is set on timeshare exchange, buy timeshare at a resort that has properties in different parts of the country or different parts of the world. That way, you’ll be exchanging within a brand’s own network of timeshare resorts.

Shop around. While Southen suggests eBay, I suggest a timeshare advertising and marketing company, like Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Research maintenance fees. Timeshare maintenance fees that are too high will keep coming around to bite you, making your good deal not so good. Fees that are too low suggest a timeshare resort is not keeping up with repairs and necessary updates to the property.

And lastly, the author advises you to be patient about timeshare closings. Expect them to take at least three months.

To learn more about safe and economical ways to buy timeshare, read “Timeshare Resale Buyers FAQ,” from Sell My Timeshare NOW.

When you want to sell timeshare and you put your vacation property on the market as a timeshare resale, it may surprise you which features make it most attractive to people looking to buy timeshare. The rule is the same for timeshare real estate, as it is for residential homes, commercial property, and vacation housing: location-location-location.

Timeshare at highly sought vacation destinations is attractive to people interested in timeshare condo resales and vacation club memberships. But timeshare resales have one huge advantage over other types of real estate when it comes to the subject of location because so many timeshare resorts offer exchange privileges at other resorts, or through timeshare exchange memberships like Interval International and RCI timeshare. In fact, frequently, when people buy timeshare, they look for properties – not at the destination they want – but at a destination where they think other people will want to make a timeshare exchange.

The second factor that strongly affects salability of timeshare resales is the dates or time of the year you own. Many people who buy timeshare must plan their travel and vacation dates around school calendars. However, despite the fact that timeshare sales are increasing rapidly among younger buyers, the largest market for the purchase of timeshare weeks is still among Baby Boomers – the demographic that is the least likely to be concerned about school holiday schedules.

Of course, the features and amenities that your timeshare resort offers, also makes a big difference with attracting people to buy your timeshare resale. Beachside access always attracts buyers, as does a location near popular ski sites. But also attractive are what is known as “drive to” destinations, which may not be on the beach or near the slopes, but do offer the advantage of being geographically located within easy driving distances for large populations of people.

At the resort, it has long been the standard that location at a golf course or with golf access makes timeshare resales more desirable. But according to recent information released by M.I.C.E, (an acronym for MEETING – INCENTIVE – CONFERENCE – EXHIBITION , a professional organization for meeting and event planners) interest in tennis between the years 2000 and 2005 increased by more than 12 percent. According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, tennis is experiencing the highest growth rate of the 114 traditional sports tracked in the United States. So if your timeshare resale offers tennis courts on property or nearby, be sure to make that point known to potential buyers. In these tighter economic times, the cost of playing tennis as compared to the cost of playing golf, is bound to be a consideration by some vacationers.

For more information about the easiest and most effective way to sell timeshare, visit the timeshare resales experts at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Because St. Maarten is a popular vacation destination and the location of many wonderful timeshare resorts, air travel there continues to expand. Air service from the US already included American, US Air, Continental, and Delta but the additions of Spirit Airlines flying out of Fort Lauderdale and more recently, JetBlue from New York, gives timeshare owners and vacationers a lot more options in budget friendly airfares for getting to St. Maarten timeshare resorts.

St. Maarten (or Sint Maarten) and St. Martin are the French and the Dutch sides of one of the Caribbean’s most desirable vacation destinations. The two bordering governments co-exist in harmony and there are no checkpoints when crossing the borderlines, so when you vacation there you can swim on a Dutch-side beach in the morning and have lunch at a French-side café without even a trip through customs.

The island is less than 40 square miles in size, but because of the mountainous elevations, the island “lives large” with many villages built on hillside slopes. St. Maarten is considered part of the Netherlands Antilles, which also includes the islands of Bonaire and Curacao, and is just off the coast of Venezuela. The other two islands of the Netherlands Antilles are St. Eustatius and Saba, which are both close to St. Maarten.

One of the largest resorts in St. Maarten will be the new Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Residences in St. Maarten, where an adjacent Westin resort will provide condo owners the amenities of a hotel guest experience. Like other condotel or condo hotel developments, this should prove to be a win-win, where condo owners enjoy up to 28 days per year in their properties while receiving a percentage of the rates for the other days the condo unit is rented. At the same time, Westin can develop the property, relying on money from condo owners to greatly offset the funds the developer must secure in its mortgage.

With more St. Maarten timeshare resort and condo properties from which to choose and more ways for getting to the island, what’s stopping you from planning a St. Maarten timeshare resort vacation? The opportunities in timeshare resales in the Netherlands Antilles are huge, and Sell My Timeshare NOW is the perfect place to start planning your tropical island vacation.

These days, when every evening’s nightly news seems to always bring us new warnings of unrest, terrorism, and political disruption around the world, you might think people who buy timeshare abroad risk being stuck with timeshare condos or condo resales that they cannot use and cannot rent or sell – but that is generally not the case.

First, as a timeshare owner, you may have the option to bank your timeshare weeks for future use, or to turn them over to a timeshare exchange. Many timeshare exchange programs do not require your timeshare weeks to be picked up by someone else in order for you to enjoy a timeshare vacation at a different resort.

The next thing to remember is that many times, while it may not be safe for people of your particular nationality to travel to a foreign country, people who live in that country may be able to travel freely and vacation without incident. Although this is not currently the case in Kenya, as I wrote about in yesterday’s Timeshare Owners Blog, when this does apply, you may want to use your timeshare weeks as a timeshare rental. To successfully rent timeshare to people from other countries you must advertise and market it through a timeshare company like Sell My Timeshare NOW that has a global marketplace and the expertise to bring timeshare rentals to the attention of interested renters or even buyers around the world.

The problems in one part of a country do not always affect vacationing and timeshare resorts in other areas of the same country. Don’t immediately assume that an entire region or country is dangerous just because you hear about one incident, in one location. In fact, isolated events in one part of a country can sometimes have an upside for travelers in other areas, making tourist dollars especially appreciated in an area where other parts of the country have recently received bad publicity. Attractions, restaurants, and other tourist areas are less crowded and sometimes offer discounted prices in efforts to attract business once again.

Kenya Timeshare Resales, In the Future

I am not in any way making light of recent tragic events in Kenya or any other part of the world that has suffered adversity. But I am suggesting that if you own timeshare weeks in a locale that has experienced problems, whether it is weather-related, incidences of terrorism, or other types of crime or civil unrest, don’t immediately assume that all is lost for utilizing your timeshare unit or timeshare weeks. You have options and Sell My Timeshare NOW can help you assess those options and make the choice that is right for you.

Here’s a You-Tube video that reminds us of the natural beauty of Kenya.