Timeshare Sales

Dr. Amy Gregory, an assistant professor at Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida, (Orlando) is published in the June issue of Developments magazine. Her article, Give Them What They Want, looks at consumer satisfaction and the important role it plays in timeshare sales, with as much as 50 percent of sales coming from consumers who are already timeshare owners.

The article, which is based on Dr. Gregory’s doctoral dissertation, analyzes the various factors that contribute to timeshare owner satisfaction. Dr. Gregory says, “The article identifies specific attribute preferences that have greater influence on consumer satisfaction than others, and demonstrated that changes in consumers’ willingness to pay, varies depending on the presence (or absence) of various product and service attributes. … it also establishes a platform for further analysis to identify the differences between terms of ownership, frequency of purchase, product usage characteristics, and identifiable consumer segments within vacation ownership products in the U.S. and international markets. It is the first study to address both the purchase and use of a vacation ownership product.”

Developments, is a publication of the American Resort Development Association, ARDA. Developments editor, Kathryn Mullins and Dr. Gregory met this year past April at ARDAWorld 2012 and discussed ways to get Rosen College of Hospitality Management at UCF more involved in the timeshare industry.

“With UCF’s Rosen College being located in the largest timeshare resort destination in the world, there are numerous opportunities for the College and its students to benefit from academic and practical study of this industry segment. The goal is to make the College the top institution for industry study.”

You can read the full article here: Give Them What They Want

When timeshare owners buy their vacation ownership points or property, they should be buying that timeshare to use and enjoy it, fully understanding that they are buying into a vacation product. Just like the dollars and cents they spend over the years on hotel and motel rooms for vacations, or renting a beach house, cabin or other type of home away from home, they should not be expecting to make money when they eventually do resell their timeshare.
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A recent Resort Development Survey conducted earlier this month at ARDAWorld 2012, the American Resort Development Association’s Annual Convention & Exposition, revealed confidence by industry professionals in a rebounding vacation ownership industry.

According to Perspective Magazine, approximately 64 percent of timeshare professionals predict 2012 timeshare sales will be stronger than sales recorded in 2011. Likewise, 55 percent say consumer interest in timeshares is stronger today than it has been during the past three years.

Dean Graham, President, Capital One Bank’s Commercial and Specialty Finance Business, says, “The positive outlook we’re seeing in the timeshare market mirrors the increasing sense of optimism we’re seeing in other industries. In fact, the recent deals our team has closed, particularly in Q1, reflect strong demand for growth across the healthcare, security and defense, asset based lending and equipment leasing and finance industries.”

Jim Casey, Senior Vice President, Capital One Bank’s Commercial and Specialty Finance Business explains, “The Capital One Bank Vacation Ownership team helps developers capitalize on the anticipated growth in timeshare sales … With the industry’s renewed optimism comes a need to access capital, and our team addresses this issue by partnering with operators to provide financing solutions utilizing our strong balance sheet and industry expertise.”

A key takeaway here is that many lenders find specialty lending to be a strong growth tool for commercial banking in general. Specialty lending and specialty financing are relationship building tools that not only grow businesses and support industries but strengthen the economies of communities and even entire geographic regions.

To read this article in its entirety, go to: “Sixty-Four Percent of Vacation Ownership Industry Professionals Anticipate Growth in Timeshare Sales in 2012, Finds Capital One Bank” at PerspectiveMagazine.com.

Last week, our company had a series of conversations with one of our clients. He was upset that we hadn’t told him that his timeshare would be worth only $1 on the secondary market. We had not told him this because, based on the timeshare he owned, it simply was not true information to say he owned a 1 dollar timeshare.

The gentleman believed his timeshare was worth $1 because he had read a major news publication reporting that timeshares resales were worth $1 and then he had seen the headline again on a website. Because he had read it in a well-known source, he assumed it must be valid and it must apply to all timeshares.

Our company, VacationOwnership.com, (the companies you formerly knew as SellMyTimeshareNOW.com and Timeshare Broker Services) had never told this client that his timeshare was worth $1 for one important reason—it would not have been accurate information!

Timeshare Misinformation and the Damage it Can Do

In this situation, the timeshare owned was an Orlando timeshare at a very popular resort that is part of a major hospitality brand. On the resale market, the timeshare in question is typically worth thousands of dollars—money the owner would have lost, had we not followed up with him, and explained to him that his timeshare was certainly worth far more money and that selling his timeshare for a dollar would mean a substantial and unnecessary loss to him.

Would our company have lost money if the timeshare owner had chosen to drastically mark his timeshare down below market value and resell it for a single dollar? No, because he was selling on a by-owner basis. But, we didn’t want a piece of misleading information to cause him to give away his timeshare and as a result lose thousands—yes, thousands—of dollars himself.

In the end, the client appreciated our diligence to follow through with him, to take the time to educate him on why he should ask much more than $1 for his timeshare, and thanked us for our commitment to help him assess the best price he might ask for his timeshare and still anticipate a timely sale.

The Truth about $1 Timeshares

No timeshare owner should buy vacation ownership expecting to later resell it at the same price he or she initially paid, if that timeshare was purchased as a new property. Buying timeshare is like buying a new car; timeshares, like automobiles, do not resell on the secondary market for the same value they had in the initial purchase.

And some timeshares ultimately have very little resale value, depending upon the condition and popularity of the resort, demand for week or weeks owned and other market variables. But of the more than 40,000 timeshares advertised for sale or for rent through our websites, fewer than 40 of them have an asking price of $1.

That’s right. Less than 40.

You can search our website for yourself. If you structure your search parameters to bring up only timeshares for sale for $1, (being careful not to  search for timeshares for sale for $1 or MORE and to exclude rental properties) you will find the exact number of timeshares we have advertised for only one dollar at the time of your search. It will be fewer than 40 of the 40,000.

Remember that game you played in elementary school where one person started a whispered rumor and by the time the message had been shared from child to child around the room, it had changed, getting farther and farther from the original truth?

If someone wants to resell timeshare for a dollar that is ultimately his or her business, but when the message gets out that one dollar value is the only option, then timeshare owners will find their timeshares deeply and disastrously devalued.