Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Sell Your Timeshare - Where and What To Look Out For?

By Peter Ng

Let's face it. Most of the timeshare brokers out there are most likely going to be scammers but if you do know of anyone whom you can trust, you should contact them to learn about their selling process and the cost involved. So long as you do not need to pay any money upfront and you do not need to appoint them exclusively, you can ask them to start marketing for you.

Here are some types of websites that can help you sell your timeshare.

a) General Online Auction Websites (E.g. Ebay, Yahoo! Auctions).

There are people who sell their timeshare through online auctions. Although you will pay less in upfront costs, you will have to handle the whole administrative process and engage your own lawyer or licensed and bonded company to process the sale. If you are familiar with the prices and the procedures, and you can get a good lawyer or licensed and bonded company who doesn't charge exorbitantly, this will be a good option.

b) Classified Ads

Selling through general classified ads entails the same problems as selling via auctions. You have to engage your own lawyer and deal with all the paperwork yourself.

Apart from the popular classifed sites like Craigslist, there are timeshare-specific sites that you can post your ads on. This is better as the target audience is more focussed and your chances of selling is higher. As it takes longer to sell timeshare, such ads are often posted for half a year to a year or more.

c) Timeshare Brokers / Resellers

Once you start searching, you will find many brokers and resellers out there who will try to provide the whole works. Just give them the necessary details and they will take care of the rest. Certainly, the convenience means you will need to pay more in commissions or upfront fees.

While I am against paying any upfront fees, if you do know the broker or reseller well, it might be ok, because upfront fees tend to be in the hundreds while commissions can go up to the thousands, but do your homework and compare before committing.

Sales commissions of some brokers can go as high as 20% to 40% of the sale price and this does not include the legal and administrative fees yet. Look around and compare prices before committing to any broker. You should able to find brokers who charge flat-fee comissions or commissions around 10% to 20%.

Although the charges are higher than other options, there are still good reasons to go with a broker rather than selling on your own. A good broker knows the market better and will know how to price and structure a deal successfully. Many people tried to save on the commissions and end up not being able to sell because they were not able to market effectively or they set unrealistic prices.

Sometimes, It Is Better Not To Sell

1) Use the resort - have a nice holiday

If you really cannot sell or find that it does not make financial sense to sell the timeshare, enjoy it! After all, that was most likely the reason why you bought it in the first place. If you have grown tired or do not like the home resort, simply exchange with Resorts Condominiums International (RCI) or Interval International (II), depending on which exchange your resort is affiliated with

2) Rent it out

If you cannot sell and have no time or no longer wish to utilise the resort, a good way to salvage the situation would be to rent the timeshare out. If you set an attractive price, one that allows people to spend less than if they rented directly from the resort, there will be many people who would be interested in renting from you. Even if you have to price it at a price at which you lose a little money, at least you will get some money back.

3) Give a gift certificate to your family or friends

If you have no time to use the entitlement and you cannot sell or rent it out, you can also let your friends or family use it instead. Seeing their happy faces and knowing you have done a good deed may be worth more than the little money you can get by selling or renting. - 15359

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