Selling Your Vacation Timeshare
How to Get a Good Price on Your Timeshare Property and Avoid Scams
Nov 23, 2007
Red, white, or blue. Week 1 or week 52. You need to know what the colors and the numbers mean before you ever list your timeshare for sale.
Think of red as hot…The hottest or peak vacation time in that particular resort. White is the shoulder season followed by yellow, blue and green. Both weeks 1 and 52 are probably red weeks in many resort areas. Week 1 starts the first week of January, and week 52 usually falls over the Christmas holiday. Some timeshares aren’t even full weeks at all, rather "points" that you can use toward a stay at the resort whenever there is availability.
If you own a red week in a popular vacation destination you’ll have an easier time selling it. But white, blue, yellow and green week owners, don’t despair. With a little bit of luck and a lot of marketing, you can get rid of your timeshare, but you may not get the price you were hoping for.
Follow these tips for successful timeshare sales:
- Get help from your resort. Every property either has a bulletin board, a web site, a newsletter or all three, where owners can list their weeks. Price your timeshare close to what others are charging. If your week is a lot higher than the others, you’ll have a hard time selling.
- Never pay money upfront to a listing company. The timeshare world is full of scammers. These companies will promise to market your timeshare with a slick campaign. In the end, you’ll still own your timeshare and you’ll be out hundreds of dollars.
- Choose a commission-only timeshare reseller. And negotiate, negotiate, negotiate! They want your business. Read the fine print, and only agree to pay a commission when the unit sells, never before. Watch out for any extra fees, and get references. If you own a deeded week, the sale should close at a legitimate title company, just like a home sale. There are several title companies that specialize in timeshare sales, especially in Florida.
- Don’t sign an exclusive agreement with a timeshare reseller. If you do, you’re stuck with that company. Read anything you sign carefully to make sure you’re not obligated to that reseller, especially if you find a buyer on your own.
- Consider renting out your week if you can’t sell it. Many vacation rental-by-owner web sites offer special deals to timeshare owners. If you price your week right, you might find the rental income makes you more money than a sale would.
- Donate your timeshare. Many charities will accept timeshares. The donation may qualify for a tax deduction. And often charities raise money by auctioning off the vacation weeks.
- Exchange your week. There are a number of exchange companies. For a yearly fee, you can trade your week at another resort anywhere in the world. But if you are looking for a popular resort during the peak vacation season, be sure to reserve early. Even then you may find yourself on a waiting list. The key is to be flexible and open-minded about where you’d like to travel.
- Buy the week before or after yours. If you can negotiate a great deal on the week adjacent to yours in the same unit, your two weeks might appeal to buyers looking for a longer vacation. This plan will only work if you can afford another yearly maintenance fee.
- Finally, if all else fails, learn to enjoy your week! You must have bought your timeshare for a reason…To share quality time with family, or simply as a getaway from the stresses of daily life. The familiarity of travelling to the same destination and seeing the same faces year after year does have advantages over staying at an anonymous hotel in a strange place.
Related Articles:
Tips on buying a vacation home.
Advantages of purchasing a condo over a house.
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