Helping You Avoid Life's Financial Mistakes

How To Donate Your Timeshare To Charity

January 4, 2012 By 4 Comments

So you’ve tried every possible idea you can think of to sell your timeshare.  You’ve tried everything short of timeshare resale companies to doing a buy back option through your resort and nothing seems to work.  You are at the end of your rope and you just want to rid yourself of this retched timeshare.

In this article I’m going show you another option, I’m going to show you how to donate your timeshare to charity and along the way I’m going to give the good and bad points as well as where to donate it to for the best results.

Benefits To Donating Your Timeshare

First off, when it comes to donating your timeshare one of the big benefits is that the process can be fairly painless and easy to do.  All you have to do is sign a few papers and it’s gone.  Face it, it takes a lot of will power to sell a timeshare these days simply because many people are just not buying and by donating it you will avoid a lot of these hassles.

Back when I was first looking to sell my timeshare I had no idea where to even start, where to find a buyer, or even what forms I needed in order to sell it.  I tried for 2 years to sell my timeshare on my own and had no luck at all.  However by donating your timeshare to charity the process becomes fairly simple.  ( I’ll explain this later in the article.)

Secondly, by donating your timeshare it allows you the opportunity to get a tax write off.  For example, if your timeshare is valued at $4500 and you’ve earned a total taxable income of $50,000 it would bring your total taxable income down to $45,500.

Finally, when you donate your timeshare you won’t have to hassle with all the extra fees that you might have to pay when you sell your timeshare yourself.

Disadvantages To Donating Your Timeshare

So now that we know donating your timeshare to a charity can have some great benefits you should also know that their can be some steep disadvantages.  First off, you cannot donate your timeshare to a charity unless it is completely paid off.  The reason for this is because charities want to sell your timeshare to earn money for their organization not get stuck with your debt.

Secondly, in order get a tax deduction for your timeshare it needs to be an itemized deduction which can be tough depending on your situation.  On top of that if want to claim a value higher than $5000 for your timeshare you will be required to get an appraisal and the typical cost will run around  $500 and higher.  This can be even a bigger pain in the butt if your timeshare is located in a different country to boot.

Finally, the last thing you need to understand is that a charitable organization is not going to accept your timeshare just because you have have one to get rid of.  This goes back to the point I made early, charities want to raise money and if they can’t sell your timeshare they don’t want it.

Getting Started

Now that you’ve considered the various points let’s look at what you need to do to get started.

Step 1: Gather the necessary paper work.  To start you will need to gather the necessary paper work in order to donate your timeshare.  Below is a list of things you should gather.  I got this from the Timeshare Trap, so check them out to learn more.

  • Resort Info.  Name, address, and phone number.
  • Deed.  You will need the deed or certificate of ownership.
  • Exchange Company.  Which exchange company is your timeshare affiliated with?  (Ex. RCI, Interval International)
  • Maintenance Fees.  You will need to know the amount owed, and the due date they have to be paid.
  • Taxes. If you have to pay real estate taxes you will need to disclose this as well.
  • Loans.  If you still have a loan on your timeshare you will have to disclose this.
  • Membership Info.  You will need your membership identification.

Step 2: Contact Donate For A Cause.

Next, you will have to contact Donate For a Cause.  Here you will have to fill out a simple form or call them directly. From their they will contact you within 3 to 5 business days to disscuss your timeshare with you.  To do this check out Donate For a Cause Here.

Step 3: Complete The Nessisary Paperwork

Finally, the last thing you need to do is complete the necessary paperwork to get accepted.  Once this is done the DFC will do an analysis of your timeshare property and see if it fits their criteria.  Typically what this means is that if they can’t sell it they don’t want it and like I mentioned before they won’t take on every timeshare, just the ones they can make a profit on.

What To Do If You Don’t Get Accepted

Finally, if you apply for the program and you can’t get accepted for one reason or another don’t give up.  Their are other organizations that may possibly take on your timeshare.  However one word of advice is to beware of the scammers.

If a company you contact is asking you to pay a large sum of money upfront in order to donate your timeshare beware.  Typically these companies do not charge much if anything at all to donate your timeshare.  As with Donate For a Cause you will only have to pay a fee $25if the DFC has to request a new deed or a $75 fee for an affidavit of death in the case that the owner of the timeshare has passed away.

In the end this entire process can take as much as 8 to 12 weeks or more to complete depending on the resort. So be patient .

Are you planning to donate your timeshare or have already done it and would like to share your thoughts, questions, comments, or tips.  Feel free to leave them below to help those who are looking to complete this process on how to donate a timeshare to charity.

Cheers!

This article was recently featured in the Carnival of Personal Finance by Wealth Pilgrim.

Filed Under: Timeshares Tagged With:

A List Of Timeshare Resale Scam Companies – Who Is Legitimate And Who Is Not

November 10, 2011 By 8 Comments

Back a few days ago I received a comment from a lady name Cindy who was looking into a timeshare resale company to sell her timeshare with.  Here is what she said.

I have researched a few of these timeshare resale companies & feel that Sharp Innovations LLC just may be a legitimate company. Have you ever heard of them? They state in their contract that if they don’t sell your timeshare within 180 days they will refund your initial advertising fee of $899.00 which you pay with your credit card to further protect yourself (since most credit cards fully refund your money when the services are not met). The contract states that there are no other fees or costs. I realize I won’t be making money off my timeshare, but maybe I can pay off what I owe.

Now I’m going to be blunt with you when I say that you do not want to invest with these companies.  I don’t know how many people I get coming here on a regular basis looking for some sort of list of legitimate timeshare resale companies.  I can’t make it any more blunt when I say that it’s not worth it.

How do I know this?

Because I’ve invested in 2 of these companies and all it got me was nothing.  No offers, no buyers, and off course no return on the money I gave them.  That’s right, I spent $1100 and got nothing in return.

On the other hand I guess people ask this question because they want to believe that one of these companies is actually a truly legitimate company when they claim that they will give you your money back after a 180 days.

I’ve had companies claim that they could sell my timeshare within 30 days or less and give me money back, and guess what, I’m still waiting for that day to come.

The reality is these companies do not have to sell your timeshare in any amount of time, simply because once they have your money and they put your listing up on their website they are not required to do anything else.  These companies are not like real estate brokers who work for a commission to sell your property but rather as an advertiser that charges you $900 for one listing, that is way over priced.

The List Of Timeshare Scam Companies

Now I could spend my time devising a list of all these companies that are ripoffs but I feel a list isn’t good enough.  Just to say these companies are all scams is not good enough.  I feel it better to let the readers of this article share their stories about these companies.

So in the comments section below share your story about how you got ripped of by these resale companies.  Tell us how much money it cost you and maybe, just maybe, the person that reads this article will change their mind about just freely handing over $900 to some company that claims to be able to sell their timeshare.

Finally, if their are not many comments below you will want to check back often as the list will grow.  On top of that take the time to Tweet, Google +, and share this article on Facebook, so others will learn just how bad these companies really are.

Filed Under: Timeshares

Sell My Timeshare Now Review

May 4, 2011 By 3 Comments

sell_my_timeshare_nowDo you want to sell your timeshare now?  With so little options for those who wish to sell their timeshare I took it upon myself to search the world over for a service that really has their customers at heart.  This is when I came across Sell My Timeshare Now.

Unlike most timeshare resale companies Sell My Timeshare Now has a unique prospective on the market that no other timeshare company has.  With SMTN they focus on bringing qualified buyer in through the search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing to their website.  In fact they bring in nearly 12,000 visitors every single day, and over 66% of that traffic is unique visitors who want to buy, sell, or rent a timeshare.

For example, if they rank first in Google for buying a timeshare in Aruba, the chances are this particular person is fairly qualified and wants to by an Aruban timeshare.  This is exactly how SMTN brings in all of their qualified prospect to their website.

To prove my point of just how much traffic they get look at the picture picture below.  Here you will see a daily snapshot of  how much traffic Sell My Timeshare actually gets per day.

unique_visitors1Now you might be saying any dummy can create a website and sell their timeshare on the web, but I bet they won’t be able to get the kind of traffic that SMTN gets.   You also might be wondering if this company gets that much traffic how many deals could they possibly get?

In one word, TONS!  Just look at the picture below.

timshare_offersIn just one day they had 461 offer to purchase or rent a timeshare.  Now I understand that they are just offers but their is a big difference between this and other timeshare resale companies I’ve worked with.  First off, I like the fact that they actually show you the proof in who’s buying and what kind of potential you have to sell your timeshare.  This kind of information just isn’t found with other companies.

Secondly they give tons of great quality info about selling, buying and renting your timeshare.  I’ve also found some great info on how to donate your timeshare if you can’t get rid of it.

What I Don’t Like About Sell My Timeshare Now

Sell My Timeshare Now  is obviously a legit company and not a scam but to make this review fair I’m also going to cover a few thing I do not like.

No Fee Disclosure. This is one of the biggest reasons I dislike companies like this when they do not show their prices.  It just might be me, but I feel when a company shows their pricing it makes everything feel more legit plus I like to know what I’m getting into before I sign up for anything.

The Market Is Competitive. You also have to consider how competitive the market is for people selling their timeshares.  Now obviously people are buying but when you do a search for people selling their are thousands of people looking to sell.  This may make things that much harder for you to find a buyer.  To prove my point look at the picture below.

timeshares_for_sale

Above is a picture of just one search I did for timeshares listed between $5,000 to $9,999.  Notice that their are nearly 20,000 results listed and that selling your timeshare is going to be a competitive process.  However I should also mention their is one good thing about this though, if you are looking to buy a timeshare you’ll probably find a lot of really good deals here.

Your Only Paying For Advertising.  Finally, the last thing you should know is that SMTN is not a broker service who only gets paid when they sell your timeshare.  Instead they are an advertising services listing people timeshares for rent, or for sale.

Call To Action

Is SMTN for you?  To get more info and even a free estimate on what your timeshare is worth check out Sell My Timeshare Now to learn more.

So what are your thoughts about Sell My Timeshare?  Feel free to leave a comment and leave your opinion.

Filed Under: Timeshares Tagged With: , , ,

How Timeshares Were Meant To Work

January 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In the beginning timeshares were meant to be a cheaper way for people to take a vacation.  It was a way for a person with a modest income to take a vacation that was at one time only avaliable to those who were at least in the upper income range.  However it’s more complicated than this and in this article I’m going show you what ruined this once wonderful opportunity.

Once Upon A Time…

The great thing about a timeshare is that it would give you ownership in your property that would allow you to take a vacation every year as long as you owned the property. 

On top of that it would allow you to also go to other destinations as well.  With a timeshare you can exchange the week you have for a different week of your choosing.  For example if you own a timeshare in Aruba and you want to go to Hawaii you can as long as you can find a week to exchange with you.  However sites like Interval have made this a fairly simple process. 

What’s Changed

Now everything I’ve mentioned above still work like this the only problem is that the timeshare companies and other companies associated with timeshares have been changing things. 

First off, the timeshare market is in complete shambles.  I have read countless story after story of people trying to sell their timeshare with no luck at all.  On top of that the people who are buying timeshares are usually not your typical buyers.  For most people what happens is they are brought in by a timeshare company and pressured into buying.

In fact when I bought my timeshare the timeshare company held us captive for over 4 hours till we finally caved in and bought, it almost very simular to a boiler room scam.

Second, the fees are getting worse.  The average timeshare maintance fee is going up on an average of 10% a year and with some places more than that.  In fact when I bought my timshare the maintance fee started at $400 and before I sold it, it was up to $650.  On top of that you have exchange fees which are running a $100 or more, finally you have the loans that timeshares are handing out when people buy. 

When I bought my timehshare the interest rate was 16% and when I asked them why it was so high they just told me to refinance it with a local bank when I return home.  The problem with that is most banks won’t take on a loan like this. 

Finally, if you get tired of the maintance fees, exchange fees, and high interest rate loans you may have come to the conclusion you would just like to rid yourself of the entire mess, but that’s the toughest thing to do. 

The companies that resell timeshares are worse than the timehsare scam companies who orginally sold you the timeshare.  First off, if you counting on getting what you paid for your timeshare think again.  You will be likely to get little if non at all. 

For example I bought my timeshare for $4500 and end up doing a buy back option with my resort who ended up paying me only ten cents on the dollar in return, but I did it to stop paying the maintance fees. 

Has this happened to you?  Leave comment and share your story.

Filed Under: Timeshares Tagged With: ,

How Timeshare Resale Companies Work To Rip You Off

January 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Are you looking for a way to sell your timeshare without being ripped off?  You may have come across a couple of timeshare resale companies who want to sell your timeshare for you but before you do that you may want to read this article on how timeshare scam companies are ripping timeshare owners off big time.

What Are Timeshare Resale Companies

First off, timeshare resale companies are companies that offer an advertising service to those who would like to sell their timeshare.  This is typically done through a website that they have setup to post your listing at.  However the typical timeshare resale company will charge at least $500 or more to get you timeshare listed.  This listing will typically last as long you sell your timeshare but their is a catch.

The big catch is that these companies are only an advertising service and that is it.  They are not in business to help you sell your timeshare but rather to just advertise it after that it’s up to you if it sells or not.  On top of that these companies will do anything to get you to sign up.

The Big Claim

Once these companies find out that you’re trying to sell your timeshare your phone will be ringing off the hook from other timeshare resale companies wanting you to sign up for their service and these companies will go to great lengths to get you to sign up.

First off these companies will claim that they have thousands of buyers and sellers coming to their website each and every month.  This just isn’t true, the timeshare market is in shambles right now because no one can sell their timeshare.

Second, some companies will claim that they can get you more than your asking price.   For example I had a timeshare resale companies claim they could sell my timeshare in Aruba for nearly $15,000 when it was only worth $4500.  The bad part was I actually signed up for this deal and learned the hard way.  If someone calls and tells you this it should be a red flag that it’s a ripoff.

Third and finally, timeshare scam companies will claim that they could sell your property within a month or two or that they even have several buyers on the line already, this just isn’t true.  In fact these companies will tell you almost anything to get you to buy.

Has This Happened To You

Has this happen to you already, I’m hoping you didn’t pay the fee if you said yes.  When it comes to timeshare resale companies they are just a bad deal all around.  Feel free to share your story or ask a question below in the comments section.

Filed Under: Timeshares Tagged With: ,

Timeshare Selling Scams: How To Get Your Money Back From Timeshare Sales Scams

November 9, 2010 By 5 Comments

If you’ve read my articles on timeshare resale scams, and timeshare resale companies you would know how crooked  the timeshare community can really be, I know I’ve been there and done it.  So in this article I thought I would share the story of how I was scammed by one of these companies but more importantly how I got my money back from one of these timeshare marketing scams.

I should also mention that I am not going to mention the name of any of these companies since I have been sworn to secrecy by this company and am not allowed to reveal their name on my website, but if you have been trying to sell your timeshare for anytime you will almost certainly have heard of these companies.  Also know that I can’t guarantee this will work for you but it’s worth a shot.   So read on about how you too could get your money back as well.

How I Got My Money Back

istock_000013307207xsmallBack several years ago I was driving home from work and I heard a commercial about a company that works with people to help them sell their timeshare.  After 5 years of paying maintenance fees I wanted to sell my timeshare once and for all.  So I called this timeshare sales company and they claimed they could help me sell my timeshare, however to sell my timeshare  I had to pay them $600 upfront.

However after considering the fact I didn’t want to pay any more maintenance fees anymore I paid their fee.  Then I waited and I waited.   I waited over 2 years and didn’t get even just an inquiry about my timeshare.  I called the timeshare selling company and they claimed to have several buyers on the line.  So I waited and waited and still nothing happened.

So after a couple of years and no replies and no answers I learned that almost all timeshare resale companies are nothing more than a timeshare sales scam.  This then prompted me to help others from being caught up in  this timeshare selling scam so I wrote an article.

How To Get Your Money Back

So how does writing an article get your money back from a timeshare scam.  It’s actually very simple, the key is to apply leverage against this company so they will give you your money back.  So I wrote an article an about this timeshare resale company and shared my story with others all over the internet.

I then began to work with that article to get in to rank well in the search engines.  Sharing this article on Google and other search engines drew a lot of attention, in fact it drew so much attention that this company finally called me and asked my to take the article down.

I agreed to take the article down as long as they would refund me the $600 I originally paid them.  They agreed but I also had to sign a wavier saying I would never write anything about this company on my website again.  However it did work.

The Step By Step Process

Now that I’ve given you the long version of how I got my money back for timeshare sales scams I’m going to give you the step by step instructions so you can do this yourself.

  1. Create a Website. You don’t have to make it anything fancy, in fact it won’t even cost you any money to do this.  Just go to WordPress.com and they will walk through the process.
  2. Write The Article. Once you have the website up and running write an  article talking about your experience with the timeshare sales scam.  The point of the article is to share your story.  Don’t come claiming the company is a scam without any proof to hold it up, finally don’t mention your doing this get your money back.  This might sound contradicting but asking for money is not the point of doing all of this.  In fact when I wrote the article about the company that ripped me off I had no intentions of getting any money back from them.
  3. Build Up Your Ranking. In order to get the attention of this company you will have to rank well in the search engines, this means being in at least the top ten search results.  To do this you will have to first include the name of the timeshare scam company in the title of your article and in the URL of the site.  On top of that you will also need to build links.  To do this you will have to submit guest post back to other other sites build up ranking.   Their are tons of sites you can submit guest post articles to like Ezine Articles, Go Articles, and even my site Zoom Articles.

Finally, I must reiterate before you do this that the point of doing all this is to prevent others from getting hit up by this scam and if this is all that ever happens with it I would consider it a success.  However if the company calls you I would consider it an added bonus.

I must also remind you that this process is not very fast either you can expect this to take anywhere from 3 months to year or longer before your message starts getting heard over the internet.  On top that their is also no guarantee it will work for you but it’s worth a shot at the very least.

Questions?  Leave a comment below.

Filed Under: Timeshares Tagged With: , , , , ,

Timeshare Promotions: The Good And The Bad

June 30, 2010 By 1 Comment

Earlier last  week I covered how to sell a timeshare and buying a timeshare.  However today I’m going to show you the tactics that these timeshare companies will use to lure you in to get you to buy, so when this does happen to you it isn’t such a big surprise.  On top of that I also going to show you how you could benefit out checking out a timeshare resort as well.

How Timeshare Resorts Get You Interested

A lot of times timeshare resorts will do almost anything to get you interested.  In fact you may have seen some of the timeshare vacation promotions on television claiming they will give you a free vacation.

You might be wondering why someone would want to offer free timeshare promotions?  The reason being is they want to sell you a timeshare and when you go to there resort that’s exactly what they are going to do.

Once your at the resort they will usually wine you and dine you all day long and at that point they will bring you into a room where they will show you why you should by a timeshare from them.  This meeting can usually last several hours.

On top of that the sales reps will do and say literally anything to get you to buy.  In fact when I was buying my timeshare the resort claimed that if I wanted to sell my timeshare down the road that I would be able to get more in value out of it.  The truth of the matter is it just doesn’t work like that.

When you buy a timeshare resort you are not buying a piece of property, you are buying a piece of time at a resort, one week to be more exact, and this is what timeshare buyers will be made to believe.

However, with all of the bad things timeshares promotions do to get you to buy their are a few ways you could benefit from all of this.

The Benefits

The benefit can be a big a deal.  A lot of times these resorts will go to great lengths to get you to just show up.  In fact the resort I went to in Aruba took us out to eat to give us their little pep talk.

They also offered us a free 5 day vacation at the Virgin Islands, all for just taking a look.  Now you might be wondering what the catch is and that is you will have to survive all the hard sale tactics these resorts will use to get you to buy in order for you to get the free vacation.

In my case when we originally went in to look at the timeshare we had no intentions of buying but they basically kept us in the room for over four hours until we finally cracked,  and if you can last through all of the hard sales tactics you will be able to score a free vacation from them.

A Final Thought…

As a final thought I should also mention that you don’t have to buy a timeshare through a timeshare resort.  Instead I recommend looking into eBay or Craigs List because more than likely their will be a lot of timeshares for sale at cheaper than normal prices.

Also feel free to share your experience of how you bought your timeshare, did you buy through a resort or some other way?

Filed Under: Timeshares Tagged With: , , , ,

Buying A Timeshare Vs. All Inclusive Resorts: Which Is Better

June 23, 2010 By 8 Comments

Has the thought of buying a timeshare ever crossed your mind?  You may have heard how inexpensive timeshares can be and how easy they are to use.  However in this article I’m going to challenge that myth by comparing the cost buying a timeshare to the cost of going to an all inclusive resort.

In this mock example I’m going to compare a timeshare resort from Aruba called the Caribbean Palm Village since I use to own a timeshare there and I will be comparing it against The Hotel Riu Palace Aruba.

The Timeshare

cpvTimeshares charge many different kinds of fees when you own one.  You also have to consider the loan cost when you do buy a timeshare as well.  Here is a list of the fees that I had to pay when I owned my timeshare.

  • The timeshare loan.  The total cost to buy a one bedroom week at the Caribbean Palm Village was $4500, however we used the resorts financing and the interest rate on the loan was 16%, which gave us a payment of close to $110 a month.
  • Maintenance Fee.  The next fee that timeshares will charge is what is called a maintenance fee.  This fee is is collected to pay for the annual maintenance that needs to be done to take of the resort throughout the year.  My fee was $315 a year.
  • Interval International fee.  Interval is a resort exchange company.  Everyone who owns a timeshare has to sign up with one of these companies.  The company I dealt with was Interval International and the annual fee ran around $70 a year.
  • Exchange Fee.  Next you have the exchange fee, this is a fee Interval charges for you to exchange your room with another resorts room.  This is done so you don’t always have to stay at the same resort every year but instead can exchange it with a different resort that comes up on the exchange.  The cost to do this $100.

In the next list of fees I’m going to cover fees that are not related to the timeshare itself but come as result since they are not an all inclusive resort.

  • Food. With a timeshare their is no all night snack bar, you have to find food yourself.  So when I went to Aruba we stopped at a local grocery store and pick up a few things and since our room included a small kitchen were able to cook one night at our resort.  The total cost for food was $75.
  • Entertainment.  Next we had to consider the things we did for entertainment since again the resort does not provide much for this except a swimming pool.  In the first day their we took an all day jeep ride around the island to see all the sites like the California Light House all the way to the other side at Baby Beach.  The cost for two people was $200.  We also took a half day sail boat ride which cost $150 for two and went hoarse back riding which cost another $150 for two, which adds up to $500.
  • Eating Out. Finally you have to consider the cost to eat out in Aruba.  We ate at two different places during the trip which added up to a total cost of $160.

Now that you know how much it cost for us to buy a timeshare let’s look at the alternative now.

The All Inclusive Resort

ruiThe first thing I noticed with all inclusive resorts is their is no additional fees to everything but rather a flat fee per person.  For a 7 day vacation for two at the Hotel Riu Palace Aruba the cost would be $2940.  You might be thinking that’s a lot for just staying a resort but here is what it all includes.

  • Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.  All meals are included in the price for two people.  In fact this resort includes four different dining restaurants, plus snacks and room service 24 hours a day.
  • Drinks.  You can get unlimited local and imported beverages, drink services at the pool, and a mini bar in room.
  • Entertainment.  The resort also has daytime entrainment several times a week along with shows and live music.  On top of that they also have an on site casino.
  • They also have a workout gym, beach volleyball, sauna, jacuzzi, and swimming pool.

Which Is Better

Before we  start to compare the differences and see which option is better I should mention that a lot of the things I’ve mentioned can vary a little bit.  For example the cost of the timeshare itself can vary.  In fact a couple of my friends who have timeshares paid in excess of $20,000 for their timeshares were as I bought mine for only $4500.

Knowing that the total cost to buy the timeshare and use it for one week in the first year, will cost you a total of $2540.  This is besides the cost of your airfare.

The cost of the all inclusive resort is $2940 and includes everything I mentioned earlier.  So even when you compare the all inclusive over the timeshare the timeshare wins.  However this could be argued that if you had a more expensive timeshare like a Marriott it would cost you far more and the loan payment would be much higher.

On the other hand if the loan for the timeshare would have been paid in full the total cost for the trip would have only been $1220, saving you $1720.

How To Buy A Timeshare

As a couple of final thoughts to consider, why buy a timeshare?  If you plan to take many vacations over the years and plan to own the timeshare for a long time the investment itself will be worth it.

On the other hand if you like vacations where you don’t have to be tied down in one particular place then a timeshare may not be for you.

Second, you should also consider how to buy a timeshare as well?  The reason I say this because when your looking to buy timeshare properties prices can vary a lot from one place to the next.  Instead of buying at resorts you may want to look into places like eBay and Craig’s List.  With a slow economy the chances of finding more motivated buyers is more likely in places like this.

Share Your Story

Are you looking to buy a timeshare or just bought one?  Let us know how this working out for you and share your story.  Is it better to buy a timeshare or is it better go to an all inclusive resort?

Chris

This post was recently featured in the carnival of personal finance by The Suburban Dollar.

Filed Under: Timeshares Tagged With: , , , ,

How To Sell A Timeshare The Right Way

June 21, 2010 By 11 Comments

for_saleAre you looking to sell your timeshare but have no idea where to start?  For thousands of timeshare owners selling a timeshare may seem like a very tough task however in this article I’m going to show you not only how to sell your timeshare but also give you some tips on things you should avoid so you don’t get ripped off in the process.

Ways To Sell Your Timeshare

Selling timeshare properties can actually be very difficult so to get started the first thing you should do is consider some of your free options like craigslist.org, and other free advertising sites.

However one big problem with free resources is that they can also be full of scammers and rip off deals.  So be careful of who you deal with.  With sites like craig’s list it’s better if say with more of a local group than a domestic or global approach.

Another option is eBay.  In fact eBay has an entire section dedicated to helping people sell timeshare properties.  They make the process very simple by giving you an easy 5 step process.  EBay also claims that they can reach 70 million users and that the average timeshare auction last only 7 days.  However, their will be a $70 fee to list it but should be well worth the money if you can sell it in that short of time.

Next, create a website to promote and sell your timeshare.  With so many different free places to set up small website like blogger.com and wordpress.com it’s virtually the easiest way to tell everyone about your resort.

What’s so great about this option is that you could set the site up and put all the detail on the website and put flyer’s up at your local post office, grocery stores, and just about every place you can think of and put some simple pull tabs with the website address on them.  On top of that you could promote it over the net by going to timeshare forums, or blogs that talk about timeshares and promote it there.

However their is one place you should never consider as an option for selling your timeshare, and that is selling it through a timeshare resale company.  These services are all over the internet and are the biggest ripoff around.

What they do is make a big claim that they can sell your timeshare in a matter of a few months and in some cases get you more in return than you bought it for. However the catch is that they will charge you a $600 fee up front.

I tried to sell my timeshare through two of these resale scam companies and ended up paying them a total of $1100 all together, and in two years of having my timeshare with these companies never got some much as an offer to buy.  So if someone approaches you to sell your timeshare and wants a huge up front fee first, don’t do it.

Finally, the last option you should consider is selling your timeshare back to the resort you bought it from.  This is what is known as a timeshare buyback program.

However, I must warn you this option will give the least amount in return for your timeshare.  If the resort you bought your timeshare from is strapped for cash they will likely pay you a lot less.  I bought my property for $4500 and got $400 in return by selling it back to the resort.  That’s less than 10 cents on the dollar in return.  Although if your looking to dump your property to avoid maintenance fees this would be the fast way.

What To Do Once You Have A Buyer

If you’ve considered all of the suggestions I’ve given you above and found a buyer you might be wondering what should I do know?  So let’s back up for a second, before you find a buyer the first thing you should do is talk to your timeshare resort.

Contact your resort and tell them that you would like to sell your timeshare week and would like to know what kind of paper work you need in order to sign it over to a new owner.  Having the paperwork in hand allows you to get the deal moving fast and will give a much better likelihood that you will sell the property much to a buyer that might be interested.

Finally, consider how you will accept payments.  Is it cash only, cashiers check, or if your using eBay PayPal can be a very secure way to go.  However, never except a check or money order, especially if you don’t know the person you are selling the timeshare to.

Share Your Story

As a final thought to this article do you or someone you know sold a timeshare recently?  If so feel free to share your story with us on how you did it.  Of all the options I’ve given you on how to sell a timeshare you may have a better idea, so feel free to share what you know to help those that are stuck with selling a timeshare.

In the end I hope this has been a valuable resource to help you sell timeshare properties and help you avoid getting ripped off.

Chris

Filed Under: Timeshares Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Timeshare Scam Companies: 10 Things You Should Know

May 10, 2010 By 22 Comments

timeshare_scam_companiesAre you in the market to buy a timeshare?  Today timeshares are everywhere, eBay, Craig’s list, and hundreds of other sites around the web and abroad.  In this article I’m going to be covering 10 things you should know about timeshare scam companies before you buy one.

They Use Hard Sales Tactics

The first thing you got to know is that timeshare resorts will use about any hard selling tactic they can to get you to buy.  When I was looking at buying a timeshare we were crammed into a room for over four hours.

They basically they wanted to keep you in their till you cracked and that’s exactly what they do.  In that time they will say anything to get you interested.  If you’ve ever seen the movie Boiler Room you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

They Will Give You Anything To Get You To Buy

Next, a timeshare scam company will give you anything to get you to say yes.  First off, they will wine you and dine you.  They will take you out to eat at their resort restaurant to show how great their resort is.

Second, they will give you a free vacation usually for just checking them out.  This is actually the only benefit I could find to going to a timeshare meeting.  However, you may want to read the fine print beforehand.

The resort I got my free vacation from was real but had a restriction that we had to be 25 years of age to use the voucher.  We of course couldn’t use it since we were only 23 at the time, how covenant for them.

High Interest Rates

Third, one of the biggest timeshare scams is that resorts will give you a high interest rate on the loan you take out for your timeshare.   A typical timeshare ranges in $5000 to $20,000 or more and will charge ridiculously high rates.

In fact my loan on the timeshare I bought was right at 16% and the resort claimed I could get it refinanced once I got back home.  However, instead of refinancing the loan I decide to just pay it off and avoid all the refinance fees.

Maintenance Fees

Fourth, every timeshare has maintenance fees.  The reason resorts charge this fee is because once you sign on the dotted line you will in a sense become a part owner of the resort.

The resort will then charge a maintenance fee to cover the cost to run the resort.  However, this doesn’t mean it’s cheap, at my resort I paid around $350 a year and the fee increased as much as 10% every year.

Club Fees

Fifth, once you by a timeshare you will have to pay a club fee in order to bank or exchange your timeshare.  I’m not sure if this required or not but the resort I bought mine from said we had to have it.  The first year of the service is usually free but after that it will cost you.

A typical annual fee runs around $60 to $100.  However if you buy for a longer term you will usually get a cheaper rate.  If would like to learn more about these company check out Interval International.

Exchange Fees

Once you own a timeshare you may not want to go the same resort all the time.  If that is the case you will be able exchange it using companies like Interval International.

However this will also come as a fee as well.  The typical fee to exchange a timeshare with another resort will run around $100.

Impossible To Sell

Seven, timeshares are next to impossible to sell.  I tried selling mine and it took over 4 years to get rid of it.  In fact I recently got an email from someone who said they were in desperate need to sell their timeshare.  This almost a regular occurrence for me to get one or two emails like this every month.

I really feel sorry for these people, especially when I hear that they still have a loan out and can’t get even one offer on the property.

Timeshare Resale Companies Don’t Work

Eight, one of the things people will do in order to sell their timeshare is get in touch with a timeshare resale company.  The short and sweet of it is they just don’t work.

I bought into two different timeshare resale companies and never received one offer in the two years that I had the ads out.  I even called these companies and they claimed they were busy at work trying to sell my timeshare.

The typical fee with a company like this is around $600 and the worst part is they offer no refund at all.  My best advice for you here is to just avoid this timeshare scam altogether.

Timeshares Don’t Increase In Value

One thing I learned the hard way with timeshares was the fact that timeshares do not increase in value.  This was probably the biggest lie I’ve ever heard a timeshare salesman say.

The reason they don’t increase in value is because when you buy a timeshare you aren’t buying an actually piece of land but rather just a piece of time, one week to be exact.

Since time itself doesn’t increase in value the value of your week doesn’t increase at all.  In fact, in most cases they actually are worth a lot less when go to sell, which brings me to my final point.

No Return On Investment

Finally, the worst thing about a timeshare is the fact that you will not get back the money you originally paid for the timeshare.  However there is always that outside chance that it might happen and if it does please leave a comment I would love to hear your story.

In my situation I bought my timeshare for $4500 and ended up selling it back to the resort for $400.  The reality after 4 years of trying to sell the timeshare I couldn’t even find even one buyer.

Your Turn

Now that I’ve educated you a little more on buying a timeshare are you still going to buy one?  I don’t want to scare you away from this if you have your heart set on it but my goal in this article is to point out some of the major pitfalls that go along with a timeshare.

In the end I hope I’ve educated you enough to help you avoid the timeshare scam companies and not get ripped off like I did.

Chris

This article was recently released on the Carnival Of Personal Finance by The Canadian Finance Blog

Filed Under: Timeshares Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Even Dave Ramsey Says Timeshares Are A Bad Investment

March 2, 2010 By 4 Comments

I recently came across a great video that proves my point that timeshares are just a bad investment all around, as I shared with you in my story.  Timeshares have cost me thousands of dollars and I’m only doing this to help spread the word that they are a bad investment but don’t take my word for it hear what Dave has to say as well.

r

Need I say anymore.

Filed Under: Timeshares Tagged With: ,
« Older Posts