Vaca4life2 on eBay

csxjohn · Feb 25, 2013

I won an auction for a timeshare from them and their closing company was Resort Closings Inc.

Everything happened very quickly even after a typo on the deed.

It was all done electronically.

I won the auction on a Wed and sent my name and other required info that day. They sent the bill and purchase agreement the same day through email.

I read through everything the next morning to make sure it's what the auction stated. Everything looked good so I sent the payment through PayPal. I also filled out the paper work and signed it electronically.

Resort Closings must have done everything the next day, Friday because after the Monday holiday I received in the mail a copy of my deed with a letter that said the resort was also sent a copy.

I noticed a typo on the deed with the wrong week number. 3 became a 1. I knew to call Resort Closings immediately and they said it would be corrected.

I got the corrected deed Saturday and called the resort today. They completed the transfer on their records today and I am the owner of record.

Less than 2 weeks total. They were able to file the deed with the county electronically so that saved a lot of time. If not for the typo it would have been 6 days with 2 of them being weekend days and one a national holiday.

I can't see it getting any better or faster than this.

comicbookman · Nov 7, 2013

Vaca4life2 and resorts Closings Inc thumbs up

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bought a small (77k) wyndham contract for $1 with seller paid transfer and closing in order to add my children to my account without sticking them with a big deed. Purchased on 10/2 via ebay. Completed deed e-mailed to me on 10/13. Wyndham received it on 10/23 and it showed up in my account today 11/6 with the 2013 points and my children now on my account (one is old enough to check in and the other will be soon). Good communication from Resort Closings. I would use them again.

ahenry1957 · Dec 23, 2013

Great people. Bought mid nov all done last week even had a 89k bonus gift. I know I will be doing business with them again. When I did ask a question fast responce. LOL this sounds like a E-bay positive review but just being honest great people

Rent_Share · Apr 27, 2014

Saw an auction for s property I used to own at - IMHO the maintenance fees were grossly overstated. Normally I wouldn't waste my time but OI tried to use the contact the seller to advise the seller of the error in the listing $ 1500 when it should be less than 800

In using the standard ebay communication for a question I received the following ebay response:

"We're sorry we couldn't find an answer for you. Unfortunately, this seller is not able to respond to your question. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing."

However the auction list a link to email them with questions, outside of scrutiny of ebay, if you think ebay doesn't filter that communication try to send a url or email in an ebay message, no matter how you try to phonetically hide it (wanted to send seller, pictures of damage)

I am surprised eBay allows direct communication, since that would allow for a fee avoidance, however with a timeshare that would only be the final value fee of $35

dioxide45 · Apr 27, 2014

csxjohn said:
I can't see it getting any better or faster than this.

It could, if they got the deed right the first time.

Roger830 · Apr 27, 2014

Rent_Share said:
In using the standard ebay communication for a question I received the following ebay response:

"We're sorry we couldn't find an answer for you. Unfortunately, this seller is not able to respond to your question. We suggest reviewing the item again to see if your answer is in the seller's listing."

Over the past month I requested and received info from Vaca4life2 thru ebay. Maybe you did something wrong.

Rent_Share said:
if you think ebay doesn't filter that communication try to send a url or email in an ebay message, no matter how you try to phonetically hide it (wanted to send seller, pictures of damage)

I have successfully sent my email address thru ebay to sellers when requesting estoppels.

csxjohn · Apr 28, 2014

Roger830 said:
Over the past month I requested and received info from Vaca4life2 thru ebay. Maybe you did something wrong.

I have successfully sent my email address thru ebay to sellers when requesting estoppels.

I too have communicated with vaca recently.

eBay must have different rules for different categories. I recently was able to get a seller's phone # through the messaging system and other times I have not. This was for a boat with a buy it now price.

ronparise · Apr 28, 2014

vac for life and the various other names they use are as honest as they come in the timeshare business. at least thats been my experience. They make mistakes because they are people just like you and me and due to the nature of the business, but they are quick to make things right if they do. The only problem Ive ever had with them was with an individual that works there that refused to answer my questions ahead of a sale (it was a Wyndham converted fixed week contract, and I wanted to know the legal description on the deed. He said it didnt make any difference and refused to look it up for me) This happened only once and since then we have had an excellent working relationship since.

To Rent_Shares comment: I have contacted sellers outside of ebay and made a deals to purchase something. Im pretty sure Ive done it with these folks too, but we dont beat EBay out of their $35, rather the seller will change the auction to a "buy it now" and I buy it then. We make our deal and ebay still gets their fee.

For those of you that dont know, a guy named John Kushman who posts here from time to time is associated with Vac for life. He has been very helpful to me answering questions, and contacting me ahead of an EBay auction with deals Ive expressed an interest in...john@resortclosings.com

Now the dark side....Vac For Life is a timeshare relief company. Some of their inventory comes to them from folks that pay them to dispose of it. Its common knowledge that some timeshare relief companies use, so called, Viking Ship llcs, to abandon timeshares that they cant sell or otherwise transfer to a legitimate buyer. Its also generally accepted as truth, that Viking Ships cause great damage to timeshare hoa's and are responsible for high maintenance fee increases at some of them. So if you accept these things as truth; know this...you are a part of the problem when you buy from this company and most any of the big ebay sellers (of timeshares). If you have any morals at all, you should not be tempted by their auctions.

Saintsfanfl · Apr 28, 2014

ronparise said:
know this...you are a part of the problem when you buy from this company and most any of the big ebay sellers (of timeshares). If you have any morals at all, you should not be tempted by their auctions.

I do understand the point and partially agree in principal. Buying from them aids their business but in the end it also helps the HOA by preventing that unit from getting abandoned. These relief companies will still operate whether their timeshares get sold on ebay or not. Because of this I have to disagree with the concept of not doing business with them if you are against viking ships. To me it is the opposite. One unit bought from a relief company is one less unit abandoned in a viking ship. I understand that on the surface this may sound hypocritical to some, but in reality you cannot control everything.

ronparise · Apr 28, 2014

Saintsfanfl said:
I do understand the point and partially agree in principal. Buying from them aids their business but in the end it also helps the HOA by preventing that unit from getting abandoned. These relief companies will still operate whether their timeshares get sold on ebay or not. Because of this I have to disagree with the concept of not doing business with them if you are against viking ships. To me it is the opposite. One unit bought from a relief company is one less unit abandoned in a viking ship. I understand that on the surface this may sound hypocritical to some, but in reality you cannot control everything.

me too

and Ill go farther and say if a timeshare goes to a Viking Ship its because the hoa wouldnt do the right thing...

Gophesjo · Apr 28, 2014

I suspect...

Ron, I suspect that the reason most HOA's are unwilling to accept deed backs is that they believe that if they do they will very quickly become the exit strategy of choice for their owners, It is true that the party with the greatest incentive for transferring a timeshare interest to another owner is not the HOA, but rather the individual who no longer wants to pay maintenance fees. If that individual has an easy alternative other than going through the process of trying to effect and close a sale, then they will take the path of least resistance and not work on selling themselves.

ronparise · Apr 28, 2014

Gophesjo said:
Ron, I suspect that the reason most HOA's are unwilling to accept deed backs is that they believe that if they do they will very quickly become the exit strategy of choice for their owners, It is true that the party with the greatest incentive for transferring a timeshare interest to another owner is not the HOA, but rather the individual who no longer wants to pay maintenance fees. If that individual has an easy alternative other than going through the process of trying to effect and close a sale, then they will take the path of least resistance and not work on selling themselves.

And they should be the exit strategy of choice..
It should be easy to sell your timeshare. If its not, than its the hoa's job to make it easy. That they dont is the only thing that gives the relief companies room to work.

dioxide45 · Apr 28, 2014

ronparise said:
And they should be the exit strategy of choice..
It should be easy to sell your timeshare. If its not, than its the hoa's job to make it easy. That they dont is the only thing that gives the relief companies room to work.

It should be, but I don't think it is the HOAs that make it difficult to sell a timeshare. It is the overall market and the developers. The HOA are just a group of owners. Why should I have to make it easier for someone to sell their week. What can I do. The problem is that a lot of HOAs send out information and newsletters and include information in them about how to sell your timeshare. But people just toss the stuff in the trash and don't read it.

People think it is hard to sell a timeshare because they list it for what they paid for it from the developer. They aren't realistic and don't do the research needed. So they turn to someone who cold calls them to relieve them of their timeshare. I don't think the HOA has the time or resources to cold call every owner. Even sending a post card to every owner is not a cheap endeavor for a large resort.

Does a condo HOA help someone sell their condo?

csxjohn · Apr 29, 2014

ronparise said:
.... So if you accept these things as truth; know this...you are a part of the problem when you buy from this company and most any of the big ebay sellers (of timeshares). If you have any morals at all, you should not be tempted by their auctions.

I disagree, by purchasing a unit from any of the big eBay sellers you are keeping the unit from boarding that ship

You're not trying to eliminate some bidding competition, are you?:hysterical:

ronparise · Apr 29, 2014

csxjohn said:
I disagree, by purchasing a unit from any of the big eBay sellers you are keeping the unit from boarding that ship

You're not trying to eliminate some bidding competition, are you?:hysterical:

No Im trying to give Denise a poke.

My point is that buying a timeshares from a post card company is no different than when I buy a computer from the trunk of some guys car. I know the thing was stolen. I can rationalize all day long, (and I do),(just ask Denise) but Im part of what keeps the thief in business

To my point that the hoas are also part of the problem. dioxide45 is also right. It should not be the responsibility of other owners (the hoa) to provide a fair market place for their timeshare intervals. But its the owners that have the most to lose if there is no fair market, and the most to gain if there is. Its the owners that suffer the most when timeshares "go down with the ship"

It may not be the owners responsibility to provide a fair market for sales and rentals, but its no one else's either. So into the breach step the PPCs. If the HOAs would step up, Im convinced that the PCCS will be forced out of business.

geerlijd · May 14, 2014

Another thumbs up for Vaca4life and resort closings. I thought I was willing to deal with Westgate to get a Park City ski week. 6 months into the ROFR process Westgate was continuing to delay and delay by asking for more and more documentation to make a simple yes or no decision. I got fed up and asked to cancel. It was agreed to and a refund issued back to my Paypal account within the hour.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

tugnut · May 19, 2014

ronparise said:
No Im trying to give Denise a poke.

My point is that buying a timeshares from a post card company is no different than when I buy a computer from the trunk of some guys car. I know the thing was stolen. I can rationalize all day long, (and I do),(just ask Denise) but Im part of what keeps the thief in business
...
It may not be the owners responsibility to provide a fair market for sales and rentals, but its no one else's either. So into the breach step the PPCs. If the HOAs would step up, Im convinced that the PCCS will be forced out of business.

I've heard this several times If only the HOA's would step up and .... There would be a market... there would be no more PCCs... everything would be OK. However I haven't heard of exactly what the HOA can do to "make things better". Any ideas that will work?

Ty1on · Jul 17, 2015

ronparise said:
vac for life and the various other names they use are as honest as they come in the timeshare business. at least thats been my experience. They make mistakes because they are people just like you and me and due to the nature of the business, but they are quick to make things right if they do. The only problem Ive ever had with them was with an individual that works there that refused to answer my questions ahead of a sale (it was a Wyndham converted fixed week contract, and I wanted to know the legal description on the deed. He said it didnt make any difference and refused to look it up for me) This happened only once and since then we have had an excellent working relationship since.

To Rent_Shares comment: I have contacted sellers outside of ebay and made a deals to purchase something. Im pretty sure Ive done it with these folks too, but we dont beat EBay out of their $35, rather the seller will change the auction to a "buy it now" and I buy it then. We make our deal and ebay still gets their fee.

For those of you that dont know, a guy named John Kushman who posts here from time to time is associated with Vac for life. He has been very helpful to me answering questions, and contacting me ahead of an EBay auction with deals Ive expressed an interest in...john@resortclosings.com

Now the dark side....Vac For Life is a timeshare relief company. Some of their inventory comes to them from folks that pay them to dispose of it. Its common knowledge that some timeshare relief companies use, so called, Viking Ship llcs, to abandon timeshares that they cant sell or otherwise transfer to a legitimate buyer. Its also generally accepted as truth, that Viking Ships cause great damage to timeshare hoa's and are responsible for high maintenance fee increases at some of them. So if you accept these things as truth; know this...you are a part of the problem when you buy from this company and most any of the big ebay sellers (of timeshares). If you have any morals at all, you should not be tempted by their auctions.

HOAs should refuse transfer to LLCs, and many of them have. The companies that transfer the deeds to stolen identities or deadbeat shills are committing fraud, and there have been convictions to that end.

I understand the concern about an avalanche of deedbacks once an HOA accepts them. If you owned a place like Vacation Village in Mesquite, NV, and 50% of your co-owners bailed, that would leave you paying double MFs without the corresponding benefit of double the weeks in Fabulous, Exciting Mesquite. There are probably some resorts that just need to be allowed to die on the vine, but their own covenants prevent that from happening.

theo · Jul 23, 2015

Off-topic, but a good observation nonetheless...

tugnut said:
I've heard this several times If only the HOA's would step up and .... There would be a market... there would be no more PCCs... everything would be OK. However I haven't heard of exactly what the HOA can do to "make things better". Any ideas that will work?

A very astute observation on your part. That vague, fuzzy and content-free "input" to which you make reference invariably comes from people with absolutely no actual first hand knowledge or experience or any past or present (...or future, in all probability) involvement as a HOA / BOD member.

The fact of the matter is that a HOA / BOD has absolutely no influence on the harsh reality of the overall economy and / or the timeshare resale market. Period.
A BOD / HOA can't actually (responsibly) do much more than implement an active internal resale effort / program, offer "BOGO" promotions on HOA-owned weeks, and / or adopt RCI Points at their facility in order to give even the "doggiest" of dog weeks (which their owners freely and voluntarily purchased, I must note) more value --- the new "value" of course being in the assigned points, not in the underlying "dog" week itself.

It really irritates me (being an unpaid, volunteer HOA / BOD member myself) that some people have the child-like simple mindedness to just lamely and unconvincingly try to shift their own personal accountability and responsibility onto others. In the matter at hand, those "others" (i.e., the unpaid, volunteer HOA members) are trying to oversee resort health, both physical and financial, in order to best look out for all the owners --- not just those now looking for an easy and oh-so convenient way to just "bail out" of a legal obligation which they freely and voluntarily chose to take on in the first place.

Just my own personal viewpoint and experience of course, but I'll gladly state it all day, any day, every day. What's that old saying about "walk a mile in my shoes"? :ponder:

csxjohn · Jul 23, 2015

theo said:
A very astute observation on your part. That vague, fuzzy and content-free "input" to which you make reference invariably comes from people with absolutely no actual first hand experience or any past or present (...or future, in all probability) involvement as a HOA / BOD member.

The fact of the matter is that a HOA / BOD has absolutely no influence on the harsh reality of the overall economy and / or the timeshare resale market. Period.
A BOD / HOA can't actually (responsibly) do much more than implement an active internal resale effort / program, offer "BOGO" promotions on HOA-owned weeks, and / or adopt RCI Points at their facility in order to give even the "doggiest" of dog weeks (which their owners freely and voluntarily purchased, I must note) more value --- the new "value" of course being in the assigned points, not in the underlying "dog" week itself.

It really irritates me (being an unpaid, volunteer HOA / BOD member myself) that some people have the child-like simple mindedness to just lamely and unconvincingly try to shift their own personal accountability and responsibility onto others. In the matter at hand, those "others" (i.e., the unpaid, volunteer HOA members) are trying to oversee resort health, both physical and financial, in order to best look out for all the owners --- not just those now looking for an easy and oh-so convenient way to just "bail out" of a legal obligation which they freely and voluntarily chose to take on in the first place.

Just my own personal viewpoint and experience of course, but I'll gladly state it all day, any day. What's that old saying about "walk a mile in my shoes"?

I never tire of hearing this from you.

I'm currently looking to buy at a resort on the Cali coast and they are doing all they can to keep units in the hands of paying owners IMO. They sell units they have taken in and they provide a list of owners who are selling privately.

This still hasn't prevented owners there from paying PCCs to take their timeshare. I see them on eBay, not frequently, but they do show up so I think it's lazy owners or owners uneducated in the TS market that are the root of the problem, not the HOAs.

tschwa2 · Jul 23, 2015

It's also the fault of the PCC's who in some cases prey on elderly and unsavvy owners and like the TS sales people before them deceive and lie and convince these owners that unless they pay the PCC, it will cause hardship on themselves and their heirs.

So not always lazy, even at resorts that have a robust takeback and/or sell program.

Shane73 · Jul 31, 2015

Feedback

Thank you very much for this post, I was looking on ebay but was concerned that the closing company is english and it could have been a scam, will have another look now

csxjohn · Jul 31, 2015

Shane73 said:
Thank you very much for this post, I was looking on ebay but was concerned that the closing company is english and it could have been a scam, will have another look now

Welcome to TUG. Start a new thread for any other questions, someone here may be able to help.

Vaca4life2 on eBay

csxjohn

TUG Review Crew: Expert

comicbookman

ahenry1957

Rent_Share

dioxide45

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Roger830

csxjohn

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ronparise

Saintsfanfl

ronparise

Gophesjo

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ronparise

dioxide45

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csxjohn

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ronparise

geerlijd

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tugnut

Ty1on

theo

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csxjohn

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tschwa2

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Shane73

csxjohn

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