Resale closing costs - this seems high

New to board. Long time RCI member. Purchased unseen unit for $100 and have traded for resorts all over the world. I recently sold a different unit and paid $1,600 in closing, now I'm trying to buy another. Below is the email I received including purchase details. Does this seem reasonable?

Hi Rick,

We are the brokerage firm for SellMyTimeshareNow.com, I received your inquiry on ad #1635341 for a purchase at Marriott's Sabal Palms. The purchase price is listed at $2000. How would you like to move forward? Would you like to make an offer on this property?

Please reply back with the following so I can further assist you:
1. Any additional questions you would like answered from the seller

2. Timeframe you are looking to make this purchase - or - your current interest level at this point

3. Closing Cost includes:

· Title Company Fee $699 (charge for services rendered)

· Transfer Fee $120 (set by the resort)

· TBS Administration Fee $195 ($100 discount offered if a signed contract is returned within 24 hours)

· Brokerage Fee $595

4. Your best line of communication Email or Phone


Total purchase price $3609.

We do get an influx of inquiries and unfortunately they need to be prioritized by Buyer interest level. If a seller accepts your offer, the title company is going to require that escrow be established prior to generating contracts.

No financing options available from the seller. Prior to contacting the seller, are you in position to move forward with a cash purchase?

Thanks,

They are (enormously) padding the fees to increase their profit.

My favorite title company charges about $150...

If they want a "brokerage fee," the seller should pay it--that is who they represent. I'm sure they are double dipping the buyer and seller here, and I wouldn't buy on the basis of the ridiculous closing cost and the "brokerage fee"

I have yet to see a deal I like on SMTN.

wouldnt you love to be that seller, knowing you had an interested party for a timeshare and not realizing the company you paid hundreds of dollars to "sell" for you is driving away buyers with outrageous closing costs?

I thought I would never buy anything from SMTN but I am now in closing for one. You can always make an all in offer. Now that it is getting toward the end of the year, owners may be more willing to deal because they don't want to pay next year's MF. The one I got was listed at $3000. There were several others listed in the $15,000-$25,000 range. I offered $2000 including all closing costs and transfer fees. The owner accepted.

I inquired with them and when I told them that I thought their fees were very high and wanted to know if they had any listings where the seller paid the closing costs, the response I got was that the seller doesn't generally like to pay the closing costs because they've already paid them around $1700 to sell their timeshare.

ladixson said:

I inquired with them and when I told them that I thought their fees were very high and wanted to know if they had any listings where the seller paid the closing costs, the response I got was that the seller doesn't generally like to pay the closing costs because they've already paid them around $1700 to sell their timeshare.

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That sounds like a them problem, not a you problem.

OP: "If they paid to sell their timeshare, why are you soaking the buyer for another $600, plus an inflated closing fee, plus a $100 "administrative fee" (???) for a transfer/closing YOU perform in-house?"

Sounds like they stead to make $X,XXX from the seller and $1,400 from the buyer if they find a sucker.

Who cares what they make

If the total cost is more than you want to pay, don't pay it and keep shopping. But if the total cost is what you think it's worth, buy it

High Fees

We are brand new to Timeshare ownership. Thanks to TUG and this forum, we have successfuly negotiated contracts found here. The SMTN ads were extremely overpriced and the fees were ridiculous compared to other closing agents. I told them on an offer I attempted to work on, if I had to pay my closing and transfer fees then I would select the company, that is just good business. The poor Seller probably doesn't know their agent drove away a ready, willing, and able buyer from the table being greedy!

Good advice

ronparise said:

Who cares what they make

If the total cost is more than you want to pay, don't pay it and keep shopping. But if the total cost is what you think it's worth, buy it

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Everything is negotiable in a transaction and the bottom line is either you think you are paying an appropriate amount of money to acquire it or you don't. If you think the fees are out of line, offer to make the deal for a lower price or only if the fees are lower; maybe you request both.

Buying a timeshare is much more like buying a car than buying groceries. Consider the price an fees as merely a suggestion and go from there. Some fees are truly fixed such as the county recorder fee and taxes, but even those have some leeway; it is generally cheaper to record a two page deed than a four page deed and paying say $1,500 and a $500 "broker fee" will result in a lower transfer tax than simply paying $2,000.

Never pay more than you are comfortable paying, and never worry about the label by any particular charge. The bottom line is all that matters.

ronparise said:

Who cares what they make

If the total cost is more than you want to pay, don't pay it and keep shopping. But if the total cost is what you think it's worth, buy it

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My thoughts exactly, some of the best deals I got have been 90%+ closing costs but we're still a steal overall.

glmyers said:

Everything is negotiable in a transaction and the bottom line is either you think you are paying an appropriate amount of money to acquire it or you don't. If you think the fees are out of line, offer to make the deal for a lower price or only if the fees are lower; maybe you request both.

Buying a timeshare is much more like buying a car than buying groceries. Consider the price an fees as merely a suggestion and go from there. Some fees are truly fixed such as the county recorder fee and taxes, but even those have some leeway; it is generally cheaper to record a two page deed than a four page deed and paying say $1,500 and a $500 "broker fee" will result in a lower transfer tax than simply paying $2,000.

Never pay more than you are comfortable paying, and never worry about the label by any particular charge. The bottom line is all that matters.

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True, to the buyer the bottom line is all that matters. It is a shame that most likely, on a negotiated deal, the seller is the one most likely getting screwed as the company probably takes their exorbitant fee no matter what and the seller is the only one losing money.