Just go away.

My wife & I have, & have mostly enjoyed, our TS for 12+ years. Now, however, the time has come to move on. And so, I find myself wading into the murky waters of selling a timeshare...

At this point, I would really just prefer to make it go away. I would literally give the TS over to someone who will cover the transfer fees.
Which brings me to my questions.
1. Is that stupid of me? Are my 238k Wyndham points worth enough to bother with trying to sell myself?

2. I have contact with an EBayer, seans0302 of seanstimeshares, who is willing to do exactly what I said above. He has good feedback & apparently deals in a fair amount of timeshares. He is asking that I email him copies of my deeds at which point he will start the process with his title company. In the meantime, I would have to keep paying the MF. (3-4 more months).

Is emailing a copy of the deeds a redflag? Is 3-4 months realistic? Or is this someone possibly trying to float an option on my TS, waiting until he has a buyer to actually close the deal?

All I want to do is walk away from this without spending more money or getting scammed. Help?

You can actually do it yourself right here on TUG. Hundreds of TS owners have don it. There is a sticky at the top of this very forum. If you actually want some fair market amount for it, you could join TUG ($15 for a year) then advertise it in the TUG Marketplace (red stripe above here) or if, as you state you are happy finding it a new home, you can list it for free in the 'Bargain Deals' sub-forum of this forum. Simply follow the format you'll see there. There are TUGgers who can handle the transfer very reasonably and as quickly as anyone.

Best wishes.

Jim

Yardithbey said:

At this point, I would really just prefer to make it go away. I would literally give the TS over to someone who will cover the transfer fees.
Which brings me to my questions.
1. Is that stupid of me? Are my 238k Wyndham points worth enough to bother with trying to sell myself?

2. I have contact with an EBayer, seans0302 of seanstimeshares, who is willing to do exactly what I said above. He has good feedback & apparently deals in a fair amount of timeshares. He is asking that I email him copies of my deeds at which point he will start the process with his title company. In the meantime, I would have to keep paying the MF. (3-4 more months).

Is emailing a copy of the deeds a redflag? Is 3-4 months realistic? Or is this someone possibly trying to float an option on my TS, waiting until he has a buyer to actually close the deal?

All I want to do is walk away from this without spending more money or getting scammed. Help?

Click to expand...

Rather than involve a commercial entity / eBay seller with a profit motive which, more importantly, likely just adds more time to the overall "departure" process, why not offer to give it away in the TUG Bargain Deals forum to another person who might actually want it and use it, with no commercial / profit motive? Just a thought.

Wyndham charges a $299 transfer fee, one way or another. Don't shoot the messenger, but you may have to offer to pay that fee yourself in order to even find a willing recipient (...as I had to do in order to give away a 183k points Wyndham ownership a few years ago). You have more points and more value in your ownership than I had in mine, but not enough more to justify making this a laborious exercise for you. You have points that would reserve a full week in a 2BR unit at most places, but we don't know your maintenance fees (and you can't really post that info in this forum without becoming a prohibited "ad"). Those fees are obviously a "value factor" too.

Personally, I don't recommend unnecessarily getting a third party reseller involved as your first course of action, since there is frankly very little monetary value here. You also don't need to be sending deed copies off to strangers who may or may not ultimately be able to help you much anyhow. Although the entity you mention has a good reputation here, I still fail to see how or why you'd benefit in any way from (unnecessary, IMHO) third party involvement. Just my personal opinion; YMMV.

Your decision, but that's exactly what I'd do --- and have in fact already done with one roughly comparable (and equally unwanted) Wyndham ownership.

@Passepartout.
My points are in 2 contracts. Should I list them as 2 separate items?

KaChing...

Yardithbey said:

My points are in 2 contracts. Should I list them as 2 separate items?

Click to expand...

Know in advance and consider that Wyndham will extort collect a $299 transfer fee per contract, so take that fact into account however / wherever you proceed.

Extort is the word!

The hardest part of selling your timeshare is finding a taker. I would not worry about how the "buyer" will use your TS. If you can hand it over with little out of pocket expense, do it.

I have given them away where the taker paid the transfer fees and I've done them where I had to pay this. I would not let a couple hundred dollars stop me from transferring a unit. It's not unreasonable to expect a buyer to pay the transfer fees.

If after a while it doesn't sell then you can offer to pay these fees.

I just bought in a private sale on eBay. It was a great experience though, obviously, it depends on the parties involved.

[DELETED: Buying/Selling/Renting are strictly prohibited in the discussion forums.]

bphawk64 said:

[DELETED: Buying/Selling/Renting are strictly prohibited in the discussion forums.]

Click to expand...

You previously expressed interest in another thread in acquiring a Wyndham ownership. Why not send a Private Message to the OP and inquire further about this one?
This may well be what you tried to do, but you are not allowed to "conduct business" in the discussion forums, which is why your post was (appropriately) deleted.
Send a PM directly to the OP (see post #1 in this thread) if you're genuinely interested; it may just work out for both of you.

theo said:

....
Send a PM directly to the OP (see post #1 in this thread) if you're genuinely interested; it may just work out for both of you.

Click to expand...

You can accomplish this my clicking on the blue user name of any member to send messages.

csxjohn said:

I have given them away where the taker paid the transfer fees and I've done them where I had to pay this. I would not let a couple hundred dollars stop me from transferring a unit. It's not unreasonable to expect a buyer to pay the transfer fees.

If after a while it doesn't sell then you can offer to pay these fees.

Click to expand...

OP - you might also want to consider where your points are denominated and if you have any unused points that you would be transferring to the new owner in how much you will be willing to kick in for transfer costs. I don't think you mention what resorts you own, but some points are more valuable due to lower maintenance fees (e.g. national harbor, canterbury, bali hai, etc.) and others are sought after points for ARP.

We have owned some of our timeshares for as long as 33 years (also bought from developers, of course). As we got older, we acquired many more for our vacations. We aren't using timeshare less; we are using it more. So when people say they are done, I guess I don't understand.

Wyndham points bought from the developer are valuable in RCI, and Wyndham points in general are valuable within the system. I know some people think timeshares are a nightmare to own, but I feel totally opposite of that. We can get a timeshare most anywhere we want to go, and so the argument that, "I prefer hotels because they are in places we travel, while timeshares are not," doesn't really make sense to me, knowing what I know.

So here I am again, wondering why the decision? We are almost 60, Rick retires in 7 months from the fire department in Denver, and we are looking forward to so many trips we haven't done before, and using our Wyndham points will be key to staying in places we cannot trade into, like Old Town Alexandria.

I am just baffled that as people age, they don't want their timeshares. Why?

rickandcindy23 said:

I am just baffled that as people age, they don't want their timeshares. Why?

Click to expand...

We've jettisoned 4 of our contracts recently. For us, we can use that money for better things in the future. We still take trips, but we're going to look at renting instead of buying.

It's not that we don't like the vacationing (we'll still travel just as much), it's just that timeshares are not worth the investment anymore. Plus, I have several places that I want to go where they don't even have the timeshares available. In a year or two, we might purchase in a few other locations.

I can sure see how folks feel about 'outgrowing' their timeshares. I've paid up all my MF's, but to be brutally honest about it, I'm running out of places to go where there are timeshares I want to vacation in. Been to Hawaii a number of times, been going to Mexico for years, Las Vegas is good for 3-4 days every couple of years, Branson has zero appeal, Williamsburg is a been-there, done that kind of place, Florida is too hot, humid, full of chain restaurants and/or kids & theme parks. I've hiked all I want at Sedona and peered over red rocks in Utah.

We still RV, have a second home, rent VRBO's, fly to Europe/Asia, and cruise a couple of times a year.

The timeshares served a purpose at a certain stage of our lives, but I am feeling that we might well be moving past that time.

Forgive my rambling.

Jim

Passepartout said:

I can sure see how folks feel about 'outgrowing' their timeshares. I've paid up all my MF's, but to be brutally honest about it, I'm running out of places to go where there are timeshares I want to vacation in. Been to Hawaii a number of times, been going to Mexico for years, Las Vegas is good for 3-4 days every couple of years, Branson has zero appeal, Williamsburg is a been-there, done that kind of place, Florida is too hot, humid, full of chain restaurants and/or kids & theme parks. I've hiked all I want at Sedona and peered over red rocks in Utah.

We still RV, have a second home, rent VRBO's, fly to Europe/Asia, and cruise a couple of times a year.

The timeshares served a purpose at a certain stage of our lives, but I am feeling that we might well be moving past that time.

Forgive my rambling.

Jim

Click to expand...

I like this post, it helps answer Cindy's question.

I'm not running out of new places to try but I have gotten tired of a few places we used to go frequently so my needs in TSs have changed.

I owned four for quite a while, got rid of all of them, but they have been replaced by three others, two at the same place.

I may get rid of the Orlando one if my kids don't want to take their families to Disney but it does give me four exchanges every year (two 2brs and two 1brs) so that decision won't be easy.

Enjoy our TS

I will be 62 next month and plan to retire at 66 and maybe even after that depending upon various issues, such as health and work environment. We bought our first TS in 2011. I am hoping to enjoy them for years to come. We will travel to places like Bentley Brook and Newport as many times as possible, My wife would retire at Bentley Brook (LOL). We have only revisited those places. Next summer will we revisit Nashville. We still or I should say I still want to visit Arizona (Sedona), Washington DC, and New Orleans, and Edisto Beach and maybe the Florida Panhandle. We enjoy taking our family with us - in laws or outlaws included LOL. Enjoy yours as much as you can and as long u are able too.

Passepartout said:

You can actually do it yourself right here on TUG. Hundreds of TS owners have don it. There is a sticky at the top of this very forum. If you actually want some fair market amount for it, you could join TUG ($15 for a year) then advertise it in the TUG Marketplace (red stripe above here) or if, as you state you are happy finding it a new home, you can list it for free in the 'Bargain Deals' sub-forum of this forum. Simply follow the format you'll see there. There are TUGgers who can handle the transfer very reasonably and as quickly as anyone.

Best wishes.

Jim

Click to expand...

There are currently 20 Wyndham points TS's for sale in the TUG Bargain Basement (under Marketplace), 9 for $1.

Since Seans TS's are typically sold and advertised with no closing costs payed by the buyer, I'd have to assume that the seller (you) would have to pick up those and any other fees and expenses. Therefore, better to try giving it away and the buyer pays the closing costs, or the buyer and seller splits all closing costs and transfer fees.

You can contact/use Janet at JRA Services to help you with the closing and purchase documents. We used her for our HGVC purchase off the TUG Marketplace, while we were in Hawaii on Vacation, piece of cake.

http://www.timeshareresaleclosings.com/

Real easy to use. Let's say a potential buyer contacts you off your TUG ad, you both agree to the purchase price ($1), you both agree on closing costs (split), and you both agree on using JRA Services. You both individually contact Janet, she takes care of all the paperwork, and you never have to contact the buyer ever again.

She comes highly recommended here on TUG, which is how I found out about her and her services/company.

Ron98GT said:

There are currently 20 Wyndham points TS's for sale in the TUG Bargain Basement (under Marketplace), 9 for $1.

Since Seans TS's are typically sold and advertised with no closing costs payed by the buyer, I'd have to assume that the seller (you) would have to pick up those and any other fees and expenses. Therefore, better to try giving it away and the buyer pays the closing costs, or the buyer and seller splits all closing costs and transfer fees.

You can contact/use Janet at JRA Services to help you with the closing and purchase documents. We used her for our HGVC purchase off the TUG Marketplace, while we were in Hawaii on Vacation, piece of cake.

http://www.timeshareresaleclosings.com/

Real easy to use. Let's say a potential buyer contacts you off your TUG ad, you both agree to the purchase price ($1), you both agree on closing costs (split), and you both agree on using JRA Services. You both individually contact Janet, she takes care of all the paperwork, and you never have to contact the buyer ever again.

She comes highly recommended here on TUG, which is how I found out about her and her services/company.

Click to expand...

I agree with this input. I also personally believe that Janet A. at JRA might very well be the best in the business, at least IMnsHO and experience.
Given any say in the matter, JRA is always my "go to" closer, whether buying (...and there will be no more of that, thank you very much) or selling.

The difficult hurdle for the OP to successfully overcome is finding that elusive willing recipient in the first place, as csxjohn astutely noted earlier. As you have pointed out above, Wyndham points ownerships are "a dime a dozen" on almost any given day and we don't really know anything about the OP's underlying location(s) or the maintenance fees / points ratios on those two contracts; they may or may not be attractive to a potential recipient --- comparatively speaking.

My recollection of our Wyndham ownership (good riddance, I'll gladly add) is that payment of fees is monthly, as opposed to the annual (pre-Christmas) arrival a single, large maintenance fee bill, as is the practice with many (most?) timeshare ownerships, including virtually all "independents". This "monthly payment" feature, if still in practice within Wyndham, might work in a "donor's" favor if a prospective recipient chooses to look at taking on a (mostly free) Wyndham ownership as just enduring the fees on a monthly basis. Dunno though; with so many Wyndham ownerships being peddled for peanuts yet going unclaimed, maybe that optimistic logic is flawed.

I have never used JRA, but can recommend Mary at LT Transfers. Worked with then several times for Disney and other TS closings and they are excellent.
http://www.lttransfers.com/

rickandcindy23 said:

I am just baffled that as people age, they don't want their timeshares. Why?

Click to expand...

I made my decision to divest at around age 74 or 75 for 3 reasons. First was health. I had two mini strokes (TIA Events) in one month. I was afraid to have another at 30,000 feet or miles from a hospital when driving, thus was reluctant to travel. Second was to simplify things for my kids after my death. Third was administrative to eliminate having to track and manage all my Weeks.

George

I can understand the desire to be rid of a timeshare but Im still into timeshares !!!! I have been fortunate enough to sell or give away my fixed weeks, my Mexico RTU's go away in about 8 - 10 years and my kids will want my wm accounts at the point we can no longer use them.

I thought Wyndham points were similar to the Worldmark system and actuall thought about purchasing some Wyndham accounts but then came to the realization that there isn't as much flexibility with Wyndham points as there is with Worldmark points, for us anyway.

We actively trade and grab extra vacations through the exchange companies to mix up the destinations of travel.


I learned how to do this reading the tug forums from you guys, so thanks !

Bill