Redweek - Buying Timeshare

[dsexton]

I'm curious about anyone's recent experience with buying a resale week on RedWeek. I'm in the process of negotiations for a week that is being handled by an "Authorized RedWeek Broker". After several rounds of negotiations, I finally agreed to the terms of the original ad and now am being told the owner may raise the price ? This doesn't sit well with me and I'm a little surprised because I thought generally RedWeek was a reputable site to buy/rent timeshares. Any thoughts ?

 

[DeniseM]

Redweek is just an advertising website. They do not control, nor get involved in the actual transaction, unless the seller is paying for their "full service," option.

If, however, the seller is asking more than the price in their Ad, I would report it to Redweek, and they contact him about it.

However, Redweek cannot force him to sell at the advertised price, but they may require him to increase the price in the Ad or cancel the Ad.

In your situation, I would walk away. There are always more fish in the sea - why do business with someone like this?

BTW - is this a private seller or a company?

 

[LannyPC]

This doesn't sit well with me and I'm a little surprised because I thought generally RedWeek was a reputable site to buy/rent timeshares. Any thoughts ?

Make sure you don't confuse the site with the people using the site. Red Week has a great reputation for listing TSs for sale or rent. Unfortunately, RW can't control the actions and negotiations of people using the site.

 

[theo]

I'm curious about anyone's recent experience with buying a resale week on RedWeek. I'm in the process of negotiations for a week that is being handled by an "Authorized RedWeek Broker". After several rounds of negotiations, I finally agreed to the terms of the original ad and now am being told the owner may raise the price ? This doesn't sit well with me and I'm a little surprised because I thought generally RedWeek was a reputable site to buy/rent timeshares. Any thoughts ?

RedWeek is just a web site --- no more, no less. Buyers and / or sellers utilizing that site (or any other site, including this one) may have or create unanticipated "issues", but that's certainly not the fault (or the responsibility) of the site on which the ads were placed.

Until a signed contract with specified terms and price is executed, the owner (...or just as likely, a hungry listing broker, "Redweek authorized" or not) can always attempt to raise the ante to get more money, although doing so might well alienate a buyer who (like you) was ready and willing to proceed with the originally advertised terms. There might have been more interest in the listing than was anticipated at the original price, leading someone to now believe they might get more money for the resale.
The bottom line, ethical aspects aside, is that everything is negotiable until a contract is executed. I'd tell them "honor the advertised terms --- or Goodbye". YMMV.

Hope it works out for you, but RedWeek as a web site is not the cause of your understandable frustration. Instead, a greedy seller and / or broker is the responsible party --- not the web site where the ad was placed.

 

[dsexton]

Redweek is just an advertising website. They do not control, nor get involved in the actual transaction, unless the seller is paying for their "full service," option.

If, however, the seller is asking more than the price in their Ad, I would report it to Redweek, and they contact him about it.

However, Redweek cannot force him to sell at the advertised price, but they may require him to increase the price in the Ad or cancel the Ad.

In your situation, I would walk away. There are always more fish in the sea - why do business with someone like this?

BTW - is this a private seller or a company?

I cannot tell whether this is a private seller or a company because the person emailing me is an "authorized redweek broker" named Janet, supposedly acting on behalf of the seller. The ad is also a "Redweek Verified Ad".

 

[dsexton]

RedWeek is just a web site --- no more, no less. Buyers and / or sellers utilizing that site (or any other site, including this one) may have or create unanticipated "issues", but that's certainly not the fault (or the responsibility) of the site on which the ads were placed.

Until a signed contract with specified terms and price is executed, the owner (...or just as likely, a hungry listing broker, "Redweek authorized" or not) can always attempt to raise the ante to get more money, although doing so might well alienate a buyer who (like you) was ready and willing to proceed with the originally advertised terms. There might have been more interest in the listing than was anticipated at the original price, leading someone to believe they might get more money for the resale.
he bottom line, ethical aspects aside, is that everything is negotiable until a contract is executed. I'd tell them "honor the original ad terms or goodbye". YMMV.

Hope it works out for you, but RedWeek as a web site is not the cause of your understandable frustration. Instead, a greedy seller and / or broker is the responsible party --- not the web site where the ad was placed.

Thanks Theo - I agree with everything you've said, the week is very desirable and the ad had incorrect information ( but in my favor) regarding actual unit location. They may have figured this out....regardless, I've drawn my line in the sand.

 

[ronparise]

Do you have a signed contract at one price and the seller is trying to up his price.. or are you still negotioting?

I would suggest that as long as there is no signed contract the seller can do whatever they want

The redweek broker represents the seller and will do what they are instructed to do by their client...

 

[theo]

I cannot tell whether this is a private seller or a company because the person emailing me is an "authorized redweek broker" named Janet, supposedly acting on behalf of the seller. The ad is also a "Redweek Verified Ad".

Fwiw, "RedWeek verified" really means nothing more than that the ownership / identity has been confirmed or "verified" (by RedWeek, for a fee). This "verification" would ultimately have to occur at some point (without any such "RedWeek verification") in a deeded ownership transaction anyhow, via signature-notarized deed execution.

P.S. It doesn't matter whether the advertiser is a private seller or a commercial entity --- the owner has plainly chosen to utilize a broker and that is the entity with whom you will have to conduct business. It is that broker who would have presented a contract if you had ever gotten to that point (...you may still, if all goes well). Good luck.

 

[dioxide45]

Fwiw, "RedWeek verified" really means nothing more than that the owner identity has been confirmed or "verified" (by RedWeek, for a fee). This "verification" would ultimately have to occur at some point (without any such "RedWeek verification") in a deeded ownership transaction anyhow, via signature-notarized deed execution.

P.S. It doesn't matter whether the advertiser is a private seller or a commercial entity --- the owner has plainly chosen to utilize a broker and that is the entity with whom you will have to conduct business. It is that broker who would have presented a contract if you had ever gotten to that point (...you may still, if all goes well). Good luck.

"Redweek Verified" also means that all communications go to Redweek. If you look at all of those listings, they all indicate "Contact RedWeek to purchase or get more information". Yes, there are actual independent people/sellers behind these ads. Redweek is listing them for the seller and acting on their behalf as a broker.

I would just flat out make an offer and indicate that it is your final offer. If the seller wants to up the list price on the ad, they can do that. I suspect that they have had a lot of interest in the week. My wife sees this all the time on garage sale and for sale Facebook groups. People post something for sale and they get all kinds of responses because it is too cheap. Then you see it pop back up a few days later at a higher price. Until it is sold, the price is negotiable. During the housing boom, people were very often making offers well above listing. It still happens in some housing markets today.

 

[DeniseM]

Redweek Verified just means that Redweek has verified that the owner owns the reservation:

The RedWeek Verified flag on a posting means we have confirmed the accuracy of key details, so you can feel confident in your transaction. Everything you see in the green RedWeek Verified box on a posting page has been reviewed, confirmed, and validated by RedWeek staff.

It is an additional $15 for the "Redweek Verified" service, but it is not the same as a full-service Ad.

Full Service Ads:

What is the cost?

Full-service resale postings run for 12 months are $125 for each interval being sold. Upon a successful sale, our brokers will take a modest fee of $399 or 3% of resale price, whichever is greater. Should your resort/developer exercise a "right of first refusal" and step in as the buyer, they must follow the same terms and conditions of the contract submitted to them by the broker. Any commissions agreed upon in said contract will be paid.

If another licensed broker who has a buyer for the property enters the transaction, they may have a separate commission agreement. If so, our commission MAY be waived in lieu of this commission structure, with the commission charged by the other broker to the buyer being split between the two brokerages.

In other words, all Full-service Ads are verified, but all Verified Ads are not full-service.