Developer Trying to Buy My Timeshare

[ukpjdw]

I have a unique situation and have been unable to find any guidance. I own five weeks of timeshare that my parents purchased in the 1980s. My family has enjoyed it, and we bank the weeks and exchange them through RCI. The current resort property owner wants to convert our unit into a condo and sell it. According to Zillow, it appears they have already started this process. They have given me three options: accept a low cash offer, exchange for another unit that is reportedly comparable, or agree to the sale and potentially receive a substantially higher offer. The entire situation does not sit well with me. Has anyone encountered something like this before?

 

[silentg]

Are they collecting maintenance fees still? What are other owners doing? Sounds like the sale will happen so best idea is to wait and see what the offer is and perfect way to get out of the timeshare. If they let you move to another unit are you interested in keeping the weeks. More info is needed to advise you.

 

[vacationtime1]

I have a unique situation and have been unable to find any guidance. I own five weeks of timeshare that my parents purchased in the 1980s. My family has enjoyed it, and we bank the weeks and exchange them through RCI. The current resort property owner wants to convert our unit into a condo and sell it. According to Zillow, it appears they have already started this process. They have given me three options: accept a low cash offer, exchange for another unit that is reportedly comparable, or agree to the sale and potentially receive a substantially higher offer. The entire situation does not sit well with me. Has anyone encountered something like this before?

The current resort property owner is YOU, not the property manager. You own deeded real estate and no one can force you to transfer it (it appears you own fixed week/fixed unit interests which would prevent a whole ownership interest from being created).

The property manager apparently wishes to switch around ownership so a particular unit can be sold. But unless the timeshare governing documents (the CC&R's recorded at the county recorder's office) give them this right, you don't have to play. Someone is going to make some money on this and it may as well be you.

You or your lawyer needs to read through the CC&R's to determine what the property manager can do and what it cannot do. You own five weeks which could represent a large portion of the value of the condo to be sold (especially if yours are prime weeks).

 

[callwill]

If you are inclined to keep the unit, see whats available in a comparable or better unit...better being you compensation for assisting them in their goals.
Not being sure what a "low cash offer" means and assuming it means under market if their is one, nothing prevents you from making a counter offer for substantially higher.
Im guessing that "agree to the sale and potentially receive a substantially higher offer" means that you can wait until the conversion process is done and after the sale get a share of the proceeds?

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I have a unique situation and have been unable to find any guidance. I own five weeks of timeshare that my parents purchased in the 1980s. My family has enjoyed it, and we bank the weeks and exchange them through RCI. The current resort property owner wants to convert our unit into a condo and sell it. According to Zillow, it appears they have already started this process. They have given me three options: accept a low cash offer, exchange for another unit that is reportedly comparable, or agree to the sale and potentially receive a substantially higher offer. The entire situation does not sit well with me. Has anyone encountered something like this before?

Is this the Pines at Meadow Ridge in Fraser, CO ? If so, there is a week 51 currently available for resale on Redweek for just $150. That may or may not give you an idea as to what your weeks may be worth.

It could be a great time to unload those weeks while at the same time it could be a good time to dig in your heels and hold out. These are questions that only you are able to satisfy in your own mind.

I think TUG members may be curious as to how much you are being offered per week (assuming you don't mind disclosing this) ?

Welcome to TUG and please keep us posted.












.

 

[vacationtime1]

Is this the Pines at Meadow Ridge in Fraser, CO ? If so, there is a week 51 currently available for resale on Redweek for just $150. That may or may not give you an idea as to what your weeks may be worth.

It could be a great time to unload those weeks while at the same time it could be a good time to dig in your heels and hold out. These are questions that only you are able to satisfy in your own mind.

I think TUG members may be curious as to how much you are being offered per week (assuming you don't mind disclosing this) ?

Welcome to TUG and please keep us posted.

That a week 51 is for sale for $150 does not mean that the condo taken as a full ownership is worth only $7,500.

I have no idea what full ownership of the condo would be worth, but if it were $250K, OP's 10% interest (five weeks out of fifty) has real value.

 

[dioxide45]

I suspect the HOA/Property has a lot of defaults and is looking for ways to solve the problem. Perhaps with the help of a consulting company like Lemonjuice. They try to get clean title to an entire unit for all 52 weeks so they can sell it as whole ownership. Thus it gets taken out of the timeshare scheme and the HOA doesn't have to worry as much about it. I think @rickandcindy23 may have some experience with this at a resort they own or owned at.

It is good that they have provided you options. You may come out more ahead with the last option, but there are a lot of expenses involved in converting a timeshare unit to whole ownership. Legal costs and perhaps having to renovate the unit to make it more marketable. Then they have to pay commissions for the final sale. Refusing to do any of the three things will probably hinder what the HOA wants to do.

Do you think they are trying to be nefarious about it? Is someone going to come out more ahead than someone else? That is more likely to happen if you opt for the first two options. Who will be taking ownership of your weeks when you opt for 1 or 2? Is it the HOA or someone else who then takes option 3 and makes a bundle while you got little to nothing. It has been seen before where there are people more in the know about what is going on and they scoop up a bunch of weeks so they can make bank. Sometimes friends or family of these people in the know get involved too. Some underhanded stuff can happen. You need to ask a lot of questions.

Also, if all you're doing is exchanging through RCI, the actual unit you own doesn't matter and option 2 is just fine. Just be sure they don't try to give you some lower season weeks.

 

[pedro47]

Can the OP, share the name of this property?

 

[TolmiePeak]

Can the OP, share the name of this property?

Pines at Meadowridge perhaps?

 

[bnoble]

Here is the state of play:

1. The Board is looking to sell off some inventory, presumably because they have enough owners defaulting that they can shuffle them around to clear the decks and sell one (or more) condo(s).
2. Your weeks, as weeks, are worthless if you try to sell them on the open market. Maybe less than worthless.
3. You are currently getting some value from using those weeks.
4. You have the prospect of getting more-than-market-value by surrendering those weeks.
5. If you surrender now, you have the guaranteed payout you are being offered, and can move on immediately.
6. If you surrender later, you have the chance at a higher payout, but have to wait and may have to kick in more money in the meantime.

#1 does not happen unless the resort is in financial trouble. So, that's the first thing you have to understand: your resort is in financial trouble. You are using the weeks to exchange in RCI, and that has value. But you know what? There are TONS of potential weeks free for the taking that would be perfectly fine traders in RCI. Some of those weeks are at resorts that are not in financial trouble.

So, it seems to me that you've been given a gift. If it were me, I'd take the immediate (lower) payout, and use that towards picking up a few new traders. I suspect you will come out ahead in this, but even if you don't, it is a low-cost (and more importantly low-effort) way to get out of a resort that is probably not long for this world.

If it were me, I'd take the money and run.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I would love for someone to offer me this for Pines at Meadow Ridge or Twin Rivers. My units at Twin Rivers do not have a view of the river, and those are far more desirable than the ones that have a view of the meadow and HWY 40, about 1/10 mile behind our unit.

Pines at Meadow Ridge is a very desirable property above the highway, basically right above the Safeway store. It's all 2 bed, 2 bath, recently updated, and I know a couple of TUG members who were offering owners cash for their weeks to combine several into wholly owned units. It was a brilliant business move. They did very well. This was about 8 years ago.

These two wise TUG members may be at it again, and good for them because real estate in Winter Park/ Fraser has finally reached a point where it would be an even more wise move. Owning a week here and there has no value. Owning a full condo, removing it from the timeshare management and into a private management company (or selling it outright) that's where the money is. It requires some title searches, which can be costly, but in the end, what a spectacular way to acquire real estate. More of us should consider it.

I would bet a Pines unit would sell easily for $600K. Weeks are worth basically $0. I know because I bought a resale about 8 years ago for $0 with that year's fees included.

I hope Steve and Philip contact me.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We are doing this at our Frisco timeshare, actually, so if this guy also owns in Frisco, we are offering owners the chance to get out (walk away) or to choose the same exact week in another unit. We are selling one unit to help our HOA with our deadbeat and actually our literally dead owners.

No one should have an attachment to a particular unit, if they are all identical.

 

[rickandcindy23]

@bnoble is probably right on with this, if it's actually Alderwood calling you. If it's not Alderwood, it's a private party misrepresenting their intention.

If it is Alderwood, your best bet is to allow them to take the weeks you own and trade them with like units. If it's for the health of the resort, that's a different story. I am unaware of any attempts by management to sell a whole unit.

Do you own ski weeks? Those are much more valuable for using, but not for trading.

 

[bnoble]

your best bet is to allow them to take the weeks you own and trade them with like units.

I think it would be even better to surrender the weeks for whatever nominal payment they are offering, and acquire traders at a resort that has a healthier balance sheet.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I would love for someone to offer me this for Pines at Meadow Ridge or Twin Rivers. My units at Twin Rivers do not have a view of the river, and those are far more desirable than the ones that have a view of the meadow and HWY 40, about 1/10 mile behind our unit.

Pines at Meadow Ridge is a very desirable property above the highway, basically right above the Safeway store. It's all 2 bed, 2 bath, recently updated, and I know a couple of TUG members who were offering owners cash for their weeks to combine several into wholly owned units. It was a brilliant business move. They did very well. This was about 8 years ago.

These two wise TUG members may be at it again, and good for them because real estate in Winter Park/ Fraser has finally reached a point where it would be an even more wise move. Owning a week here and there has no value. Owning a full condo, removing it from the timeshare management and into a private management company (or selling it outright) that's where the money is. It requires some title searches, which can be costly, but in the end, what a spectacular way to acquire real estate. More of us should consider it.

I would bet a Pines unit would sell easily for $600K. Weeks are worth basically $0. I know because I bought a resale about 8 years ago for $0 with that year's fees included.

I hope Steve and Philip contact me.

So I wonder if the new owner would have to pay maintenance fees X 52 to own a whole ownership condo there? At $800 per week (a guess) then the whole ownership nut would be in excess of $40,000 annually...... Not cheap!









.

 

[wackymother]

We had this happen at Briarwood in Cape Cod. The units were originally planned as townhouses in the 1980s; when they didn't sell, they made it into a timeshare resort. We bought our week 30 unit on eBay around 2008 and had it for about ten years. During that time, the resort decided to sell off some of the units as townhouses. There are different buildings at Briarwood, and you would have thought that they would do one building at a time, but they didn't--they would gather up the weeks for one unit here, one unit there, so if you were staying there on vacation, you might be right next to someone's home.

Eventually they got to our unit and they offered us a modest sum (but still more than we had paid for the week), or to move us to a different unit for week 30. They did not offer the "wait and see" option. We took the buyout option and we were happy with it. The townhouses sell for a very tidy sum, and the amount we were paid was a tiny fraction of that, but we were still happy.

There's at least one other resort on Cape Cod that just suddenly told owners that they were going out of business and that was that, although the real estate there would probably have been even more valuable. Not sure what's going on there.

In any case, I guess if I were you and I still enjoyed my timeshare and still used it, I would let them move me to a comparable unit.

 

[rickandcindy23]

So I wonder if the new owner would have to pay maintenance fees X 52 to own a whole ownership condo there? At $800 per week (a guess) then the whole ownership nut would be in excess of $40,000 annually...... Not cheap!









.

Absolutely not. There is a whole-owners' association that has more units than the timeshare association. You would have to pay the whole-owners' HOA dues. You could also hire Alderwood to manage your individual unit for rental, or you could rent it yourself and hire a housekeeping company to clean after each rental. The feasible thing to do is sell it. Sell 2 or 3 and you have enough money for a nice house in Grand County. Like I said, a couple of TUG members did this.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I think it would be even better to surrender the weeks for whatever nominal payment they are offering, and acquire traders at a resort that has a healthier balance sheet.

I don't think Pines is in big trouble financially. That's not the impression I get from my newsletters. I believe a private party is doing this under the radar because why wouldn't that have been in the newsletter? "You can expect a call if you own in units_____, _____, or _____."

I will talk to a board member I know well and see if he can provide any insight.

The trading power of even the ski weeks with Pines is only about 24 or 25 per week. I know because it's about the same at Twin Rivers. Ski weeks have fees of $1,263 for 2025. That is some pretty high trading power cost (TPU's of over $40?). It's no bargain to own a ski week. Summer weeks are only slightly less.

Zillow couldn't have any information on the sale of a unit at PInes. I am trying to figure out what that's about. Zillow will show previous sales of wholly owned units.

If Alderwood is contacting people about selling a unit, call me. I will give back my week 23 in a heartbeat.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

It requires some title searches, which can be costly, but in the end, what a spectacular way to acquire real estate. More of us should consider it.

Trying to buy out 52 different people from all over the world sounds like a hassle…

 

[bizaro86]

Trying to buy out 52 different people from all over the world sounds like a hassle…

Sure. But if the potential profit is in the hundreds of thousands there's probably someone willing to put up with a bit of hassle.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Sure. But if the potential profit is in the hundreds of thousands there's probably someone willing to put up with a bit of hassle.

Absolutely. The problem Philip and Steve had with this process was the older people who believed that because they paid $12k (guessing) for their ski weeks 40 years ago, of course the value has gone up and not down.

Ironically, there are people in the newsletter that want out of their weeks and are selling cheaply, so the belief that the value is higher is nonsense. One only has to look at what people are asking for weeks to know that there is no value (and the same ads are in the newsletter year after year). If you think your week is so valuable, buy more. They do not. It had to be frustrating for these TUG members. They no longer post on TUG.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Trying to buy out 52 different people from all over the world sounds like a hassle…

It is a huge hassle. Some weeks are going to be owned by whomever is trying to accomplish the acquisition of the weeks. Some will be owned by the association already. Could be just half of the units that need to be acquired.

Funny that the OP says "developer." The original developer died in 1984?? or thereabouts in a plane crash. There is no developer. He didn't get everything sold before he died. So many problems associated with it. Twin Rivers had the same developer.

 

[TolmiePeak]

Trying to buy out 52 different people from all over the world sounds like a hassle…

It is a huge hassle. When I was working for the State DOT in Seattle we were building a tunnel under downtown. It went under several large condo buildings with hundreds of units each. We had to buy subterrain rights from each owner. I think each owner got a few hundreds of dollars each but the administrative cost to pay the lawyers and real estate professionals ran into the tens of thousands of dollars for each unit. It was a mess.

 

[dioxide45]

Absolutely not. There is a whole-owners' association that has more units than the timeshare association. You would have to pay the whole-owners' HOA dues. You could also hire Alderwood to manage your individual unit for rental, or you could rent it yourself and hire a housekeeping company to clean after each rental. The feasible thing to do is sell it. Sell 2 or 3 and you have enough money for a nice house in Grand County. Like I said, a couple of TUG members did this.

But how can a private owner of the deeded weeks just convert them to whole ownership? Wouldn't it take a vote by the HOA/BOD of the timeshare units to convert another unit and allow it to join the whole ownership HOA?

 

[rickandcindy23]

But how can a private owner of the deeded weeks just convert them to whole ownership? Wouldn't it take a vote by the HOA/BOD of the timeshare units to convert another unit and allow it to join the whole ownership HOA?

No, it really wouldn't. Once you get people to agree, you get a title company to clear title on all of the weeks, then take it over as a wholly-owned unit.

My friend who is a board member informed me that anyone who owns 5 weeks is a fractional owner, so it part of a fractional-owned unit. Therefore, only ten owners involved in the takeover of a unit.