• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 29 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered!
  • TUG started 29 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Check out our happy birthday post here: Happy Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Come check it out for a chance to win a Free TUG membership (or renewal) just for helping out!

    Read more here
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Follow the TUG Member Banner as it travels the world on vacation with Timeshare owners! Also sign up to get the banner sent to you so you can submit a photo of your vacation with the banner to share with TUG! Banner Thread
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free! 60,000+ subscribers! Latest resort reviews and the most important topics discussed by owners during the week!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    Read more Here
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

I'm giving my TS to a church...

koupe377

newbie
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
North Florida
I'm thinking of giving my TS away to a church. If i do this can I write this off as a donation? and if so do I write off what I paid for it [less interest] or do I have does the write off amount haveto come from comps?
 

PigsDad

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
9,811
Reaction score
6,743
Points
748
Location
Colorado and SW Florida
Resorts Owned
HGVC Elite: SeaWorld, Surf Club, Charter Club, Valdoro
You can only claim fair market value, and you better be able to defend that valuation if you are ever audited. It will be no where near what you paid (think pennies on the dollar). Just looking at asking prices on sites that advertise TS sales is not realistic. You need to find actual selling prices.

Kurt
 

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,302
Reaction score
8,444
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
Did the church already agree to take it?
How did you find them?
Are there any costs to you?
 

koupe377

newbie
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
North Florida
Its my cousin's church, thats the only reason I'll do it. The Church is here in north Florida and the TS is Vistana Villages in Orlando. There is always church stuff going on down there. He is the one talking to them about it. If is doesn't go through then I will sell it for ridiculously cheap.

hmm Fair Market Value... well the value of all real estate has fallen, and the prices they are at, well, I don't think they are "fair" so I'll write off what I think is "fair" instead of the Unfair Market Value.

But how do you get comps for time share's. Its not as easy as looking up county appraiser/tax collector info for residential on the county website.
 

T_R_Oglodyte

TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
15,754
Reaction score
7,657
Points
1,048
Location
Belly-View, WA
You only have a write off if you transfer ownership of the unit to a church. If you are only referring to transferring use of one week (for example, in an auction to support a ministry), there is no deduction.

If you donating the entire ownership, as mentioned above your deduction is the fair market value. Fair market value reflects actually selling prices in the resale market, and FMV is, with few exceptions, only a small fraction (often less than 10%) of what the unit originally sold for.

You don't get to define what "Fair" means. That is defined by the IRS in its rules governing donations. And yes, it might be as easy as looking up county appraiser/tax collector info on the county website. If the property is deeded, deed transfers will be recorded the same as with residential real estate.
 
Last edited:

DeniseM

Moderator
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
57,302
Reaction score
8,444
Points
1,849
Resorts Owned
WKORV, WKV, 2-SDO, 4-Kauai Beach Villas, Island Park Village (Yellowstone), Hyatt High Sierra, Dolphin's Cove (Anaheim)
You can find comps on ebay from ended auctions by logging in, going to the timeshare area, search for the TS by name, and then use the menu on the left to search for completed listings. Because of the special assessments, there are a lot on the market now.

If the church agrees to take it make sure they know they will have to pay the maintenance fee and special assessment if it doesn't sell before they are due (likely.)

This link will take you to all of the current, completed Starwood listings - http://completed.shop.ebay.com/item...mdoZRealQ2dEstateQQ_pcatsZ10542QQ_sacatZ15897

BTW - if you decide not to sell it, come see us on the TUG Starwood board - we can help you get more out of your timeshare.
 
Last edited:

koupe377

newbie
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
North Florida
only a small fraction (often less than 10%) of what the unit originally sold for.

You don't get to define what "Fair" means. That is defined by the IRS in its rules governing donations.

Yeah I know.. I was only being an ass, shaking my fist in the face of the IRS. But thanks for informing that it is possible to find sale info from the county.
 

rickandcindy23

TUG Review Crew: Elite
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
30,656
Reaction score
8,196
Points
1,049
Location
The Centennial State
Resorts Owned
Wyndham Platinum/Founder. Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge,Shadow Ridge,Grand Chateau;Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few; Grand Palms (selling). WKORV-OF (2),Westin Desert Willow.
Its my cousin's church, thats the only reason I'll do it. The Church is here in north Florida and the TS is Vistana Villages in Orlando. There is always church stuff going on down there. He is the one talking to them about it. If is doesn't go through then I will sell it for ridiculously cheap.

hmm Fair Market Value... well the value of all real estate has fallen, and the prices they are at, well, I don't think they are "fair" so I'll write off what I think is "fair" instead of the Unfair Market Value.

But how do you get comps for time share's. Its not as easy as looking up county appraiser/tax collector info for residential on the county website.

This is a valuable property. If you have mandatory Staroptions, an annual week is worth about $6K. I would never give it away. I don't get it. :shrug:
 

calgarygary

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2007
Messages
1,025
Reaction score
0
Points
36
It is very generous to give away Vistana Villages. You would have no difficulty in selling it through eBay and would get $ in hand vs. a tax write off. Review the sticky How to sell your timeshare it will be worth a few thousand dollars to you.
 

koupe377

newbie
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Location
North Florida
This is a valuable property. If you have mandatory Staroptions, an annual week is worth about $6K. I would never give it away. I don't get it. :shrug:

Yeah I get Staroptions every year and its 1 bedroom, week 19, floating. I just figured the market for everything is so bad that it would take forever to sell it. I looked on Ebay and it didn't look like anything was even being bid on.

Over the next few years I am going to be splitting my time between here and countries in Asia so I don't really care about hanging out in Orlando for a week.

I guess I may reconsider giving it away then cause of course getting some money back out of it would be nice. Like I said I mentioned it to my cousin about talking with his church. Honestly I'm not a religous person so just in general I wouldn't be giving anything to a church.

thanks for the info
 
Last edited:

Patri

Tug Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
6,535
Reaction score
3,699
Points
648
I can't imagine a church would want to get tied down to a timeshare. Make sure both parties are agreeing to the same thing.
 

MaryH

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
1,484
Reaction score
1
Points
396
Location
Ottawa, Canada
koupe377,

If you are travelling a lot or will be living partially abroad, you might want to look if some of the SVO properties can be of interesting to you for vacations or stopovers since you have staroptions. I know when I came back from 6 months in NZ, I stopped off in Hawaii for a short stay, albit using my hotel points.

Sounds like you paid a lot more for it then it is worth now. If you bought it from the developers, you might be able to transfer them to starpoints (SPG FF points) and that can be used for hotels. It may not be a great exchange rate but sometimes you can find great values for redemption in Asia.
 
Top