Need Help with What I Have

[staycation]

My mother has health complications and I'm helping her with her bills. I found out she bought a timeshare at least 10 years ago for an amount I'm too ashamed to mention. She cannot physically use this timeshare any longer (she probably only used it a handful of times) and cannot afford medical bills, let alone a timeshare. I realize the majority of timeshares have little to no value but I would like to ask the community here if they think this one has any value. Or if we can even sell it let alone transfer ownership. I'm doing my best to research how all this works and looking at postings here and on ebay and the like but I'm a little overwhelmed.

I found this ad of ebay showing what seems to be a similar timeshare? Can anyone confirm this could be a realistic price? Ebay Listing

As far as I know this timeshare is completely paid for and just has the usual monthly regular payments as shown below. I'm so nervous to call any companies for help as my mother has almost been scammed even recently (exit timeshare company almost got her for $8000 last week). I have read through a lot of the "sticky" guides and while helpful I just don't know exactly what I'm working with here so any guidance is much appreciated.

 

[BoomerKwanger]

Sorry to hear about your mother's health issues.

I would say that Club Wyndham Canterbury timeshares are one of the few locations that still carry high resale value since they have the lowest maintenance fees per 1,000 points and are somewhat rare to come by. I've seen them up on eBay every now and again and have seen typical selling prices ranging from $10-$20 per 1,000 points. The range is pretty big because it seems to just be luck of the draw in terms of who happens bidding at a particular point in time (and how desperate they are), but getting $2,000 - $3,000 on eBay from your 168k contract feels realistic to me.

 

[staycation]

Sorry to hear about your mother's health issues.

I would say that Club Wyndham Canterbury timeshares are one of the few locations that still carry high resale value since they have the lowest maintenance fees per 1,000 points and are somewhat rare to come by. I've seen them up on eBay every now and again and have seen typical selling prices ranging from $10-$20 per 1,000 points. The range is pretty big because it seems to just be luck of the draw in terms of who happens bidding at a particular point in time (and how desperate they are), but getting $2,000 - $3,000 on eBay from your 168k contract feels realistic to me.

That's really great to hear. I appreciate the info. Interesting they can sell for such large differences but good to know.

Would you say eBay is the better place to list than TUG to list of sale?

 

[Sandi Bo]

First, I have to say you've done an amazing job figuring out something I think is quite complicated (the ownership and the ebay sales, etc), also condolences for what for what you are going through with your mother, all the best to you (and her).

I haven't been watching timeshare sales for quite some time. But IMO you found someone who got a pretty decent price for what they were selling (the Canterbury sale you posted). I paid $3,500 for my 400K Canterbury deed 8 years ago (resale). To give you an idea how slow the wheels may grind at Wyndham -- I purchased it on 12/1 and it completed transferring on 8/12 - hopefully a worst-case scenario for transferring, but it was hung up at Wyndham for no apparent reason for most of that time.

Me...I would use or rent the points you have for this year. If you sell this now, and it closes after the middle of the year, Wyndham is just going to take the points anyways - you don't get them, nor does the buyer. But someone will need to continue to pay the maintenance (you or the seller once it transfer). Nothing in print, with Wyndham, you never know for sure - but rule of thumb these days is that transfers completed the 2nd half of the year do not include the points (Wyndham takes them). Anything that may have deposited forward is taken by Wyndham as well. So kind of dicey at this point to advertise that the 2025 points are available - they might transfer, but they might not.

Here's likely a more typical sale for Canterbury: https://www.ebay.com/itm/316532156102

Yes, Canterbury is one of the better properties to be trying to sell (great maintenance fees). But still you'll have to get lucky to get someone to pay any kind of money for it.

It's crazy to look at what has been sold / given away on ebay (or given away on TUG). Lots of stuff going for $1 on ebay (and those sellers are paying the closing costs).

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nk...cat=0&_from=R40&rt=nc&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1

If you sell it, and offer to pay closing and transfer fees, I think $500-$700 is a fair expectation. If you do, I highly recommend using LT Transfers. Last I heard they are not actively pursuing Wyndham business because Wyndham is so incredibly crappy to deal with (transfer times and hassles, keeping points, whatever). But I think they will assist you if you and the buyer acknowledge you understand it can take a while (because of Wyndham's track record).

Another option is to give it back to Wyndham. They won't give you anything, but you'd be done with it. You'd have to pay a few more months maintenance fees but you'd be done with it and not have to spend a whole lot more time (or money on it). See the sticky at the top of this forum - 'Give back your unwanted Wyndham Timeshare...'. There is a number there you can call - they'll confirm they'll take it back and what you need to do (if you choose that option).

I'm glad you found TUG. It's a great place to post what you are doing and ask questions. Lots of free advice and opinions.

Someone on here can better answer your question about where is the best place to sell a contract (ebay, TUG, or ?). You are 100% correct though - do not use a reseller or company (and for sure don't pay anyone in advance to do it for you).

​

 

[staycation]

First, I have to say you've done an amazing job figuring out something I think is quite complicated (the ownership and the ebay sales, etc), also condolences for what for what you are going through with your mother, all the best to you (and her).

I haven't been watching timeshare sales for quite some time. But IMO you found someone who got a pretty decent price for what they were selling (the Canterbury sale you posted). I paid $3,500 for my 400K Canterbury deed 8 years ago (resale). To give you an idea how slow the wheels may grind at Wyndham -- I purchased it on 12/1 and it completed transferring on 8/12 - hopefully a worst-case scenario for transferring, but it was hung up at Wyndham for no apparent reason for most of that time.

Me...I would use or rent the points you have for this year. If you sell this now, and it closes after the middle of the year, Wyndham is just going to take the points anyways - you don't get them, nor does the buyer. But someone will need to continue to pay the maintenance (you or the seller once it transfer). Nothing in print, with Wyndham, you never know for sure - but rule of thumb these days is that transfers completed the 2nd half of the year do not include the points (Wyndham takes them). Anything that may have deposited forward is taken by Wyndham as well. So kind of dicey at this point to advertise that the 2025 points are available - they might transfer, but they might not.

Here's likely a more typical sale for Canterbury: https://www.ebay.com/itm/316532156102

Yes, Canterbury is one of the better properties to be trying to sell (great maintenance fees). But still you'll have to get lucky to get someone to pay any kind of money for it.

It's crazy to look at what has been sold / given away on ebay (or given away on TUG). Lots of stuff going for $1 on ebay (and those sellers are paying the closing costs).

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nk...cat=0&_from=R40&rt=nc&LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1

If you sell it, and offer to pay closing and transfer fees, I think $500-$700 is a fair expectation. If you do, I highly recommend using LT Transfers. Last I heard they are not actively pursuing Wyndham business because Wyndham is so incredibly crappy to deal with (transfer times and hassles, keeping points, whatever). But I think they will assist you if you and the buyer acknowledge you understand it can take a while (because of Wyndham's track record).

Another option is to give it back to Wyndham. They won't give you anything, but you'd be done with it. You'd have to pay a few more months maintenance fees but you'd be done with it and not have to spend a whole lot more time (or money on it). See the sticky at the top of this forum - 'Give back your unwanted Wyndham Timeshare...'. There is a number there you can call - they'll confirm they'll take it back and what you need to do (if you choose that option).

I'm glad you found TUG. It's a great place to post what you are doing and ask questions. Lots of free advice and opinions.

Someone on here can better answer your question about where is the best place to sell a contract (ebay, TUG, or ?). You are 100% correct though - do not use a reseller or company (and for sure don't pay anyone in advance to do it for you).

​

Thank you so much for this thoughtful and thorough response! I've never been involved in timeshares and it's more complicated than I could have imagined.

That's incredibly good to know it can take many months to complete transfers. I can see at that point it might be worth surrendering the timeshare completely especially with fees and whatnot the sale comes out to be a wash. Too bad we more than likely cannot recover anything reasonable from the initial cost but so happy I stopped her before hiring an exit company.

The point system is so confusing but thank you so much for mentioning the points not being valid if after half the year. So for example you purchased your time share in December but didn't take ownership till August you couldn't use it until the following year? So it makes more sense to sell towards the end of the year?

When you say give it back to Wyndham and you'd still have to pay a few more months of maintenance fees what do you mean? Once you surrender it you aren't done?

I have contacted LT Transfers to hopefully get some advice and see if that options works for us.

Thank you again for all your help.

 

[Floridaman76]

You have to pay the maintenance fees unti it transfers. Even if you give it back.

 

[Floridaman76]

Also, is it me, or is this a biannual contract?

 

[Sandi Bo]

If you surrender to Wyndham (using Certified Exit (or whatever program you fall under, I think that's the one - they should tell you for sure if you call)), I would expect it to take 2-3 months to complete and during that time you still pay maintenance. But I think they take care of everything, so your only expense would be the current monthly maintenance fees until the transfer (to Wyndham) is complete. You don't have to get involved in the ins and outs of the paperwork, etc.

If you sell (or actually even if you surrender to Wyndham), I think of it as a 2 step process - for a deeded contract:
1) processing the paperwork, purchase agreement, payments, etc AND updating the deed to have the new owners name - and filing that in the county where the property is located
2) submitting the transfer request to Wyndham
(and if you use LT - you still won't have to get involved in the ins and out - they are great to work with - but you will pay them (and the Wyndham transfer fee)

Step 1) can be done in advance of Step 2) Step 2) is when Wyndham gets involved (like they might cancel any existing reservations or not let you book any more)

When I sold a contract, I used the points, sold at the end of the year, and transferred the beginning of the next year (safely guaranteeing the new owner the points for that full use year).

The point system is confusing, but nice. It's really nice that you can use your points at any resort and aren't tied to a specific fixed week. It's crazy (to me) that you can buy somewhere with low maintenance fees and then use the points at a resort that doesn't use as many points.

 

[Shiba]

This does look like an EOY contract to me. It still has value, but not as high as a yearly contract. This contract will see easily sell, it has one of the lowest maintenance fees in the Wyndham system. You can list it here or on Ebay. Do you even have an account on Ebay to sell? The final selling price will vary on Ebay depending on how much traffic and interest on your listing. You can list it with the buyer paying all fees, but those usually sell for less.

If your mom is going to sell, you'll need to get an Estoppel from Wyndham. Most buyers will ask for it as it states current dues, what kind of contract Yearly, Every other Year Even/Odd, any special assessments or if any mortgage is outstanding and current points availabile. LT Transfers will ask for it, if they are going to handle the transaction. LT is awesome to work with.

 

[paxsarah]

Also, is it me, or is this a biannual contract?

Yes. “Billing points” of 84k is the sign.

 

[Sandi Bo]

Also, is it me, or is this a biannual contract?

Yeah.. good catch.. Here's my annual...

Regarding OP's -- EOY means Every Other Year, correct? I don't have any of those. When do the points expire - at the end of the year the points are earned (or does she have 2 years to use them)?

 

[Floridaman76]

My understanding is all biannual/EOY contracts are Jan1-Dec31.

 

[Shiba]

Points expire at the end of your use year. You can deposit those like annual contracts, however, if you deposit into your NON use year you have to pay a housekeeping credit. This is assuming you have no other Wyndham contracts.

 

[Jan M.]

Canterbury contracts do have resale value because of having the lowest maintenance fees. Even an EOY, every other year, contract has some value.

If you're going to sell it yourself, you'll have to decide whether you're going to include the closing costs and Wyndham $399 transfer fee in however much you're asking or the buyer pays them on top of however much you ask. When I sold our six resale contracts in 2022, I included both fees in my asking price and also calculated in four months of maintenance fees too. It might only take three months from start to finish but could take five. I figured four months as a good in between number of months. If you don't take those months of maintenance fees into consideration, you can end up having it cost you to get rid of what you have. With Canterbury there's no reason you shouldn't at least break even.

You'll call Wyndham and ask what department to contact to get a V.O.I.D., Vacation Ownership Interest Details. There's no charge for it.

Estoppel and VOID are used interchangeably but there is a difference. These are my takes on the differences. An estoppel is a more legal document and Wyndham too often does sloppy work hence they do VOIDS and don't charge for them. Back when they were still doing estoppels, the fee was $75. Doing a VOID covers Wyndham's butt when the new owner doesn't get the current year's points yet has to pay the maintenance fees on the points for the remainder of the use year. Getting the points is definitely hit or miss and a huge issue. Wyndham definitely takes the points from the old owner. From what I gather the new owners who didn't get the points but have been persistent in not taking no for an answer, have gotten them.

If your mother doesn't have her deed, you can contact the county where the resort is located and get a certified copy. You can do that online. There's a charge but if you don't have the deed or a copy, whichever closing company you use will charge you that fee plus their fee for doing it. Already having the deed expedites things by 2-3 weeks.That 2-3 weeks can mean another month of maintenance fees you're paying.

I used PayPal and created an invoice. If you don't have a PayPal account, get one set up. Then figure out how to create an invoice on PayPal; it's not difficult to do. I also figured the PayPal fee into my asking price.

You'll need a closing company. I used LT Transfers but last i heard they weren't doing Wyndham Transfers. Too much headache thanks to Wyndham. However that could have changed so you might want to contact them. John out of Bozeman, MT, is also reputable. Sorry can't remember his last name or business name, Whoever you use can email you a blank sales agreement and a blank transfer details form. You can get your parts filled out and ready to email to your buyer as soon as they pay. Anything you can do to speed up the process is helpful to both you and the buyer.

Your mother, the buyer, and anyone the want named on the deed will need to give the closing company copies of their driver's licenses. You and they can use your phones to take pictures of both the front and back of the licenses. Then attach the pictures to an email to the closing company. The buyer doesn't need to give you those pictures.

 

[staycation]

Canterbury contracts do have resale value because of having the lowest maintenance fees. Even an EOY, every other year, contract has some value.

If you're going to sell it yourself, you'll have to decide whether you're going to include the closing costs and Wyndham $399 transfer fee in however much you're asking or the buyer pays them on top of however much you ask. When I sold our six resale contracts in 2022, I included both fees in my asking price and also calculated in four months of maintenance fees too. It might only take three months from start to finish but could take five. I figured four months as a good in between number of months. If you don't take those months of maintenance fees into consideration, you can end up having it cost you to get rid of what you have. With Canterbury there's no reason you shouldn't at least break even.

You'll call Wyndham and ask what department to contact to get a V.O.I.D., Vacation Ownership Interest Details. There's no charge for it.

Estoppel and VOID are used interchangeably but there is a difference. These are my takes on the differences. An estoppel is a more legal document and Wyndham too often does sloppy work hence they do VOIDS and don't charge for them. Back when they were still doing estoppels, the fee was $75. Doing a VOID covers Wyndham's butt when the new owner doesn't get the current year's points yet has to pay the maintenance fees on the points for the remainder of the use year. Getting the points is definitely hit or miss and a huge issue. Wyndham definitely takes the points from the old owner. From what I gather the new owners who didn't get the points but have been persistent in not taking no for an answer, have gotten them.

If your mother doesn't have her deed, you can contact the county where the resort is located and get a certified copy. You can do that online. There's a charge but if you don't have the deed or a copy, whichever closing company you use will charge you that fee plus their fee for doing it. Already having the deed expedites things by 2-3 weeks.That 2-3 weeks can mean another month of maintenance fees you're paying.

I used PayPal and created an invoice. If you don't have a PayPal account, get one set up. Then figure out how to create an invoice on PayPal; it's not difficult to do. I also figured the PayPal fee into my asking price.

You'll need a closing company. I used LT Transfers but last i heard they weren't doing Wyndham Transfers. Too much headache thanks to Wyndham. However that could have changed so you might want to contact them. John out of Bozeman, MT, is also reputable. Sorry can't remember his last name or business name, Whoever you use can email you a blank sales agreement and a blank transfer details form. You can get your parts filled out and ready to email to your buyer as soon as they pay. Anything you can do to speed up the process is helpful to both you and the buyer.

Your mother, the buyer, and anyone the want named on the deed will need to give the closing company copies of their driver's licenses. You and they can use your phones to take pictures of both the front and back of the licenses. Then attach the pictures to an email to the closing company. The buyer doesn't need to give you those pictures.

Thank you so much for this response. I'm glad to know the difference between Estoppel and VOID. I have paypal and I think that's a great idea with the invoice. I still don't exactly understand loosing the points and the buyer not getting any points. I imagine this comes down to what month it finally transfers?

I guess it all comes down to seeing if we can get over what it costs to sell it. Right now as far as I can tell it would cost this to sell:

$295 - LT Transfers Fee
$150 - Escrow Fee
$65 - LT Transfers postage and county fees
$399 - Wyndham Fee
$909 - TOTAL

I imagine it wouldn't really be worth selling unless we could get a couple grand as it's probably about $1000 in fees to sell.

 

[Shiba]

Wyndham Canterbury buyers might be wiling to pay for all or most of the fees.

Losing points: Wyndham has in some instances not transferred the points if the sale happens in the second half of the year. The points are removed from sellers account, but not awarded to the buyer. I recommend you put in the contract that all points are available and to be transferred to buyer upon completion of transfer. If you use LT Transfers I believe there is a box that states when buyer is to get the points make sure you put the current year, just in case you have to contest missing points.

 

[Floridaman76]

Even though it is a Canterbury, it will have limited value, because it's an EOY contract. But yeah, you can pass the fees on to whomever buys it. I think you would be hard pressed to get more than a grand + fees for it, and that's even on the outside.

An annual Canterbury contract for 117k points sold on Ebay in the last couple of weeks for $559.00 + about $950 in fees.

Since it's EOY, anyone with a non-January use year would be turned off by it because Wyndham would change their use year to January if they buy a EOY contract, and that could have unintended consequences/loss of points for their existing contracts.

 

[shar]

Is there any way that you can pay the maintenance fees and use it or trade (under her name) yourself for years to come while your Mom is still here? You may find that you enjoy it. Especially if it is already paid off, you may have some wonderful vacations. We love TS and have been doing it since 1997.

 

[staycation]

Is there any way that you can pay the maintenance fees and use it or trade (under her name) yourself for years to come while your Mom is still here? You may find that you enjoy it. Especially if it is already paid off, you may have some wonderful vacations. We love TS and have been doing it since 1997.

After hearing the bad news it’s definitely something to consider especially if her health rebounds. I just have to take sometime to learn how to use points to book a vacation.

It’s just such a shame how predatory the original sales pitch was and knowing she could have only paid less than a tenth of the price. It feels weird supporting such an industry that preys on the elderly but might as well use what she’s sacrificed.

Appreciate this entire discussion.