Warning to Timeshare Sellers about Redweek Full Service

[mla]

The same issues are occurring with redweek full service as mentioned throughout this thread. The “agent” I was working with took days to respond and then a new person responded and said Sergio no longer works here. Now after I made an offer the agent came back and said the points and use might be different then what’s listed and would change the whole offer so she’ll get back with me! My original inquiry was 3 weeks ago! She did say they are short staffed but very sketch!
I do want to add that because of this post I did request an estoppel,which I was then told would cost me $25. I also requested to us LT transfers instead of their closing which was quoted at $430.

Yes, Sergio didn't work out.

We aren't charging to receive the estoppel. Just request it and you'll get a copy.

The $25 was quoted as part of the closing costs. I'm told that typically the title company will require an updated estoppel, which is $25 in this case. Either the buyer or the seller can pay that, of course. Just a point of negotiation.

I'm told the reason we don't suggest LT Transfers is because they're unlicensed. We're happy to use them if that's what the parties prefer, but we've been limiting our suggestions to licensed entities. RedWeek doesn't make anything on those referrals, BTW.

I'll read through the thread and see why the responses are taking so long. In some cases we have to wait on the owner to get back to us, of course, but the agents should be letting you know when they are needing to reach out to them now.

Maurice

 

[dioxide45]

The $25 was quoted as part of the closing costs. I'm told that typically the title company will require an updated estoppel, which is $25 in this case. Either the buyer or the seller can pay that, of course. Just a point of negotiation.

I thought the estoppel is what is used to confirm the information in a full service listing? If so, shouldn't it already have been obtained?

 

[theo]

I'll read through the thread and see why the responses are taking so long. In some cases we have to wait on the owner to get back to us, of course, but the agents should be letting you know when they are needing to reach out to them now.

Maurice:
I applaud your efforts to improve RedWeek services. Good on ya!

I respectfully suggest that more complete information should be obtained from sellers before a full service listing gets posted in the first place. In my observation, fundamental details are often missing from listings (RedWeek is certainly not unique in this shortcoming), so a prospective buyer has to ask basic questions and third party agents, understandably not possessing that knowledge or information themselves, then have to spend their time and effort seeking out details from the owner / seller (details that should have been provided by the seller from square one). That inherently flawed process unintentionally creates built-in (but avoidable) delays while the missing info requested by a prospective buyer (hopefully) gets chased down. Such delays obviously do not best serve the seller or the buyer --- or RedWeek.

It seems to me that perhaps a comprehensive "info template form" created for your agents to assemble and verify more complete facts and details could be implemented at RW, thereby ensuring that before a listing goes "live" all pertinent details are on hand and readily available to the agents, even if all those details are not actually reported in the listing.

For example, info such as unit number, unit size, floor, unit location within the building / facility, any seasonal constraints on making "floating" week reservations, most current maintenance fee amount (and whether or not it includes property taxes), last known "special assessment" (date and amount), any resort transfer fee, management company identification, annual or biennial use, exchange company affiliation(s), etc., are all facts and details which are already known (or should already be known) by the seller. Perhaps putting the onus on the seller to "get their acts and their facts together" before the listing goes "live" would help RW agents avoid having to engage in a "scavenger hunt" for important details on full service listings.

The suggested template "form" could of course be improved and modified as necessary over time, thereby ensuring a consistent and complete assembly of important facts and info for every full service listing. It seems to me that sellers should be better facilitating (instead of inadvertently impeding) RedWeek agents so that the agents can actually exercise the full service for which the seller is paying. Agents may be getting "caught in the middle" with too few facts and details.

Just "thinking out loud" with some thoughts and suggestions, for whatever they may be worth.

 

[mla]

I thought the estoppel is what is used to confirm the information in a full service listing? If so, shouldn't it already have been obtained?

Yes, it is obtained as part of the full-service posting, and we provide that upon request. I'm saying that the title company requires an updated estoppel as part of the closing (they may waive it if the estoppel is very recent, dunno). It's that second estoppel that's being listed $25 and part of the closing costs.

 

[AZLatin5]

Kudos to Redweek for making improvements and listening to those here on TUG.
They have already made changes to help my experience so if you passed them up in the past you might want to given them another try!
I hope they continue to improve as it can be a valuable resource!

 

[CalGalTraveler]

+1 Kudos to Redweek.

One more suggestion for Redweek (and TUG): To prevent real estate agents from fishing for buyers with bogus listings parked on the site, they should be required to include the MLS listing # in the advertisement and email a copy of the listing of the MLS to Redweek before allowing the listing to be posted. I have noticed that Judi K and Diane Nadeau have already included this on some listings that I have seen; kudos to them for providing ethical advertising.

This will ensure that Redweek (and TUG) only has active, valid listings and this is not a low cost advertisement for the broker's services.

Doing so will not only increase benefit for the community who may be discouraged with the bogus listings (as evidenced by Tuggers who have experienced this), but should also increase Redweek revenue because RE Agents cannot re-use an existing listing to avoid the advertising fee.

 

[echino]

I was trying to buy a timeshare listed on Redweek under their full service, and the interaction was totally bizarre. The transaction was not completed. Here is the timeline:

April 13: I pay for Redweek membership and make an offer. I get an auto-reply that it's a full service listing and I should hear from their agent within 2 business days.

April 16: I receive an email from a Redweek agent saying closing costs will be $499. I lower my offer to account for high closing costs and I ask some other questions about the week, such as have the 2018 fees been paid, which day of the week is check in, etc, but receive no reply.

April 24: without any prior communication, I receive an automated email from Redweek saying Congratulations on the purchase of your property! The email contained a link to pandadoc New Owner Information Form asking to complete it immediately. I reply with questions, such as what is this form? Has my offer been accepted? Have 2018 fees been paid? Can you send me an estoppel showing exactly what I am buying? I receive a reply that my offer was accepted, but nothing about fees or estoppel. I fill out the form the same day.

April 25: I send another email with questions, reiterating that my offer is subject to 2018 fees paid and receiving estoppel, but receive no reply.

April 30: I ask for an update.

May 1: I get a reply: contract to you shortly.

May 7: I ask for an update. Getting a reply the same day: contract to you shortly.

May 11: They send me a pandadoc link to a contract that is a mess. The contract says closing fees are $694, subject to increase. The contract says buyers first year of usage is 2018, even though the ad said 2019, and the week has already passed anyway. The contract says I have to reimburse the seller for 2018 fees. There is no estoppel. I reply that it's not what I agreed to, and ask to fix it.

I received no further communication from Redweek since that.

Redweek, are you serious?

A warning to sellers: use Redweek's full service if you want to accomplish nothing and lose any potential buyers of your timeshare.

 

[mla]

I was trying to buy a timeshare listed on Redweek under their full service, and the interaction was totally bizarre. The transaction was not completed.

Please send me posting IDs privately so I can help research these. Saves me a lot of time. I think I managed to find this one though.

And yes, this was horrible. I'm having a call about it with one of our managers shortly.

@echino, if you decide to go through with the purchase, I'll waive all fees and cover your closing costs. The agent you worked with is new, but that's no excuse.

 

[echino]

Please send me posting IDs privately so I can help research these. Saves me a lot of time. I think I managed to find this one though.

And yes, this was horrible. I'm having a call about it with one of our managers shortly.

@echino, if you decide to go through with the purchase, I'll waive all fees and cover your closing costs. The agent you worked with is new, but that's no excuse.

Maurice made it right, with all fees paid by Redweek, we now have a signed contract, let's see if it passes ROFR. Thank you!

 

[presley]

Interesting. I had 3 full service listings go live yesterday and already 2 have "sold." Using quotes because I just accepted the offers, but it's only been about 10 minutes since I accepted, so we will see how it unfolds. In my case, the resorts are buying the timeshares back. Since they prepared the estoppels, I am sure they know what they look like. Who knows, though. Like I said, the ad only went live yesterday and I just accepted a few minutes ago. I won't count my chickens before they hatch, but at this point, as a seller, I like the full serving listings.

Updating this which I posted in February. So, out of my 3 full service listings, I've had issues come up with all 3 at this point. One has been resolved, but that was because I kept pursuing it. It seemed like there was a communication breakdown when 2 of my timeshares (different locations) sold at the same time to the same place. The title company couldn't handle that, apparently.

I finally got paid for one earlier this month, but the other has yet to be paid. I see that there have been 2 deeds recorded this month, but guess what - they both have the same APN. That means one transaction was recorded twice. I reached out to the title company a few weeks ago asking what happened with the Marbrisa sale. I heard nothing back. A week later, I asked Redweek what happened and was told that they sent an inquiry to the title company and would let me know. That was May 19th. I can see that I am still a member of HGVC - which I should no longer be. I feel like I've paid for a full service but I have to do all the follow up myself which I could have just done myself if that is what I wanted to do.

For those curious about the 3rd sale. Not redweek's fault. I had a buyer at $1500., which I signed the contract for and then the buyer suddenly decided that they wanted to pay $1,000. instead. I decided I'd rather have a different buyer, even if I end up selling for less.

These are/were my last 3 timeshares. Based on my experiences with all 3, I wouldn't sign up to use this service again, but since I don't have anymore timeshares, that's a mute point.

 

[theo]

I wouldn't sign up to use this service again, but since I don't have anymore timeshares, that's a mute point.

And a moot point too, as well as mute.

 

[davidvel]

Reviving an old thread, as I am experiencing similar issues with a Redweek brokered sale.
- Slow responses from the supposed "licensed agent"
- Only Communication is via email
- no contract after quite some time

We really want the week and it is at a small resort with limited listings. I hope it doesn't drag on past our usage week.