What can we hope for selling whole thing?

[gilbertTS]

I am trying to help my inlaws. They are retired and bought an RCi timeshare about 8 years ago. They paid $16k then, and have paid the dues each year. At this moment they have 3 weeks, and the dues have nearly doubled, about $750 year now.

We have received tons of the upfront money sale scams and I keep having to convince my inlaws they are fake.

What should my expectations be for a sale (by posting on legit site)?

Would I try to sell it for $12K and take over dues, or is that money gone and the best we can hope for is just selling each week?

Overall, I guess I'm trying to see if their upfront 16k is just gone or not, and why woud anyone give us even 10k when they could just go direct to RCI and prob buy it cheaper due to this economy.

Any input is appreciated.

Thx

 

[DeniseM]

I hate to tell you this, but the market is flooded with people trying to unload their timeshares. You will be lucky to even give it away.

Look at the prices on ebay - there are 34 auctions for RCI points - only 2 of them are for more than $100 and most of them have no bids- http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...uai&_osacat=15897&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

If you know the exact names of their timeshares, you can see what the actual timeshare is selling for on ebay as well. After you look it up, click on "completed listings" on the left side of the ebay page to see actual SELLING prices rather than just the asking prices.

BTW - ANYONE who asks them for an upfront fee is a scammer - PERIOD!

 

[slip]

The money is gone but if the resort and the time it can be used are good, it
can be given away and they can get out of the yearly maintenance fee. You
may have to pay the closing costs and the 2012 maintenance fees to
sweeten the deal but they are given away everyday.

 

[GeorgeInNePa]

Maintenance fees are 750/wk or 750 for all 3 weeks combined?

 

[gilbertTS]

$750 for the year with 1 week per year. She has 3 weeks now because she bought a 2nd week one year and ended up not using it, so she has 3 in the bank.


Denise and Slip, thx for the info. I agree its starting to look like she's stuck holding nothing of value.

 

[JeffW]

...she's stuck holding nothing of value.

I wouldn't say that. The liquidity value (what you could sell them for if you needed to) is likely zero, true. But assuming someone wants to go on a vacation, then the units still be able to get you somewhere.

An example: my parents own a dog of a unit, a 4br (2 br units) at Powhatan in Williamsburg. Like many units, m/f's have gone up, and you're lucky if you can give them away. My parents (also retired) used to vacation their regularly, but no longer do. Earlier this month, paid him 1/2 the m/f (about $625), $179 for exchange fee, $59 for guest fee, total a little over $860. For that I got a 2br newly refurbished oceanfront unit in Aruba for a week. If that's a vacation you would have liked, then it would have been difficult to find it at that price without owning a timeshare.

You didn't start if the timeshares are in RCI (or II). If not, then without being in an exchange company, you'll have difficulty going anywhere else (only options would be rental, or direct exchange).

If it makes you or your inlaws feel better, then you can say, "We own real estate that is worth less than what we paid for it." In that sense, you're one of many across the country. The annual fees are a bit of a bummer though.

Jeff

 

[mecllap]

Yes, the 16K is gone, and they are stuck with paying the MFs. So, you are now looking for the least costly way to get rid of it -- there likely will not be any way to get any money back for them. If you can find someone to give it to, (or sell for $1.00 or $100) who can enjoy what the timeshare offers, they could try to think of it as having brought some fun to someone else's life. Hopefully they got some good use out of it while they could. There are lots of threads on TUG for you to read about this very topic.

 

[DeniseM]

How can I give my timeshare away on TUG?

 

[dundey]

The amount that you can get for the week, if anything greatly depends on the timeshare itself, and the week.
If it is a desirable property (marriott, etc) and a popular week, you can get something for it.
There are always people looking for good value. I bought 2 ski weeks last year, for example. Granted they were very cheap, but I paid something.

DO NOT ASSUME IT IS WORTHLESS UNTIL YOU KNOW MORE ABOUT THE WEEK.

 

[funtime]

I agree with Jeff that it might be helpful for you to get to know how to use the week including the back weeks. And, if the place has a rental value (snag a good week etc) you can post that for rent on Redweek and/or Craig's list. At the very least you might get the maintence fees paid. First things first, look to potentially trade the unused weeks so they, you or another family member can use them. Call up resort and see if you can bank prior year's weeks - doubtful but sometimes possible. At least bank this year's week with II or RCI. As for sales, then check Redweek prices and list a couple of hundred dollars lower. Ebay is flooded with free weeks so that is not a good market to sell. However, keep reading information on this board about how to use your past weeks and how to market your current weeks and/or to sell the unit. Also, some resorts will take back the unit often with restrictions such as paying 6 quarters of maintenance fees etc. And, do not underestimate potential sales at the location (using Craig's List) or if the timeshare has a website. Best of luck. Funtime

 

[VictoriaLyn]

You can always trying to sell your timeshare but you're probably not going to get much back. There are thousands of timeshare owners who are in the same position as you and are trying to get rid of their timeshare. I have even seen some people selling it on ebay for a dollar!! You can always consider other options like seeking a timeshare company to help you out or you can donate it to a charity. It all depends on what you want to do.

 

[rickandcindy23]

The value in a timeshare is in using it. It's not worth anything to sell it.

Everyone travels, even if it's only to Vegas, like my brother-in-law and his wife. They were constantly telling me their week was not worth the MF's, and I asked them what their ideal trip would be. Vegas was the answer. So they deposited their week into RCI and got enough points for that average week to stay two weeks at the Hilton Flamingo in a 2 bedroom unit.

If you travel at all, just about any week will have enough value in RCI to get something your family could enjoy.

 

[gilbertTS]

Thanks for the great feedback. I pretty much figured the loot was gone.


I remember when they bought it 10 years ago telling them it was worth it if they travelled every year for a week. Basically the 16k covers the spread between the nightly cost of the week and the actual price over 30 years.

Sucky thing is when the maintenance fees go up, and 'special assessments' for new carpets.

And man, these 'sell your timeshare' scammer guys are relentless. I see why people get sucked into them, they dont give up. Luckily I have no problem saying no.


Thanks for all the help, this forum is great.

 

[Talent312]

... And man, these 'sell your timeshare' scammer guys are relentless. I see why people get sucked into them, they dont give up. Luckily I have no problem saying no.

Tell them that you first want to clear their offer with your state's Attorney General Office,
and with the Federal Trade Commission's "no call" enforcement office (if signed up),
and you'll hear a click.