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How to get out of a timeshare???
Old 12-14-2013, 10:49 AM   #1
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How to get out of a timeshare???

Hello, I have a couple of friends that purchased timeshares over 15 years ago and they have regretted this decision ever since. They never use the timeshares and the yearly fees have just gotten way too expensive. They really want to get out of them, but it sounds like they will have to pay (1000's of $) to get out from them. They even looked at donating them but it would still cost 100's of $. One of my friends paid $500 to get out of his and it was just a scam. They are at their wits end with these timeshares and just want to get out "legally" and not get scammed. I told them I would post this on this forum to see if anyone had any experiences with getting out of timeshares. Thanks....
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Old 12-14-2013, 11:35 AM   #2
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I asked the membership about this some years ago and did not get any good advice.
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...are-52925.html

I do know of one way to accomplish the task, but it is kind of very distasteful, so I won't even mention it.

Best of luck.
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Old 12-14-2013, 11:39 AM   #3
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Give it the sales manager at the time share resort.
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Old 12-14-2013, 11:52 AM   #4
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Nobody wants them. In my area the market for used TimeShares has gone bust. I understand that some people will take them off your hands if YOU PAY THEM TO.

Don't get conned on your timeshare sale | www.clarkhoward.com
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Old 12-14-2013, 12:00 PM   #5
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Where is the timeshare? What is the overall condition of the property? Some timeshares are clearly more valuable than others.
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Old 12-14-2013, 12:08 PM   #6
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Where is the timeshare? What is the overall condition of the property? Some timeshares are clearly more valuable than others.
I believe they bought them here in Arizona.. I do not know the name of the timeshare (resort?) or the condition of the place where they bought.
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Old 12-14-2013, 12:11 PM   #7
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The one guy I know who got rid of his paid for the privilege.
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Old 12-14-2013, 12:12 PM   #8
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I see timeshares for sale in eBay. Perhaps that might be an option?

Whichever way they go, they will certainly exit with far less than they bought in.

I really dislike TS high pressure sales events where they give one a free gift or some kind of bauble, and sucker one into a TS that eventually becomes a millstone round the neck.

Sad.
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Old 12-14-2013, 12:14 PM   #9
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Why do timeshares have no value? Didn't people buy them to have fun using them?

Or did absolutely everyone who bought a timeshare have nothing but resale $$$ in their sights?

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Old 12-14-2013, 12:28 PM   #10
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My view of the timeshare industry (I believe they are trying to call it "fractional ownership" now -- wow) is that the timeshare is just an annuity for the management and maintenance companies.
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Old 12-14-2013, 12:28 PM   #11
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If they can donate them for 100s it's probably worth it. I know a guy who did something like that.
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Old 12-14-2013, 12:53 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by jon-nyc View Post
If they can donate them for 100s it's probably worth it. I know a guy who did something like that.
Sorry.. I meant 1000's as well for the donation path, but if they can donate and write it off that would be the better path in my mind too.. They are just afraid of all the scams out there for getting rid of timeshares... I think they are willing to pay to get rid of it, but want to make sure it is 100% legit, legal and as easy as possible.
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Old 12-14-2013, 01:01 PM   #13
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My sister and BIL bought a week in Hawaii and liked it so much that they bought another week in Cancun. These are with the Starwood system. They put all their expenses on their Starwood charge card and plan an awful lot of their lives around maximizing their Starwood points.

Personally, I thought they were crazy! I've only heard negative things about timeshares. They've only been to Hawaii twice but they use the ownership there to trade for other weeks in other locations. I think they use their Cancun one more often.

The maintenance fees are $3000/yr for both. They can afford it and they love to travel so good for them.

I hope if they ever want to sell that they don't lose too much money on them.
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Old 12-14-2013, 01:10 PM   #14
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i own 4 timeshares all purchased resale from people that did not want theirs, some on ebay and other places. Absolutely the best way to travel, no more 1 room hotels yuck....have full kitchens, living rooms, 2 bedroom, 3 bedrooms...etc...

They can sale it on ebay if they want and get a closing company to complete the deed tranfer. The buyer will pay for closing in most cases.

Timeshare User Group (Tug2.net) has a marketplace and there are several brokers that DO NOT require upfront costs to sale the timeshare.

NEVER NEVER NEVER PAY UPFRONT COSTS these are almost always scams.......
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Old 12-14-2013, 04:09 PM   #15
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As was mentioned above TUG (Timeshare Users Group Forums) would be the place to go to ask timeshare related questions. Submit a question on the forum and try and give as much information as you can (name/location of timeshare, week/season owned, maintenance fees, etc.). They'll never get their money back but there might be options available to dispose of a timeshare without costing more money.
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Old 12-14-2013, 05:31 PM   #16
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I've only heard negative things about timeshares.
OK, I can give you a positive timeshare experience but it is very limited to the situation and this is not true of most timeshares which I think is a waste of money. If people like the timeshare experience I've always felt - in general - that they were better off just renting a timeshare week from someone...

Anyway, when my kids were small, we went to Walt Disney World and Disneyland several times so we bought into the Disney Vacation Club. We bought a certain number of points and you could use your points to stay at any Disney property and also at a number of high end non-Disney resorts. You had a "home" resort and I think every other trip had to be to the home resort. Ours was at Boardwalk Villa at WDW.

We used this a number of times. We stayed at Boardwalk Villa a couple of times - in a 2 BR unit with full kitchen - much nicer than a regular room. We also stayed at Disneyland once and went to Tanque Verde Ranch in Arizona once. I think we also stayed at another WDW property once.

Anyway, after a few years of this we decided we wanted to go to other places so we sold our unit on the secondary market. We sold within a matter of days for more than we had paid for the share. I was sort of amazed by it because a DVC timeshare was not forever. It was basically good for, I think, 40 years and we had used some of the years. The big thing that held prices up was that if you get an offer to purchase your share Disney had a right to match the price and purchase the shares and Disney would do it if the price was low. So people made good offers. Of course, when we sold our shares, DVC was selling shares (with a full number of years) for more. But the prices had gone up enough that we still received more than we paid.

This was some years ago so I don't know if they still do it the same way or not.

Of course, what made this work was that Disney is a desirable location and the fact that Disney would come in and buy your points if you were offered a low price. I think that most timeshares don't have those factors so I wouldn't consider one.
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Old 12-14-2013, 09:57 PM   #17
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I used to bring my calculator to the time share presentations we'd go to for free activity tickets in Hawaii. If you added up the weeks they were selling the condos piecemeal for over 3 times what a single condo would cost if you bought one outright, plus collecting 10 times in annual maintenance fees compared to annual HOA dues on comparable properties.
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Old 12-14-2013, 10:13 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amethyst View Post
Why do timeshares have no value? Didn't people buy them to have fun using them?

Or did absolutely everyone who bought a timeshare have nothing but resale $$$ in their sights?

Amethyst
For 1 or 2 weeks per year you can use TS, the maintenance cost is way too high, and it continues to go up every year. By the time you realize it's a bad investment, there are no buyers and you are stuck with yearly maintenance cost. If you are traveling often, you know it is much cheaper to rent a condo than owning a TS.
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Old 12-14-2013, 10:15 PM   #19
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Agree with above posts about visiting TUG (Timeshare Users Group) for advice. Whatever they do, tell them to never pay upfront fees. Some of the scammers are getting pretty savvy at knowing this is an aversion now, so they'll bury it and not bring it out until several steps into the process, such as saying they can't complete the transfer without taxes or transfer fees, etc. being paid.

Also be wary of the donation sites now, as many of those are scams. True donation sites are very selective in what they accept, and you shouldn't have fees. But if you have a name-brand timeshare (Marriott, Westin, Starwood, etc.), why donate it when you can sell it yourself? Don't expect much or any selling price on the non-brand-names, but there are exceptions for prime weeks in prime locations such as coastal resorts, holidays, or ski weeks.

TUG has a Bargain Deals forum where they can post a timeshare for free, plus they could list it on eBay as previously mentioned.

Timeshares are great for the extra room and kitchens, and are really economical vacations, as long as you avoid developer prices and buy resale...AND learn how to use them effectively. Pre-planning is often necessary in order to get the best weeks if you exchange your unit.
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Old 12-15-2013, 07:56 AM   #20
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I currently own two timeshares, and at one time owned five. All were purchased resale, the three that I sold were for more than I paid for them. We use our timeshares as they allow us to go many places we love to vacation. Our yearly maintenance fees are approx. $1750 but we will vacation in nice condos for about $100 per night.

The information above about TUG2 is good, and you definitely never want to pay upfront "fees", however, there is no "easy" way to dispose of a timeshare unless it is a prime week in a prime destination. There are many that are just dogs in undesireable locations and in off seasons. Your yearly fees must always be current and you will often have to offer to pay next year's maintenance fees to intice someone to take it off your hands.

Hindsight is 20-20 but you should never purchase a timeshare directly from a developer, and why would you ever purchase something that you never use? To address the original poster, if I were able to donate to charity a timeshare I no longer wanted and the cost was a few hundred $ or even a thousand $ I would do it. The problem isn't going away and that maintenance fee bill will still be coming.
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