Lisa Ann Schreier, author of “Surviving A Timeshare Presentation…Confessions From the Sales Table” and “Timeshare Vacations for Dummies,” gives us five tips on selling your timeshare property.

Are you finding yourself stuck with a timeshare property that you just can’t get rid of? This is a tough market for selling vacation properties and so we’ve brought in an expert who literally “wrote the book” on timeshares and the ins and outs of buying and selling them. Here, she gives us five invaluable tips on what to do and what NOT to do when selling your timeshare. It’s a cutthroat market out there so it’s wise to have an expert in your corner to give you seasoned advice. If you are more interested in her books, you can see an Q&A we did with her a while back: link here.

If you are planning to sell your timeshare, you have a variety of choices available.    As with anything related to finance, it pays to work with a specialist who is not tied to any one company.  I founded Timeshare Insights in 2005 with two simple goals: To educate consumers and be a catalyst for positive change in the timeshare industry.

Many people may not know that there is a thriving secondary market for time shares.  But people are always in search of a vacation and the cheaper the better!  Here are five things to look out for to make this process a success:

1. Price it right: The vast majority of timeshares do NOT hold their resale value.  There are exceptions of course.  If you purchased a timeshare on Sanibel Island 15 years ago for $5,000, I have no doubt that you could double or triple that today.  But most consumers looking to sell do not own on Sanibel Island.

A general rule of thumb is to price timeshares at 50% to 65% less than the price of most newly developed timeshares with similar specs…Ouch! Yes I know. Terrible, but it is the truth. I know that seems like a big cut but it’s necessary because the timeshare industry has not found a way to do a proper valuation of a secondary market timeshare. Also, up to 65% of the cost of a timeshare is eaten up in sales and marketing costs.

It would also be wise to compare it with other similar timeshares in the secondary market.

GG Timeshares, flickr

2. Know your timeshare: I am continually astonished that some timeshare owners know very little about their property.  You have to know certain basic facts such as: if you own points (how many) or weeks (fixed or floating) and also whether you can use your timeshare annually or every other year. Also, you should know if the time share is affiliated with either RCI or Interval International.

Additionally, is the resort part of a smaller, internal exchange system? If so, what are the benefits of this internal system?  What are the annual maintenance fees and do they include real estate taxes?  Is the property deeded or a right to use?  These are all very important items to consider when marketing your timeshare.  Interestingly, when people do a little digging and discover what they own, they decide to keep it.

3. Ask the resort that you bought it from to buy it back: This does not happen as much as I think it should.  I believe that all timeshare resorts should be helping their owners out and at the very least, offer owners a way out.  Some forward thinking resorts are doing this so it is certainly worth a phone call to the Owner Services Department.

Some resorts also have a “Right of First Refusal,” so it makes sense to find out what they will accept and what they won’t.

4. Know the fees: This is where the process starts to get really tricky.  In the United States, most timeshares fall under real estate law and in many states such as Florida, it is illegal to charge upfront fees for real estate transactions.

However, nothing is free.  You need to decide if the $22.95 advertising fee that your local paper will charge for a 3 line listing is going to get the “eyeballs” you really need to sell your timeshare.  On the other hand, if a large online listing service charges you $500 but has 40,000 verifiable hits per day, that $500 may be a better deal that paying $22.95 every week for a year until someone eventually calls.

There are some real estate agents and brokers who handle timeshares.  They will not charge a fee up front, but you will have to pay them a commission after a sale is completed, sometimes as much as 15%.  Make sure your broker has sold timeshares before since it is materially different than selling residential or commercial properties.

5. NEVER do business with someone who contacts you first I left this tip for last since it is the most important part of selling a timeshare.  Unfortunately, there is a never-ending stream of unscrupulous (at best) and illegal (at worst) companies out there waiting to prey on you.  They will fill your head with all sorts of misinformation, claim to have a buyer for your timeshare and all you have to do is send them a few hundred or thousand dollars for closing costs.  DON’T DO IT.  No matter how good it sounds.

If you had a car that you were no longer using and you received a call from someone that you had never heard of or never contacted that said  they had a buyer for your car and all you needed to do was send them $3,500, would you do it?  Of course not!  So don’t do it with a timeshare.

About the Author: Lisa Ann Schreier, The Timeshare Crusader, is the founder and director of Timeshare Insights.  A former timeshare salesperson, Schreier is the author of two best-selling books on timeshares, a frequent speaker to consumer groups and an active blogger.  Her new book, Timeshare By the Numbers-A Guide For Consumers will be out in early 2012.  Timeshare Insights does NOT sell, rent, buy, broker, list, transfer or represent any timeshare or any timeshare company.

Timeshare Insights is offering a 50% discount (though the end of November) on their services to help people purchase, sell or use their timeshare.  For more information, visit the “Books and Services” tab at http://www.timeshareinsights.com.

Lisa Ann Schreier
The Timeshare Crusader
Thought Leader, Author, Speaker
www.timeshareinsights.com
Facebook.com/timeshare.insights
Twitter @timeshareauthor
www.thetimesharecrusader.blogspot.com

Want to be a featured author or expert? Send me an email at liz@dalesiegel.com to let us know about you and your book, and we will contact you with the guidelines. If you want your interview to coincide with the day your new book drops, let us know in advance. Be aware, we book months in advance, so get on the schedule early.