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How to get rid of a timeshare?


Mephistopheles

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A family member made an awful investment in a timeshare in Las Vegas several years ago, against my advice. Now, they realize it was a mistake and want me to help get rid of it. I did a bit of Googling but it seems like a lot of work to merely figure out the best channel to sell. If anyone has experience in selling these near frauds, please let me know. Would appreciate any help, thanks.

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They could try ebay.  There are people who successfully sell them for $1 and pay for all closing and transfer costs.  In otherwords it will cost them to get rid of it.

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_udhi=1&_nkw=timeshare&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684

 

 

So basically take a 100% loss on it? Ouch.

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They could try ebay.  There are people who successfully sell them for $1 and pay for all closing and transfer costs.  In otherwords it will cost them to get rid of it.

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_udhi=1&_nkw=timeshare&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684

 

 

So basically take a 100% loss on it? Ouch.

 

Yes, but it won't cost them yearly anymore.  Just a suggestion without knowing if there is a demand for the timeshare they own.  If you look on ebay there are some where people get money for it.  That would depend on the place I guess.

 

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Hey all:

 

I had a friend buy a timeshare maybe 10 years ago?

 

It was a very nice place...BUT...with all the maintenance fees & special assessments, you could stay at a nice hotel for the SAME PRICE, or even cheaper if you were very skilled on searching the interwebs.

 

He was apoplectic when I showed him this...and this was a while ago, so it's probably gotten worse.

 

You always lose money with a timeshare, only a question of how much...

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They could try ebay.  There are people who successfully sell them for $1 and pay for all closing and transfer costs.  In otherwords it will cost them to get rid of it.

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_udhi=1&_nkw=timeshare&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684

 

 

So basically take a 100% loss on it? Ouch.

 

I just went through this with my Dad; he managed to assign it back to the time share company.  A timeshare is a liability, not an asset.

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Guest longinvestor

Ouch! Pay to get rid of!

 

It all adds up for me. We visited Las Vegas in 2015 after nearly 20 years. This time, there were guys at every corner, inside the casino, at the hotel, in the mall etc. trying to get us to attend the timeshare sales sessions! Don't remember anything like this at all in 1995.

 

 

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one creative way to get rid of it is to transfer it to a person on death bed.

 

The management company then has to buy it back from the estate.

 

Check into it.

 

Lol, I thought of that. But then wouldn't the management company have recourse towards the dead person's estate? Like can't they send the estate to collections or potentially sue for the fees?

 

 

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There is always bankruptcy. I know someone who bought a timeshare in Las Vegas who financed the purchase with the resort. So not only did he have the yearly costs, but a monthly payment on a high interest loan.  After about three years of paying he just stopped. He was in financial trouble he just stopped paying his mortgage and car loans too. I don't know all the details, but I do know he lost his house, his cars, filed bankruptcy and doesn't own the timeshare anymore. Probably not the solution your looking for.

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one creative way to get rid of it is to transfer it to a person on death bed.

 

The management company then has to buy it back from the estate.

 

Check into it.

 

Genius but like Meohistopheles said, this could encumber an estate.

 

How about selling it to one of those "will work for food" guys?

 

To the OP - Are there any restrictions on transfer of ownership?

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What you should do us PM me the details of which timeshare it is. Name of the resort, size of unit (studio, 1 bed, 2 bed etc) and what week or season it is in. Then I can advise you as to what to do with it. There are various brokers that specialize in the ones that have value, and different resale sites are best for giving away others.

 

I'm almost certainly not interested in a Vegas timeshare (with a few exceptions) but I will be able to tell you what your best options are, and the price is right.

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I was reading about this a couple years ago, check out the online forums here: www.tugbbs.com 

 

Lots of good advice and you can offer it for sale in the forums or at least see what some similar timeshares are selling for. As someone else said above, sometimes you have to pay all costs to give it to someone, just to get a taker.  IIRC, sometimes it's possible to transfer it back to the timeshare company without paying as much in transfer costs/legal costs.

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I should probably add that some of the timeshares that can be purchased in Vegas do have some resale value, maybe 10-20% of retail. That would include most units at the Marriott, high season RCI points units at Grandview, some Holton units (generally higher season/point values, and there are specialized brokers for this). Also, worldmark point are worth about 10% of retail, and Wyndham points at their Vegas locations have some value as well. Polo towers/jockey club/Diamond you'd be lucky to give away (unless fixed week 52).

 

Anyway, a retail timeshare is a terrible investment, but some have a bit of value if marketed correctly.

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I know nothing about timeshares, and wasn't even aware that they're difficult to get out of, but I heard an ad on the radio today for thetimeshareexitattorneys.com which seems like a law firm dedicated to this issue (although they're advertising on the radio, so wouldn't be surprised if they were somewhat scammy too...)

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Anybody advertising to help you get rid of your timeshare will do the following.

 

1) charge you a bunch of money up front. This is the important part from their perspective.

 

2) step 2 varies depending on how scummy they are. The usual choices are:

-advertise it on a low traffic website for awhile

-call the resort home owners association and developer to try and get them to take it back

-list it on eBay for a low price or free

-deed it over to an LLC with an unknown or imaginary membership, and stop paying the fees.

-nothing

 

These are all things you could do yourself, although the LLC one is probably illegal, and various attorney generals have shut down a few folks doing it.

 

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I better run out and buy a timeshare right now!

I knew time shares were bad investments but getting them for free that is incredible. 

 

I imagine that new sales will be hurt by the incredible losses people take.

 

On comment about time share stuck with me:  "They are sold not bought." 

 

Reminds me of this documentary about a Time share king and his wife which enjoyed.

 

http://www.magpictures.com/thequeenofversailles/

 

 

 

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Perhaps for someone enterprising there is an opportunity here.

If you can buy enough rooms for cheap enough (assuming maint fees are low) then perhaps one can get control and

sell the property outright.  I  have no idea how to do this but just a thought in activist time share investing.

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Perhaps for someone enterprising there is an opportunity here.

If you can buy enough rooms for cheap enough (assuming maint fees are low) then perhaps one can get control and

sell the property outright.  I  have no idea how to do this but just a thought in activist time share investing.

 

I have no idea where I picked up this story, but I heard of a group of people that did this thing with an HOA.  It was a semi-empty condo complex in Las Vegas or somewhere like that.  They purchased up as many units as they could then voted themselves into the HOA and effectively took control of the place.  They fixed it up and increased the value of their properties then sold out.

 

Good luck buying enough timeshares to gain control of a Hilton or Marriott!  You're better off spending your billions on public shares and getting onto the Board.

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I knew a person who was a timeshare king in the 80s/90s. The thing is, the people who go into this are usually doing a bit of sleezy stuff in the background. Perhaps if you can dig up enough dirt, you can negotiate your way out.

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I knew a person who was a timeshare king in the 80s/90s. The thing is, the people who go into this are usually doing a bit of sleezy stuff in the background. Perhaps if you can dig up enough dirt, you can negotiate your way out.

 

Or you might disappear.

 

Haha, I guess that's a possibility. All the people I knew in the industry were very white-collar.

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