Can anyone explain the process of buying a resale?

I've pretty much narrowed my choices and are ready to make an offer but there are some things I'm still worried about. Mainly regarding buyer protection.

1. How do I know if the mortgage is paid off on the deed? (is this the same is title is clean and clear?)
2. How do I know if the maintenance fees are paid up?
3. Would this require Title Search and/or Insurance?

I made an offer but the agent said that the only way to make sure the title is clear is to do a search and insurance. I'm expecting that to cost more than its worth.

Really, I don't want to get screwed out of some money. Am I asking the right questions? Should I have to pay to make sure the seller has done their part in trying to sell the property legally?

Not sure if I should ask the agent as they are representing the seller.

Thanks for reading!

On the TUG Advice page, there are multiple articles about how to buy resale - that's where you want to start: http://tug2.net/timeshare_advice/tug_timeshare_advice.shtml

-Who are you buying from?

-What are you buying?

-How much are you paying including all the fees?

-What are the terms of purchase?

Personally, unless you have been lurking around TUG for a lot longer than it seems you have, I think you oughtta cool your jets about buying- at least until you see the refund from the one you rescinded.

There is no hurry. Honest. All the 'good' ones will not be sold before you get a shot at bidding on them.

Rent- at least for your vacation this year. It takes some time- often several months- to process a title transfer and to set up an account with an exchange in order to take a vacation in your new property. Make a bid late in the year- like November- when the MF bills come in. There are some UNBELIEVEABLE deals on excellent vacation properties that could be processed in time for next summers' vacation.

But if you MUST buy now, follow Denise's advice and read the link

All the best....

Jim

Passepartout said:

I think you oughtta cool your jets about buying- at least until you see the refund from the one you rescinded.

Click to expand...

Agreed!
Definitely make sure you actually have the money in hand before you spend it!

Passepartout said:

There is no hurry. Honest. All the 'good' ones will not be sold before you get a shot at bidding on them.

Click to expand...

Almost always true. I remember one that "got away" because we felt too inexperienced to bid higher and make sure we got it. But almost all will come again.

To answer your questions...
1. How do I know if the mortgage is paid off on the deed?
2. How do I know if the maintenance fees are paid up?
3. Would this require Title Search and/or Insurance?

1 and 2 can be answered with an estoppel letter. The answer to 3 is no, not really, at least not anything more than what they do to provide you with an estoppel letter.

When I've bought timeshares, I just make sure the purchase agreement has all the relevant info and specifies that there aren't any outstanding debts on the ownership. Then I let the title company handle everything else. They are paid a fee to take care of that. Now, to be honest I've had some trouble with some companies, but if you buy from a reputable seller that other Tuggers say is good then you're unlikely to have any problems at all.

Thanks all for the response.

I have been reading the information on the link from DeniseM. Very good info. Just a lot of it lol.

Thanks for the advise Passepartout, I might be going a little fast but I have a good idea on what I want and its fairly specific. I think I'll have to take the opportunities when it presents itself assuming the price works for both me and the seller. Especially thankful for the tip on buying in November.

Thank VegasBella, this is exactly what I was looking for. I'll ask for the Estoppel Letter from the broker. The letter would put my worries at ease. Not sure if it can happen but I don't want to be stuck paying off someones loan or maintenance fee's when I shouldn't.

BTW, I found the TS on Redweek and its going through their "full service" things. Not sure how much I can trust but I'll try to be cautious.

This forum is great, thanks a ton!

A suggestion...

pitterchi said:

<snip> I found the TS on Redweek and its going through their "full service" things. Not sure how much I can trust but I'll try to be cautious.

Click to expand...

The RedWeek "full service" process often indicates the involvement of a broker representing a seller (and likely collecting a commission upon sale).
If that's the case, make certain that the broker obtains a current estoppel letter and provides a copy to you. That document should state, under the clearly dated and current signature of an authorized resort representative, the unit / week, present owner's identity and account status and it should clearly verify that there are no outstanding fees, unpaid special assessments, late charges due, etc. on the account. A broker might redact (black out) the owner name from the estoppel copy s/he provides to you, claiming "privacy concerns" but actually fearing that you might try "cut them out" and go directly to the seller alone, without the broker, thereby endangering their commission. That's probably fine; you likely don't really need or want or care to know the current owner's identity yet anyhow.

An additional suggestion I would make is to get a clear and specific statement from the seller on the next available date of usage for you if you buy the week.
Why? You don't want to conclude a sale believing that you'll soon be using that unit / week, only to belatedly discover later to your great surprise and disappointment that the (now former) owner already deposited that years' usage with an exchange company. In that unwelcome and unpleasant surprise scenario, you won't be able to retrieve that deposited week back from the exchange company --- but you will be the recipient of (and legally responsible for) the next maintenance fee bill when it is later issued, as the current owner of record at that future time.

This is not just a "hypothetical" scenario; it happens. Third party involvement (i.e., a broker) means another "layer" for important details to fall through the cracks.
You need to perform due diligence and ride herd on the broker. After all, s/he is collecting a commission on the sale, so make certain s/he actually does and provides everything necessary to answer any and all relevant questions, ensure a clean sale and avert completely preventable unpleasant "surprises" later. Good luck.

P.S. In your initial post, you referenced an agent mentioning "insurance". IMnsHO, this is rarely is a worthwhile expense unless offered for cheap (as is sometimes the case via an attorney's office who handles transactions at the same property time and time again). Keep in mind that since this is a RedWeek full service listing, there might be a tendency to drum up business for First American Title, with which RedWeek has long had some sort of "affiliation", details of which I do not claim to know. For a relatively low dollar amount purchase, title insurance (which will cover only the purchase amount at most anyhow) is likely just a waste of money, at least IMnsHO.

Like you, once we decided to buy, I studied/read quickly and bought quickly. Havn't regretted it one day.. The hardest part, IMO, is learning the different systems and deciding where you want to buy.

pitterchi said:

Thanks all for the response.

I have been reading the information on the link from DeniseM. Very good info. Just a lot of it lol.

Thanks for the advise Passepartout, I might be going a little fast but I have a good idea on what I want and its fairly specific. I think I'll have to take the opportunities when it presents itself assuming the price works for both me and the seller. Especially thankful for the tip on buying in November.

Thank VegasBella, this is exactly what I was looking for. I'll ask for the Estoppel Letter from the broker. The letter would put my worries at ease. Not sure if it can happen but I don't want to be stuck paying off someones loan or maintenance fee's when I shouldn't.

BTW, I found the TS on Redweek and its going through their "full service" things. Not sure how much I can trust but I'll try to be cautious.

This forum is great, thanks a ton!

Click to expand...

I would like to add my 2 Cents. My Parents bought two Timeshares back in the 90s and we had problems using them. Once we were going to our Timeshare and they did not have our reservation and we had to pay for a stay at a Hilton.

The other company was hard to Trade into RCI and we only got to exchange once for 6 weeks then in 98 they sold it.

Fast Forward to 2010 I found out about Redweek.com and used it to rent a week in Scottsdale. Online there was the Villa Mirage and so we went and took a tour of the 2 bedroom unit. Went back to the resort we were staying at and bought resale.

In 2012 we rented another week at The Ridge 2 Bedroom Cascades and found one on resale and bought that.

We also have a Marriott week from my Grandfather after my Grandmother passed away.

So far with our weeks what we do is split the Arizona week Studio Lockoff 1 bedroom into RCI and then do a Deposit for the 2 Bedroom Marriott into Interval.

Last year with the RCI weeks I got us 2 weeks at the Welk Resort in their 2 bedroom Villa. This year with our Marriott we got a 2nd week at the Ridge and piggy backed on our owner week keeping the same unit.

This January I was able to work the system even better and got a 2 bedroom one week at the Grand Pacific Palisades in Carlsbad, 2 bedroom for 1 week at the Hilton MarBrisa followed by a 2 bedroom at the Welk Villas. All using the 1 RCI Week. I did have to pay to combine the TPUs but it was worth it.

My point is to have one home resort that you can trade as a secondary option and ensure that all other resorts have the same affiliation with your home resort. The Ridge has both Interval and RCI but we doubt we would ever exchange it. We are booked for a third rental week via Redweek this August since we love the resort so much and live 4 hours away.

The Arizona week in Scottsdale is good but why fly when you can split the week and drive 6 hours down to San Diego and get 3 weeks at different resorts?

You have to learn to work the system. For one Maintenance Fee you can pay to split you weeks $75+combining any TPU's that have a value around 20ish. Its very rare to find a resort with a value of 5 or 6. When I traded the first two weeks I had quite a bit of TPUs so it was worth combining since a week popped up at the Welk.

Traveling off season allows your TPUs to go farther. Also there is less traffic and its easier to fly if thats what you want to do.

I was able to find weeks back to back checking in on the same day as we checked out. Arriving on a Saturday or Sunday(as we like to do) gives you more options than checking in during the week. Most check in days are Friday Saturday or Sunday.

We have been using our weeks better than we did in the 90s because I have learned the system and in the old days it was hard to find weeks that met our school schedules etc.

You have to ask yourself are you really going to use the week(s) you buy? Its just like the family down the road purchasing the 30 Inch Smart TV for $3000 just to say that he owns one but never really uses it.

For us we could not picture ourselves staying anywhere else but nice resorts that maintain their properties well.

My Grandmother in her retirement worked as an ESL teacher and my Grandparents would just use 1/2 their week and checkout early. Now that is a waste of money in my opinion. For them it worked but for us we want to use the largest unit possible for the longest time possible. My Grandfather was not versed as I am about how to get an exchange. Plus they paid $3,000 for the Marriott Week vs $900 for the Ridge and $600 for Villa Mirage.

The reason I share the above anecdote with you is because if you are not going to fully maximize your Timesahre purchase by not renting it or using it then I would not buy any Timeshare and just travel the way you do today.