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inexpensive closing

sue0067

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I am looking to purchase a VA timeshare and was told that I would need a quit claim deed done. Does anyone know who will do this for me at a reasonable cost?

I was told that the company would have to be licenced in Va...The links I got through the thread of "selling your timeshare" gave me companies that only worked in Florida (timeshare transfer co )

I have to pay 100 to Fairfield...so I was looking for something in the range of 200 at the most. Am I realistic to think a company will do this?

Thanks for any help..
Sue
 

Dave M

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The quality low-cost timeshare closing companies typically charge in the range of $250-$300 for a closing. You can do a quit claim deed yourself, but unless you know and trust the seller, you should consider using a trusted closing company. As just one example, suppose you send your money to the seller and the seller disappears before you get your title?

You will also want to ask some questions of the resort (with the seller's permission) and the seller to ensure you are going to get what you expect and that you won't find several years of unpaid maintenance fees after you become the owner. See this purchaser's checklist (from the TUG Advice section) for issues that you might deem important in your situation.

Incidentally, the closing companies listed in the article (including Timeshare Transfer) will handle closings in most states. Timeshare Closing Services covers more states than Timeshare Transfer, but Timeshare Transfer seems to process closings more quickly.
 

bigrick

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I recently used Timeshare Closing Services. Their fee was only $150. A price that appeals to buyers and sellers. :D They were very easy to contact via the phone. Plus they sent copies of the final transfer documents to all parties.
 

Carolinian

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I would be wary of any closing company not located in the state where the timeshare is located. I have seen too many seriously defective deeds for Outer Banks timeshares prepared by these companies.The odds of ending up with a valid deed are much greater if someone just copies a previous deed prepared by an attorney in the same state as the timeshare. The worst thing is that the Register of Deeds only checks for a limited number of things before recording. There are serious defects that can void title that the Register of Deeds never looks at. Having one of these deeds recorded can be a false sense of security.

I would not hesitate to use one of these closing companies to handle the money in escrow, but I would NEVER use them to prepare a deed.
 

Carolinian

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I would suggest calling the resort in question. They may know of a local attorney who handles matters for them or one of their members who practices in the same state that will offer preparation of an inexpensive deed.

In eastern North Carolina, for example, it would not be difficult to obtain an attorney prepared deed for an NC timeshare for around $150. I know of resorts which have an attorney / member who offers such services to fellow members for less than that, in one case, half that amount.
 

sue0067

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So far...I have gotten two inexpensive choices...one being timetravel traders in NJ...and another...in NJ who contacted me, Faeth closing services.

The first was a link off Tug..but I worry because they are not licenced in VA...and in reading more..preparing a deed is a legal document and unless it is your own..you need to be licensed in the state. This is a husband wife team that works from their house. They charge 75 plus recording and transfer



Same goes for the second offer...This company will do a warrenty deed...and has a lawyer..but still not in VA..They are in NJ. They want more money..but offer escrow....and it is more than a quit claim....still they are out of NJ.

Timeshare transfer only deals with Florida properties.

Neither makes me easy...

I did call the transfer company that Fairfield recomends in VA...and they want 500. I just feel that , that is way too much.

I am looking for something just middle of the road.

Sue
 
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Summit1231

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How == much at stake ? much would it hurt ? well do you know Sellers ?

Sorry, I don't have a specific closing company to recomend but doesn't it ususally come down to :

How much is at stake ?
How much would it hurt you to loose the entire amount ?
How well do you know or trust the sellers ?
How much is your time worth ?

If it is a timeshare of any value, I would not hesitate to spend the money for a reputable closing and transfer company involvement. Just a lot of things that could go wierd if you are working with a party you do not know or doing a transaction in another state.

Just my opinion, but I am a cautious guy.

Bob
 

Dave M

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Although Carolinian's warnings should not be taken lightly, no one has reported here of having legal problems with timeshare title transfers using any of the closing companies (including Timetravel Traders) referred to in the "how to sell" article, no matter what state the resort is in. Those companies have a few states, such as North Carolina, where they won't operate, but I'm not aware that Virginia is one that they shy away from.

How many TUGgers' transactions do these companies successfully handle each year? Hundreds.
 

sue0067

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Thanks all!

I have learned...what ever I am planning to do...I should fly it by this group..

I have just come off the hot plate with a burn from Timeshare Liquadators and have become a bit more cautious in all that I do.

I agree with the second party (Faeth Closing) that having a warrenty deed done...would be a better option...and they would also hold the money in escrow..aleviating another issue for me. 75 vs 200 is not that much more for the difference in what I am getting.

Thanks again for all your advice!!

Sue
 

Carolinian

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I have never seen a deed in North Carolina from Timetravel Traders. I have seen them from several other closing companies, and I don't think I have EVER seen a valid deed from one of those companies when the grantors are individuals. At least one of them lists an out of state attorney as preparing the deeds, and they are still invalid.

An invalid deed is a ticking time bomb that may or may not ever blow up. For a low value timeshare, the liklihood of anyone ever searching the title to find defects may be quite low. Someone with a legal problem with their deed may not ever know it, or it may blow up in their face. Someone putting any real money into a timeshare, however, should certainly not take this risk.

It is not just the closing companies. I know of one situation where some years ago a wholesaler bought over a hundred weeks from an HOA and started reselling them. They got a ''go by'' deed from somewhere, and started preparing deeds in their office. They copied the legal description verbatim from the ''go by'' in every deed, including the week and unit number of a timeshare week that they had never owned in the first place. All they changed was the brief description for the index, which was mere surplusage from a legal standpoint and did not change the fact that the legal desciption was for the wrong week and unit. The resort discovered the problem late in the game (they don't have a lawyer looking at deeds either) and the reseller refused to do anything about it. The HOA did get a quitclaim deed back from the reseller for all of the weeks, and told all of their customers that the HOA would execute a quitclaim to the customers for their correct unit and week if the customer paid the cost of the deed, which they got a bulk price on from a local attorney. Most did so, but some were content to stay with an invalid deed as long as noone was actively preventing them from using their week.

There are a few other states that have the same quirk in real property law as North Carolina, and there may be other quirks other places. Real property law is not the same everywhere, although it is close enough on the surface it may seem so. Deeds are NOT a one size fits all proposition.

The last Timesharing Today had an article about the advantages of using joint tenancy in deeding timeshares, but wisely had a rebutal from an attorney who pointed out that the law on joint tenancies varied from state to state and the arguments of the writer would not apply in all states. In North Carolina, for example, the legislature abolished joint tenancy many years ago, and then the Supreme Court came back and said one could still be created if it was done a particular way. I have seen several of these out of state closing companies use general joint tenancy language in North Carolina deeds, which does not meet the court's requirements, and so creates a tenancy in common. One of the main things buyers are after with a joint tenancy is the right of survivorship, and since most of these deeds seem to be husbands and wives, sadly in most cases they could have easily attained the right of survivorship with a tenancy by the entireties, which would have been created in most cases simply by listing the grantees as husband and wife. The lack of local knowledge by the out of state closing company cost them the right of surviorship that they wanted by using ineffective language from another state.

In-state attorney prepared deeds are not that expensive in many cases. While I suspect that the odds of a closing company getting it right in their own home state are probably fairly good, it is too much of a crap shoot anywhere else.



Dave M said:
Although Carolinian's warnings should not be taken lightly, no one has reported here of having legal problems with timeshare title transfers using any of the closing companies (including Timetravel Traders) referred to in the "how to sell" article, no matter what state the resort is in. Those companies have a few states, such as North Carolina, where they won't operate, but I'm not aware that Virginia is one that they shy away from.

How many TUGgers' transactions do these companies successfully handle each year? Hundreds.
 
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sbfrench

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I'm getting really confused here, I already have a copy of the deed for my timeshare in CA and got in touch with Faeth Closing Services, I really liked the guy, John, I spoke to. I sold my timeshare for only $100, should I be looking for some kind of problem using a closing company located in New Jersey?
 
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