Brokers and ROFR

[VacationForever]

I see how having an asking price much higher than market rate is a risk for seller. They might not get any offers. But I'm assuming there is a market price and they know about it which is not always true.

Yep, I totally agree. They are asking $20K and I am willing to pay $12K.

 

[taterhed]

I agree with getting the right info. But many of them want me to offer prices much higher (few thousand dollars) more than what I see on rofr.net Some of these agents talk like timeshare sales people rather than a real estate broker. This is a great deal, you should buy it, it won't last long, I have a few people waiting in line... blah blah blah.

so....I'm going to take the devil's advocate here:

I have purchased a few timeshares from brokers. Big brokers and little brokers. I've played the brokers against each other (did not work out well) and I've tried to undercut deals with ebay and redweek and SMTN.

Here's my opinion: If you know (think you know) what the value of a resale is--based on some recent, good, objective intel from TUG or others--then you should try to find an outlet to purchase at that price. Keep in mind: results more than a year old are stale and this has been a very very big year for change on ROFR from Marriott.

Brokers are in business to make money. They are not your friends and are not trying to do you a favor....they are trying to sell you (or sell for you) a resale product and balance the needs of BOTH sides of their retail stream (seller and buyer) to earn customer's business, good reviews and return customers. So, if they don't have a product that is competitively priced, they will try to sell you what they have. If they don't have what you want, they will try to find the product from another broker and still earn a commission and your business..

Sometimes, this is easy. If the broker has a lot of inventory of what you want, they will probably find a seller who will drop the price and take a shot at passing or failing ROFR. If they have exactly 1 prime ski week unit to sell, then your odds of getting a 'bargain' go way down. I had a popular TUG-recommended broker take 3 shots at ROFR on Waiohai when I originally bought. Lots of sellers, not many buyers. On my Grande Vista 3br Platinum--not so much. On my WKORV OFD, the broker (a small firm--Time to Share Realty/Ebay timeshare-friend) actually talked me down on my offer.

Recently, I tried to take 'the low road' and work with SMTN. Another Tugger had great results with them and that prompted me to give them a shot. Yes, they found what I wanted at 'fire sale prices,' but they couldn't bring the seller to the table. When the seller found out how much money they had to pay to 'get out of your timeshare,' they refused to sign. So, I wasted 2 weeks chasing a dead contract. I ended up going back to a 'premium' TUG-recommended broker who got me exactly what I wanted at a great price. They also reminded me of the pros/cons of the SVN contracts I was trying to buy. Great service, great price, no hiccups. Thanks Samuel (@SethNoc).

So, I recommend closely monitoring TUG, http://myresortnetwork.com/ and RedWeek to see what's for sale....and go from there. This year is tough for Marriott.....I think the bar has moved up on ANYTHING that smacks of a premium, platinum experience (beach, ski, event weeks).

Good luck.
Just my opinions; worth what you paid for them

 

[ski_sierra]

so....I'm going to take the devil's advocate here:
Just my opinions; worth what you paid for them

Great perspective. Thanks for sharing.