Buyer from another country

[WVBaker]

Need advice from those who have.

I have an individual who has contacted me about buying a timeshare from me. Her address is in, Christchurch, New Zealand. There will be no money exchanged as it's only for 1.00 and will consist only of, preperation of contract, deed, closing, transfer, etc. I have agreed to pay closing and transfer.

What assurence do you have, if any, that once the closing and transfer has been prepared, that the buyer won't simply change their mind? New Zealand is quite a distance away to try to enforce a contract.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

It would be very difficult for someone to change their mind once all the documents have been signed, or even if they did, they couldn't do much about it. They are contractually committed and there would be no avenue of cancellation at the county recording or for the resort transfer.

Once the documents are ready and sent, it is generally a done deal. The only exception is if a certain resort "needs" something additional from the new owner. I see this happening often with people using an LLC or a Trust rather than a personal name.

 

[davidvel]

Are you using your own closing company? Who are you paying costs to? If you have concerns, use your instincts.

 

[md8287]

Need advice from those who have.

I have an individual who has contacted me about buying a timeshare from me. Her address is in, Christchurch, New Zealand. There will be no money exchanged as it's only for 1.00 and will consist only of, preperation of contract, deed, closing, transfer, etc. I have agreed to pay closing and transfer.

What assurence do you have, if any, that once the closing and transfer has been prepared, that the buyer won't simply change their mind? New Zealand is quite a distance away to try to enforce a contract.

I would use a closing company as each country has own laws. LT Transfers recently did one for me with one party in the UK. They had to go through an extensive notary process to make it official. You don't want to get rid of your timeshare just to learn that you didn't.

 

[WVBaker]

This process is very daunting to say the least.

My main concern is, having a company prepare the closing and transfer documents and some point thereafter, have the buyer back out. It seems the seller would be paying for the preparation of those documents, regardless if closing takes place or not. I'm sure a closing company, such as LT for example, would complete the paperwork at no cost if the buyer decides to back out, even if the buyer does so between preparing the documents and final closing.

There seems to be no recourse when dealing with any buyer from outside of the U.S. The individual setting up closing and transfer could be paying just for closing documents, for a closing that doesn't take place.

 

[JohnPaul]

Just curious. What would be the recourse if the buyer were American?

 

[WVBaker]

Just curious. What would be the recourse if the buyer were American?

At the very least, if the individual resided within the U.S. and you chose to, you could look to the courts for some resolution. Albeit small, if any. Threat of some legal action may be enough to encourage some to fulfill a commitment. At the very least, you do have that option.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

This process is very daunting to say the least.

My main concern is, having a company prepare the closing and transfer documents and some point thereafter, have the buyer back out. It seems the seller would be paying for the preparation of those documents, regardless if closing takes place or not. I'm sure a closing company, such as LT for example, would complete the paperwork at no cost if the buyer decides to back out, even if the buyer does so between preparing the documents and final closing.

There seems to be no recourse when dealing with any buyer from outside of the U.S. The individual setting up closing and transfer could be paying just for closing documents, for a closing that doesn't take place.

LT now charges a $50 upfront fee for this very reason. LT does not refund the $50 if the deal falls through. To me it is a perfectly fair amount for their efforts.

 

[tschwa2]

Just curious where is the timeshare located that you are "selling?" Did they indicate why they are interested? I bought a UK timeshare from someone in the UK off ebay and later sold it to a Canadian who had a daughter living in that part of the UK. If I were giving away a timeshare in Missouri or Massanutten to someone in a foreign country, I would have to have a pretty good idea why they are interested otherwise I would assume it is too much trouble vs the risk of it being a scam or simply falling through.

 

[WVBaker]

LT now charges a $50 upfront fee for this very reason. LT does not refund the $50 if the deal falls through. To me it is a perfectly fair amount for their efforts.

Thanks, that's fair.

 

[WVBaker]

Just curious where is the timeshare located that you are "selling?" Did they indicate why they are interested? I bought a UK timeshare from someone in the UK off ebay and later sold it to a Canadian who had a daughter living in that part of the UK. If I were giving away a timeshare in Missouri or Massanutten to someone in a foreign country, I would have to have a pretty good idea why they are interested otherwise I would assume it is too much trouble vs the risk of it being a scam or simply falling through.

It's in Florida and yes. it seems to have it's own risks.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

It's in Florida and yes. it seems to have it's own risks.

Risk but compared to the alternative of not giving away the timeshare there really is very little downside to taking the risk.

 

[theo]

What assurence do you have, if any, that once the closing and transfer has been prepared, that the buyer won't simply change their mind? New Zealand is quite a distance away to try to enforce a contract.

Since this matter is a Florida property / transaction, only grantor (i.e., your) notarized signature will be required on a new deed. Unless the grantee overtly and specifically notifies LT Transfers before deed execution that there will be no "acceptance" of the ownership, it seems to me that the only risk to you as grantor is the non-refundable $50 fee which LT Transfers understandably requires to start the transfer process. A $50 bet seems like acceptable risk to potentially part company with a timeshare you don't want and which otherwise presumably has little or no resale market value. A bird in the hand...

This input assumes that the prospective grantee is even legitimate in the first place. One has to wonder why someone in New Zealand would want to acquire a Florida timeshare, even for free, when they could just rent FL time with relative ease; on their own travel schedule and with no annual fee obligations.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

If you really wanted to you could take it a step further and require the buyer to pay the $50 which would be refunded by you after the transfer. I personally would not advise this because it could potentially chase away some honest buyers of a $1 timeshare.