I sold my timeshare!

[LindaLee]

Hello -- I inititally came to this forum in a panic b/c I am the executrix of my father's estate and he owned a timeshare in St. Thomas when he died. We had the timeshare listed for about a year before he died and had not found a buyer. So now I was stuck with this thing and could not close the estate until it sold. The timeshare was listed on www.sellmytimesharenow.com. To digress, I have seen a lot of negatives about this site on this forum. Yes, it was expensive to list my timeshare on their site. But they did what they said they would do - they posted my ad, responded to all my inquiries immediately, changed my ad when I asked them to, and forwarded all responses to my ad promptly. So this is not a scam. Anyway, I got about 20inquiries over all but nothing came to fruition. After spending some time on this forum I realized that I would be lucky to give this thing away. So I went back to all of the people who had contacted me and offered them a $1 purchase price. I agreed to pay closing costs and 2011 maintenance fees. I had two people bite immediately. I am using a lawyer in the USVI recommended by this site who has been great and not very expensive (thanks to whomever recommended him to me) - his name is A. James Casner and I highly recommend him. We are almost finished with the paperwork and should be wrapping things up this week. I don't know if I would recommend this as a away to sell your timeshare but just wanted to let others out there know that IT CAN BE DONE! I am so thrilled and thank you for all of your help!
Best regards, Linda

 

[DeniseM]

Lindalee - The problem is that you paid them a large upfront fee to sell your timeshare for $1. You could have given it away yourself for nearly nothing.

I don't see the value in that.

 

[nazclk]

Maybe

But she probably would not have found the buyer without them in this economy. I don't know why she just didn't tell the resort that it was part of an estate and they could have it back. Distribute all the funds and keep $5 in the estate account and if they don't want it back they can foreclose and pay a lot of money to attorneys for not. When the estate is broke it's broke.
I don't believe they can come after the heirs.

 

[LindaLee]

I happen to be a lawyer, and yes they can come after the heirs. Also, I did call the resort and they would not take it back. Also, I see a bunch of stuff on your website on sale for $1 for the same resort and it has been sitting there since I have been checking this site. The other woman who wanted to buy the timeshare was devastated b/c she missed out on the deal. I directed her to this site b/c she had obviously never heard of it.

 

[LindaLee]

By the way, thanks a lot for your negativity. I thought I was sharing good news but I just got a couple of obnoxious responses. Well, at least I got a good recommendation for the lawyer. I am done with this site.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Lindalee - The problem is that you paid them a large upfront fee to sell your timeshare for $1. You could have given it away yourself for nearly nothing.

I don't see the value in that.

By the time LindaLee came here she had already paid the upfront fee and there was no getting that money back. It seems to me she did the logical thing, which was to recognize that as a sunk cost, and market the unit to the 20 or so leads she did get.

If she hadn't yet used the upfront fee company or could have gotten her money back that would be a different situation. In her case she turned her sow's ear into a silk purse. And I would add that she was fortunate that she actually did get some contacts from her listing. In virtually all cases people who come here indicate that they listed their unit and heard nothing.

 

[DeniseM]

By the time LindaLee came here she had already paid the upfront fee and there was no getting that money back. It seems to me she did the logical thing, which was to recognize that as a sunk cost, and market the unit to the 20 or so leads she did get.

I agree - but it certainly isn't a solution I would promote to others.

 

[John Cummings]

LindaLee, Congratulations on selling your timeshare. Don't pay any attention to the naysayers. The important thing is you have sold it.

 

[LindaLee]

Thank you, I am thrilled and this forum was very helpful to me. I just wanted to let people know if I can do it, you can too (hopefully for less $$), but I would never recommend the road I took to get here!

 

[ondeadlin]

I agree - but it certainly isn't a solution I would promote to others.

Here's a question: Has the market for some weeks gotten so bad that it actually makes sense paying a large upfront fee?

These days there are many weeks that you literally can't give away. To sell my Foxrun winter week, I would have to probably give it away free, pay closing costs AND include several hundred dollars. I'm not going to do that, because I have good uses for it, but others might not.

Perhaps it's time to reevaluate the advice to "never pay an upfront fee."

The problem, as I see it, is that even paying a large fee to a PCC does not guarantee that they'll actually get rid of your week. You're probably better off sweetening a private sale with a cash incentive.

 

[DeniseM]

This is not a PCC - it is simply a listing site. You can list your timeshare all over the internet yourself, for little or nothing.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Here's a question: Has the market for some weeks gotten so bad that it actually makes sense paying a large upfront fee?

These days there are many weeks that you literally can't give away. To sell my Foxrun winter week, I would have to probably give it away free, pay closing costs AND include several hundred dollars. I'm not going to do that, because I have good uses for it, but others might not.

Perhaps it's time to reevaluate the advice to "never pay an upfront fee."

The problem, as I see it, is that even paying a large fee to a PCC does not guarantee that they'll actually get rid of your week. You're probably better off sweetening a private sale with a cash incentive.

Well, LindaLee's story differs from others in that she actually got some leads as a result of her listing. Virtually all other people who come here talking about these companies (other than the shills) say they listed with the company and heard absolutely nothing afterward.

So I think the "never pay an upfront fee" advice still stands - with rare exceptions it's still money thrown away because they don't generate leads.

******

It also leaves me wondering if there wasn't something in LindaLee's listing that generated more than usual interest. If so, that would be useful to know.

 

[ondeadlin]

This is not a PCC - it is simply a listing site. You can list your timeshare all over the internet yourself, for little or nothing.

I understand, Denise, I was trying to expand the conversation a bit.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I am glad you got rid of the week you didn't want. That's all that matters, and you might have had success giving it away without SMTN, but maybe not. I think SMTN is a little better than most. Congratulations on making the decision to sell for $1.

 

[e.bram]

Shill,shill, Shill!!!

 

[Culli]

Lindalee congrats! I'm glad you got rid of it I'm sure it is a big relief. I'm not sure what everyone means by a large upfront fee? Bottom line is you are free of the ordeal and now everyone can move on without ongoing fees etc.

Thank you for posting your experience.

 

[ronparise]

Linda Lee

(if you are still with us)

Its tough to accept all the negativity and unsolicited advice here (especially when so much of it is wrong)

But if you can look over the baloney there are little nugets of gold to be found that make it all worthwhile

 

[DeniseM]

I understand, Denise, I was trying to expand the conversation a bit.

If a timeshare owner has exhausted all means of giving a timeshare away themselves, then using a PCC may make sense. Unfortunately, many people don't know that they have other options, and they pay big bucks to a PCC, before they make an earnest effort to give away their timeshare themselves. YMMV

 

[TUGBrian]

*shrug,

someone entered a sales history record for an ebay sale last year for $1...with seller paying all closing costs.

I apologize if you feel people are posting negative remarks...and am happy you sold your timeshare.

I just think many of the above posters feel you could have done it and saved a significant amount of money doing so...and done it in far less than the 15months it appears to have taken you to do so.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Shill,shill, Shill!!!

Frankly, I had some of the same thoughts. I have had some PM correspondence with the OP, as well as reviewed the posting history, and I'm satisfied that LindaLee is not shilling.

As she posted upthread "you can too (hopefully for less $$), but I would never recommend the road I took to get here!".

I find it rather difficult to believe that if she were shilling she would say that people could do what she did for less money and that she wouldn't recommend that people do what she did.

 

[DeniseM]

I do not think that LindaLee is a shill, but she also defended the practice of paying an upfront fee company in another thread, about another company, and I think her enthusiasm is misguided.

It is not my intention to offend her, but this is not the best practice for getting rid of a timeshare, and I don't want newbies to get the impression that it is. YMMV

I do not know anything about this company, but will all due respect, why is this a scam? Just because something is expensive DOES NOT make it a scam, which implies some sort of fraud. I just posted about my experience with www.sellmytimesharenow.com and they DID help me sell my timeshare! Also, go on line and google "buy a timeshare". What comes up? sellmytimesharenow is one of the first on the list that people see. And no, I do not work for this company or any other company of this nature. If a company says that they are going to list your timeshare on their website what else do you expect them to do? Anyway, I do not think you should panic people that everything out there is a scam, although there certainly are plenty out there.

 

[lisae]

For those of us who have been in the timeshare industry for years, it's easy to see that most of these timeshares have little or no value anymore..The reality is that one can't even give some of these weeks away..We have sellers emailing and calling us daily and we just can't help them..We never recommend the PCC's because they usually have a huge upfront fee they charge and never really sell it or deed it out of the sellers names and get the ownership transferred with the resorts..We now offer a service to anyone who really just wants out of their timeshare for good..We really deed the week out of the sellers name and we really get the ownership transferred with the resorts..There are costs involved that the sellers are responsible for, but they are minimal compared to the PCC's and the money is held is escrow until the deed is recorded out of the sellers name..

 

[John Cummings]

So what is the fee for listing on "sellmytimesharenow"? Do they charge a large upfront fee or just a modest listing fee like "MyResortNetwork"?

Personally, I would never try to sell my timeshare on eBay nor TUG.

 

[lisae]

I don't know what they charge, but most PCC's charge anywhere from $3000 and up..we had one lady tell us that she paid a company $6000 to sell her Westgate week that was deeded in May..it's disgusting what they do especially to these elderly people

 

[John Cummings]

I don't know what they charge, but most PCC's charge anywhere from $3000 and up..we had one lady tell us that she paid a company $6000 to sell her Westgate week that was deeded in May..it's disgusting what they do especially to these elderly people

I know about the PCC's outrageous fees but I am interested in what " sellmytimesharenow" charges. I have checked out their website and they appear to just be a listing site.