Timeshare Resales - Scams On The Internet

Have you placed your "online classified for sale ad" on the Internet?

Have you paid an upfront fee to sell your timeshare?

Then what?
Examining questionable activities in the timeshare resale industry

By Larry Hayden, Timeshare Broker, Timeshare Resales Worldwide
__________________________________________________________

The Lights Are On, But Nobody Is Home. That expression reminds me of what so many timeshare classified advertising web sites are like.

Non-licensed timeshare advertising companies who know NOTHING about timeshare have put up hundreds of web sites, not to help you sell your timeshare, but to gain revenue by selling ads and/or displaying ads.

A real estate broker only makes money if he sells your timeshare. He is on commission.

Ever notice the difference in level of service when you are at a store where the salesman is on commission? The ones not on commission don't care.

A similar principle applies on the Internet.

We have had sellers tell us their timeshare sat for years with such advertising companies until the seller found us and we sold it.

Many of the classified timeshare ad websites look and sound very impressive, but if you go to the Better Business Bureau and enter their company name you will find many of them, even the prominently listed ones on leading search websites, have been kicked-out due to unresolved complaints.

Only a licensed broker can act as an agent to sell your deeded timeshare.

Non-licensed advertising companies can only refer the buyer to you.

What will you do if a miracle happens and you obtain a buyer from such an ad?

You'll need a broker to negotiate the many details of the sale, handle the many problems a closing agency won't handle, and someone to see that you are protected in the way the sale escrowis handled - a licensed broker knows the ropes, and must follow stringent laws for your protection.

Why not just use a licensed, experienced, professional timeshare broker to begin with?!

Understand that placing a timeshare classified ad on the net with a company with no physical location, no agents, no license, is not the same as dealing with a licensed experienced broker who has many methods of obtaining buyers and experience in handling all the problems.

Yes the problems usually arise AFTER you have a buyer, and during the closing process!

You won't get an internet classified ad company to help you, so why not deal with a professional licensed timeshare broker to begin with?

Upfront fee companies abound on the net also:

An article courtesy of TimeSharing Today magazine discusses wasting money for appraisals. Click here to read article.

Timesharing Today Magazine and the A.R.D.A. Resale Task force have published that they are questioning the policy of some resale companies, wherein a timeshare appraisal must be submitted as a pre-requisite of listing a timeshare for sale. The Task Force officially bars members from requiring an appraisal.

The above sources point out that such appraisals are nothing more than a disguised upfront fee.
Mandatory upfront fees are prohibited by law in the State of Florida.

The only sure way to protect yourself from wasting money on upfront fees, appraisals, non-licensed advertising websites, is to list for sale only with a licensed timeshare real estate broker, and only if the commission is due at the close of sale and only if there are no other fees upfront no matter what they are called!

An appraisal is nothing more than an estimate of value based upon offers and acceptance.

A successful timeshare real estate broker should have a record of sale and be able to tell

you what your timeshare is worth as a routine part of his/her job.

As the very first licensed timeshare broker on the Internet, we have always given such estimates at no charge. Contact us Toll Free at 888-696-8463, Carlsbad, CA

See related article, how to price a timeshare resale.
See related article, how to successfully sell a timeshare