Can I Sell a Timeshare if I Owe Money on It?
Husband & I have owned timeshare for 6 years and owe a little over k on it.
It’s a deeded timeshare @ Harborside Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas.
We did the financing directly through the property through Starwood.
I’m afraid that we cant’ sell it because we owe money on it and I’m afraid if I go through one of those internet timeshare brokers like sellyourtimeshare.com will scam me in the end. Starwoods mailing address is in Florida. I was thinking I could treat this like real estate, put it on the market, go through and agent and have the moneys be transferred through a title company. Is this how it would work?
Also, what timeshare web sites offer commission and listing free advertising until after the timeshare sells.
Would it be possible; to sell it for under what we owe (being the market stinks and its saturated) and have a few thousand dollars left to pay after we sell it or at closing?
Yes you can sell it the day after you bought it if you want to, the catch is that the mortgage is still owed in its’ entirety and you will have to pay it off as soon as you sell the timeshare. If the amount you owe is greater that the amount you are able to sell your timeshare for you will need to come up with the difference to clear the title for the next owner. Good luck on the sale, it is almost impossible to come up with a sale that covers your original purchase price if you bought from a developer.
Timeshares can be sold but the resale value is terrible, if yours is a good one (location, season, size of unit, etc.) then it is easier but it will never sell for half of what you paid for. The average prize that I have seen them been sold is for no more than $2000, and this is for completely paid off timeshares.
There are so many options out there and you are right several owners would just give them away, that it will be almost impossible for you to find someone to take over your payments or give you a good amount for it.
You might want to talk to your accountant about defaulting on the payments.
These are some options:
- Resale is most likely not an option unless you sell it to a friend or relative.
- BE VERY CAREFUL if someone offers to sale it for you and ask for money upfront, they are just a bunch of scammers.
- It is ok to pay a few dollars (no more that $30) to post an ad in some really good site. There are some FREE sites that you can advertise, and my advise is that you just give it away and let someone take over your payments, you can try these:
http://timeshareownerscommunity.com/
http://craigslist.com
http://ebay.com
http://recycler.com/
http://usfreeads.com/
http://www.inetgiant.com/
- The last is the more painful, talk to your accountant about defaulting on the loan.
Good Luck!
if you sell it without paying the full balance owed, then the title/deed you transfer to the new owner is not a good title. They would inherit the lien against the property. Understand your predicament, and that is why timeshares are always trying to be unloaded.
my somewhat limited experience with timeshares is that they almost never sell for more than about 40% of what you paid for them, and frequently for less. Unless it is more than a decade later and times are very good indeed.
So you’d have to come out of pocket [put cash in] to close the sale.
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I have no idea about the marketing methods for these.
the best advice I can give you is to visit our website at:
http://www.timesharerelief.com
The greatest advice I can give you is NOT to use a listing company. You’ll find out why on our website.
Unfortunately, our company can only help you if your timeshare is 100% paid in full.
But the site should give you very useful information about the timeshare industry.