Searching for the Middle Ground of the Timeshare Market
Published
I’ve spent the last couple days online, reading as much as possible about timeshare ownership and timeshare resale, in the course of preparing our company’s marketing plan for the next quarter. After visiting hundreds of timeshare resale websites, message boards, and owner forums, one thing has become abundantly clear to me: There’s very little middle ground when it comes to timeshare resale.
On one side, there’s the position that your timeshare purchase is an investment far superior to any stocks/bonds/etc, that you should be able to sell for double or triple what you paid for it, to an eager line of ‘corporate buyers’ waiting in the wings, and that the fee to accomplish this feat is $$$$.
On the other, there’s the ‘cold, hard, facts’ that you are essentially a sucker for buying a timeshare, that you’ll be lucky to sell it for 20-30% of what you paid, and that the fee to assist you in liquidating your albatross is just $.
Do either of these extreme positions actually represent the truth, or is there a
middle ground somewhere between foolish optimism, and bitter pessimism?
I’ve met, or spoken with, thousands of timeshare owners over the years, including Doctors, Lawyers, School Teachers, Accountants, Plumbers, Nurses, CEO’s, and Mechanics – smart folks, that wouldn’t have purchased timeshare unless it made sense. It is logical for I, or anyone else, to believe these professionals over-paid by 3-5 times for their timeshares? Likewise, is it logical to think that any timeshare developer would sell their timeshares for 2-3 times less than its resale value?
How about this perspective: Timeshare is not investment property, but you made a logical decision to buy it.
In today’s market, resale prices are hard to predict, but if someone is willing to buy at 20% of the current value, they might just as easily buy at 80% of the value. By filling the internet with negative posts about your resort/exchange company/developer/resale value/etc. you are actually confirming the negative stereotypes about timeshare, in effect, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of financial loss.
At Bay Tree Solutions we share a staunch optimism that timeshare owners are not suckers, and that they deserve fair market value when it comes time to sell their properties.