My wifes grandmother past away and her grandfather is in a home with dementia. They have a two bedroom timeshare in Palm Desert, CA that is paid for and have annual fees of $719. They are in weeks 1-27 and 37-52. We are the executors of the estate and his guardian. He always wanted us to take the timeshare and travel. Should I take the timeshare over or sell it and put the money in his estate?
The timeshare resale market generally is extremely depressed at the moment, but it varies by location. Perhaps someone knows that area better and how easy resale may be. In some areas, out of prime season, it can be hard to give some timeshares away. Generally coastal SoCal seems to be the prime area in that part of the country.
If it would work for you to keep it to exchange and travel, that might be a better value for you, but make sure it will get the trading power you need, and knowing the name of the resort would help to assess that. Also, if it is a resort and time period that SFX exchange company would accept would make it more useful.
I don't think you will get any money for selling it. For some comparison, search Ebay for California Timeshares. I've only seen Prime Palm Desert weeks sell for the Marriotts for a few thousand dollars. All others that I have seen sold for $100. or less. Which Timeshare is it?
You can exchange the week for a week anywhere in the world, but remember that you pay fees for that. There is normally an exchange fee + a membership fee for the exchange company. So, while your annual fees are $719., if you exchange regularly, you are looking at more of an annual cost of around $1K.
We can help more if you tell us which resort it is, but generally that area has plenty of inventory so it's not likely to bring much if you sell it. If it's one of the higher end chains like Westin or Marriott it may be worth something, you can check ebay for sale prices (look at Completed Listings for weeks actually sold). Whatever you do, don't pay anyone an upfront fee/commission/etc to get rid of it; the market is flooded with scammers.
If you'd be happy using that particular resort every year, then by all means keep it. You can use it to trade to other places but it does take a bit or a lot of work, depending on what week you reserve and where you want to travel. As others have mentioned, it also adds to your annual cost.
If there's a way to settle the estate without having anyone actually take over the deed, and the maintenance fees could be avoided, that'd be my recommendation in the current market unless you're sure you'll want to own this particular timeshare but you should check with the estate's attorney about potential legal ramifications for the estate.
All advice above is right on target.
Another possibility is to call the resort and ask if they take deed-backs. Explain the situation and tell them you want to give it back to the Home Owner Association to re-sell or rent. There can be a fee associated with this.
Another option is to list it as a give-away on Craig's List in Palm Springs - someone may want it.
If you are checking with an estate lawyer as stated above, confirm that you DO NOT have to accept a timeshare as part of an inheritance....important info for you to know.
Pat
*** My Trips and Travel Website ***
Hey BIG 2 Exchange Companies "I'm keeping track of how many times you annoy me" ArtsieAng
You could also try to give it away here if there's little or no market----use our freebie forum.
It is at Desert Breezes.
If you don't love the place to stay there yourself at least two out of every three years, I would recommend you look at options for unloading it.Originally Posted by aries8425
eBay is the BUYERS market, the bargain basement of timeshare. If you are a seller, you want a venue with higher prices, and that usually is the localized market. eBay is a great place to buy timeshare, due to its prices, but a terrible place to sell it.
Some of those more familiar with the area have indicated that there seems to be an excessive of timeshare inventory in the area, which would depress both resale value and exchange trading power.
If you want to sell, I would seek out a local timeshare specialist broker if there is one. They seem to do the best on resale prices. Those who list nationally on the internet are more likely to be scammers. Large upfront fees are the biggest red flag that it is a scam. Legitimate national internet sales sites include redweek.com and myresortnetwork.com. I would look at completed sales there for prices. That is going to be closer to the real market than eBay.
If you are considering using it yourself for trading, you need to get a picture of its trading power. Does SFX take your resort and week? If so, that is a very positive sign. If it is in RCI, check out its value in points in both systems, or just RCI ''Weeks'' if it is not in RCI Points. That will give you real information on its value for trading. If the resort is II, I am less familiar with what you need to do.
If you want to get into timeshare trading, and that is something I have found overall very positive, although much less so with RCI in the last few years, then you need to do some research on it. I now use independent exchange companies which offer better value like DAE, SFX, and UKRE, and there are others. In consideing using it for exchange there are a couple of points to consider. One is that simply taking over the week might be simpler or cheaper than going out and buying one, but that may be counterbalanced by the fact that you may be able to pick of a better trading week with lower maintenance fees on the bargain basement of timeshare that is eBay.
Last edited by Carolinian; 10-17-2012 at 02:18 AM.
It could be difficult to sell your timeshare, look at this page, the can help you:
http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...er-is-deceased
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