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Originally Posted by where2next
I've found one that looks good - the asking price is in the lower/middle range of what I've seen posted, but I have no idea if it is a fair price or not. I did do some research while visiting there last week and another owner shared with me what she paid (direct resale from developer). The listing I'm looking at is asking just over 50% of that amount. I would really like to pay about 20% - 25% less than the asking price, but in order to "negotiate" I would probably have to offer 30% - 40% less.
I'm a terrible negotiator and like to be armed with more real data so I know if I am in the ballpark or not. Is there anywhere I can find more current and reliable sales data?
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Whether or not you are a "terrible negotiator" is really not very important. What is important is how much work you are willing to do to establish a price.
As you've noted hard sales data are very difficult to come by. So you have to do work to establish a price - that's where the question of how much work you are willing to do comes. In any illiquid market (which applies to most timeshare resales) the notion of what is "true value" becomes meaningless - all that matters is what any buyer and seller mutually agree upon. And in an illiquid market, there will always be huge variations in actual sale prices.
To start, you must first establish an upper bound price you are willing to pay. That should be based purely on personal economics - your assessment of where the cross over point is between renting versus owning. Because of the uncertainties involved with projecting future prices, that crossover point is more likely to be a range than a specific number. Then set your maximum price somewhere near the bottom of that range. You also need to consider how you intend to handle closing, what the closing costs will be, and who will pay. I typically decide on a minimum closing package to meet my requirements, and will pay closing costs based on those arrangements. I then deduct those costs from my initial offer.
Now you need to decide how much work you are willing to do to complete a purchase, which directly relates to where you set your initial offer. If you want to conclude a sale with minimum work, then set your initial offer at the maximum price you just established for yourself. If you want to score a better deal, then you are going to set your initial offer lower; the lower you set that initial offer the more work you will have to do to complete a deal at that price.
Having done that you now troll the internet to find as many resale listings for the timeshare(s) as you can. Don't worry about asking price. Don't worry about whether the site is an "up-front fee" site; just locate listings. If you find some listings that are close to or less than the your initial offer price, make special note of those listings.
You're now ready to start making offers. First go to those listings you noted that are close to or less than your initial offer. If the lowest price among those listings equal to or less than your previously established initial offer, reduce your initial offer by additional amount for negotiating purposes. Now make offers on each of those listings. If the site offers the opportunity, let those owners know you are making multiple offers and you will accept the first offer that meets your price and conditions. I also raise the issue of closing arrangements and closing costs as soon as I can, indicating the closing arrangements and closing costs I am willing to pay for. If the buyer wants different, more costly closing arrangements, then I expect the added costs to be deducted from my offering price.
If there aren't any listings that are reasonably close to your initial price, then simply make offers to as many of those as you like. Most often I will start with those listings that are most reasonable in price, as I figure those owners are more likely to recognize that their timeshare isn't worth anywhere near what they paid for it. If all of those owners reject my offer, I simply send out another wave of offers to owners I didn't cover the first time. Repeat this process that as necessary or desirable.
If you don't wind up getting your price, you have two options. One option is to raise your offering and repeat the offering process. Another is to just wait five or six months, retroll the internet to refresh your listings, and repeat the process, hoping to score again. You should set up a saved search at eBay for listings of your timeshare. As you are waiting, you should also frequently check-in at other heavily trafficked listing sites to make sure you catch hot listings before someone else grabs them. Don't worry about recontacting owners you contacted previously, even offering the same price. In the five or six months that have passed they may have received no other action and will now be willing to reconsider their listing price. One time I contacted an owner about a property, with an offer price of $5000 on a listing they have for $30,000
firm. Turned out I was the only contact they had received on the ad in over three years time and they were more than ready to negotiate. They weren't willing to go as low as $5000, but they would have accepted $10,000. And $10,000 probably would have been a fair price for that unit for someone (a fixed week 7 in a 2-bedroom property in Whistler), but it's wasn't worth that to me. (I don't have school-age children so a fixed week 7 wasn't a feature that had much value to me.)
And that's the process you follow to come to a mutual agreement in an illiquid market. The more work you are willing to do, the lower the price you are likely to wind up with. If you don't want to work as hard, raise your initial price and respond more aggressively on the rejects you get where the owners indicate a willingness to negotiate further.
There's no magic or secret formula. It's just work and effort. And if you are a a "terrible negotiator" the compensationfor that is simply to do your homework and know what you are willing to offer and what you are not willing to offer. And, most importantly, don't make any counter offers without taking as much time as you need to think it over from your viewpoint and without your emotions.
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