Many families purchase a timeshare thinking they’re a good
investment that will increase in value over time. Unfortunately, this is hardly
ever the case. Almost all timeshares are not only worth less than what they
were originally purchased for, but are actually not worth anything at all.
Buying a timeshare directly through a resort developer such as Bluegreen, Westgate
and Hilton is just like buying a new car. It decreases in value by as much as 90%
the second it is purchased. Considering the average cost of a timeshare is
about $10,000, you can easily lose $9,000 in the blink of an eye when purchasing
a timeshare.
This may be hard to fathom at first, but just think about
everything a resort developer must do to sell a timeshare. They must hire and
train staff, pay utility costs of their facilities, provide coupons and
discounts that convince customers to go on tours and much more. These overhead
costs are carried on to you, the consumer.
On top of the instant 90% loss, timeshare owners are
required to pay annual fees towards the timeshare’s upkeep. These fees average
as much as $850 per year, but can be as high as several thousand dollars. After
several years of these fees, it’s not uncommon for a family to look for timeshare exit solutions.
While it is true that some timeshare brands such as Disney,
Hilton, Hyatt, Wyndham and Worldmark do hold some value, the majority of
timeshares do not. Timeshare owners can try to give the timeshare back to the
resort they purchased it from, but in many cases the resort won’t want to take
it back. After all, the resort is enjoying its yearly guaranteed revenue stream
from your maintenance fees.
If the resort won’t take the timeshare back, and no one
wants to buy it on the resale market, the only thing a timeshare owner can do
is look for a way to cancel the contract. This can be done with the help of one
of the many timeshare
exit teams on the Internet. These companies specialize in timeshare relief
and work with resorts to get timeshare owners out of their contracts. Some of
these “timeshare exit companies” have lawyers on-staff, and some simply have
special relationships with resort developers. Simply do a search on Google for
“timeshare exit companies” and you’re sure to come across several.
If you choose to hire a timeshare exit company to help you
get out of your contact, make sure to ask a few preliminary questions before
paying anything. These questions could be:
- Do you require an up-front fee? (not all of them do)
- What is your rating on the BBB?
- How long have you been in business?
- How long will the process take?Is there a money-back guarantee?
Make sure to shop around because each company can charge
vastly different prices. You don’t necessarily need a law firm to get out of a
contract. Sometimes one timeshare exit company may have a relationship with one
particular resort developer that another does not. When it comes to exiting
your timeshare, there are a lot of scams out there, so make sure to be careful
and do your homework.
Good luck!
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