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WHY CAN'T I SELL MY TIMESHARE?
Introduction
“The purchase of a Unit Week should be based on its value as a vacation experience or for spending leisure time, and not considered for purposes of acquiring an appreciating investment or with an expectation that the Unit Week may be resold.” “Units (other than Commercial Units) and Unit Weeks are offered for sale for personal use and enjoyment only and should not be purchased by any prospective purchaser for resale or as an investment opportunity or with any expectation of achieving rental income, capital appreciation, or any other financial return or valuable benefit, including but not limited to any tax benefit. Owners attempting to resell or rent their Unit or Unit Week would have to compete, at a substantial disadvantage, with the Developer in the sale or rental of its unsold Units or Unit Weeks. Generally, there is no established market for the resale of Units and Unit Weeks or for the rental of Units and Unit Weeks in the Condominium.” Your Timeshare Is Not a Financial Asset. Sadly, it is when consumers try ending their timeshare ownership that many first discover their timeshare is a liability and not an asset. This is because timeshare buyers are often misled at the time of purchase to believe that their timeshare is an investment that may appreciate in value or has financial value for sale on a secondary or “resale” timeshare market. Below is an example of language taken directly from one U.S. timeshare resort’s public offering statement. Many resorts use similar language in their owner manuals, master agreements, or public offering statements. This language was taken from a public offering statement that is 249 pages in length. I would be curious to know the percentage of people who have read this far into their documents. How many of you would have purchased a timeshare from this resort after having read the information above? With almost every type of property we purchase—home, boat, car, living room lamp, you name it—the owner can place an advertisement online and sell the item for a fair price or simply give it away and not have to think of it again. That is not the case with timeshares. Regardless of what you may have been told or led to believe, the resale market for timeshares is virtually nonexistent.
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