Buying a timeshare at Vacation Village at Parkway

If you want to buy one at that resort post a Red Wish ....

Something to think about when buying a timeshare. How much are you going to travel. If you only go on one week vacations, then weeks are great, if you like to go for a quick getaway for 3 or 4 days, then weeks are not as useful. I am a points and weeks owner. With my points resort if I am not going to use my time , I put it into RCI, I can book one, two weeks of vacation in the same place and pay one exchange fee. If Iwant to book my weeks back to back in RCI at the same exchange I have to pay an exchange fee for each week. I am still new with the weeks, but also my Resort PB in Cabo gives a trading power amount in points, if I do not use all the points in my trade ,you have left over points to add to your unused week. This cost you $119 to combine them. I was asking RCI if I deposit two weeks at a time, why should \i have to pay separate exchanges if using them together. They treat each week on its own, unlike points you can use some of them, and then book again later with the balance, you pay the exchange only. Each exchange company has there own set of costs to do things, check out which exchange company the timeshare uses. Also, extra vacations are not free weeks, they are weeks at reduced prices, you do not use points or weeks to use them. If your not going to vacation alot, you may be better off to rent timeshares off of redweek, or other places. So many times we want to go somewhere, and with timeshares you pay your flight separate and alot of good deals out there flight and hotel. Alot of times the cost are more using your time share. You pay $200 for each week you own to exchange, plus the membership fee of the exchange company, then you also have the amount you invested in the timeshare. Plus lets not forget the $$$in manintence fees you will pay over the years. Some trips it can pay since you can access weeks through extra vacations that you pay for, to extend the trip if you were traveling a few places in the same time frame. Alot depends on how many years you plan to travel, how often. Over the years you would gain some of the investment back since resorts and hotels are not going to get cheaper and you do stay in alot of nice places with timeshares, that you may not stay in if you had to pay the nightly rate. But overall, it comes down to lifestyle, and how often you travel. Check out RCI .com site or the exchange company you would be using if you buy and see the ins and outs of things. I hope this has been helpful.

carols725 - thank you for your detailed message.

it seems based on the responses so far, dealing with the exchange system is not the easiest thing to do and on top of that if I'm not a regular traveler, paying for all these fees may not be getting me much of a deal. One other thing I need to consider is how long before I can gain some of the upfront investment back.

claudiuc wrote:

carols725 - thank you for your detailed message.

it seems based on the responses so far, dealing with the exchange system is not the easiest thing to do and on top of that if I'm not a regular traveler, paying for all these fees may not be getting me much of a deal. One other thing I need to consider is how long before I can gain some of the upfront investment back.

Timeshares are not a monetary investment so never think you're investing in timeshares to make money in the future. As a matter of fact, when/if you buy from a developer then once you sign that contract you're timeshare has been devalued by 75% to 90+% on the resale market.

Also, you have to keep in mind rising yearly maintenance fees. Timeshares are of personal value if you plan on using what you buy, buy where you like to go and are not particular about the exchanges you may be offered.

You can look up what other resorts issued by the same developer are going for currently by checking the county Deed records/values. If you do choose to buy, at least you will be able to get the same deal from the salesperson that you seen in the deed records.

I have a timeshare at vacation Village at Parkway that I am wanting to sell. I just don't have the time to travel anymore.

laurenw143 wrote:

I have a timeshare...that I am wanting to sell. I just don't have the time to travel anymore.

Well, join the club. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other timeshare owners are wanting to sell or give away their units. The first cardinal rule when trying to sell is to never, ever pay anyone a large, upfront fee to sell, rent out, or "cancel" your timeshare as that is almost always a scam.

Second is to get a realistic idea of what your unit is worth on the resale market. From what you described, it looks like a Central Florida location. Those, believe it or not, are usually worth around zero dollars resale as units in the Orlando area are a dime a dozen. What you can try is to log into E-Bay (if you have an E-Bay account) and check the listings for similar units at the same resort. But make sure you check completed listings to see what they actually sold for. Sadly, there are many uninformed owners who think that they can sell these pieces of real estate for around the same price they purchased. Unless someone gave it to you for free, you will not get anywhere near what you paid for it.

Once you have an idea as to what your unit is worth resale, advertise is for sale here on RedWeek. Other reputable timeshare listing sites are My Resort Network, Craigslist (just be prepared for a lot of spammers and scam attempts), E-Bay, or Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"). Make sure you list your price realistically and competitively.

If you come to the honest realization that your unit is worth about zero dollars resale and you just want to give your unit away, then advertise that using the same sites mentioned in the previous paragraph. TUG also has a Bargain Deals section on its public forum which will allow owners to advertise for free that they want to give their unit away.

Once you find a buyer/taker for your unit, then the two of you will have to agree who will pay the closing costs. You can use Redweek's recommended partner First American Title. Another one that comes highly recommended is Legal Timeshare Transfers which will cost you under $200 if no money is changing hands, a little more if there is money changing hands.

Another option if you realize that your unit is worth zero dollars and you just want to give it away, is to contact the resort's Homeowners' Association and ask if it will take your unit back. It might do so if you agree to pay closing costs and maybe even the next maintenance fee. You could also say in no uncertain terms, that you are not paying another penny in maintenance fees and that it would be in everybody's best interests for the HOA to take your unit back rather that for it to go through foreclosure.

I hope this helps.

@laurenw143

You can take a look at our resale chart here: Vacation Village Resale Prices

That shows the "self reported" successful resales we've had at the resort. As @lancec13 said, unfortunately, $0 seems to be a common price.

I'm not sure why it's showing $2,750 as the median price. That must be the median asking price, but you can see the median realized price is much lower.

Good luck. Also, if you aren't using it, consider renting it while you're trying to sell it.

I worked there for 10 yrs. & it is a FABULOUS place to own, trade and work! I wish I knew who you talked to cuz he messed up! I can no longer sell you one (obviously) but I'd be HAPPY to guide u on what to look for in resale as there are definitely things folks don't know or consider when buying resale. I may still know someone in the resale market that would absolutely do me a solid by selling you what you need at the best price, no catches. My name is Dee my email is deepowers0207@gmail.com if you'd like to communicate. As a matter of fact my daughter's boyfriend turned best friend owns 1 there but is stuck in Canada with cancer. He may want to sell his as he's been unable to travel for 3 yrs & things aren't looking too good. Anyway I'd love to help you anyway I can. If you email me we can exchange #s if you like. I'm still in Florida but now in Tampa. Good luck Dee ☺