Timeshare Purchase

What is the difference between purchasing from a realtor versus a private person?

The commission.

donp196 wrote:

The commission.

But as the purchaser i do not have to pay the commission? Doesn't the seller have to pay the commission to the realtor? Thus for my purposes as the buyer there really is no difference of funds out of my pockets between going through the realtor versus private person. Am I correct? Also do you always have to use 1st American Title Company or are there other companies to use? Thanks so much.

There are many different closing companies you can use. Some that come to my mind and have received very favorable reviews from veteran timeshare owners and users are:

JRA Services, Timeshare Transfer, Legal Timeshare Transfers (quite economical).

As for your question about what the difference is between purchasing through a realtor and a private person, that could depend on the value of the timeshare. The majority of timeshares are worth zero dollars on the resale market. Very few licensed realtors will have anything to do with those because there is not enough money to be made.

If you're purchasing a unit that generally has over $1000 value, then you could purchase through a licensed third party. But if you purchase directly from the owner, you might be able to negotiate a sweeter deal.

As a newbie to this process this info is extremely helpful. Maybe you can answer another question--I have noticed when I send emails to realtors handling resale of timeshares that they tend not to respond. Why do they even list the unit if they are not going to respond. I realize that the "private" person has a greater incentive to respond immediately but just can't figure out why the realtors don't. Humm?