Selling your Marriott timeshare

I just had the latest sales presentation and asked about sellers on Red Week that were so much less than Marriott. I was told that there is a clause in all Marriott sales that places a lien on everyone's deeded condo. Marriott will let the sale proceed up to the day of closing, and then (if it is one of their prime weeks and locations) they will step in and buy the unit, placing it in their inventory rather than allowing it to be sold. In other words, they will block the sale. Can anything be done about this? They assured me it would do me no good to attempt to buy one of their timeshares unless you are paying a high price for their worst week of the year. That they would allow to go through. This seems to go against the picture they draw at their sales presentation about how you own the unit, it is deeded, you can rent it, sell it, leave it to your heirs, etc. Seems this may not be so.

mary1625 wrote:

I just had the latest sales presentation and asked about sellers on Red Week that were so much less than Marriott. I was told that there is a clause in all Marriott sales that places a lien on everyone's deeded condo. Marriott will let the sale proceed up to the day of closing, and then (if it is one of their prime weeks and locations) they will step in and buy the unit, placing it in their inventory rather than allowing it to be sold. In other words, they will block the sale. Can anything be done about this? They assured me it would do me no good to attempt to buy one of their timeshares unless you are paying a high price for their worst week of the year. That they would allow to go through. This seems to go against the picture they draw at their sales presentation about how you own the unit, it is deeded, you can rent it, sell it, leave it to your heirs, etc. Seems this may not be so.

I respectfully submit that you are not accurately portraying the nature of "Right of First Refusal" (usually abbreviated as ROFR). It's not really a "lien" and ROFR does not "block" a resale . If ROFR is contained and overtly expressed within the original condo documents, ROFR is the lawful option of the developer to step in on any resale transaction and buy the timeshare back --- for the same price which has been agreed to between the current owner and his / her prospective private resale buyer (as documented in a proposed purchase and sale agreement). ROFR does not "block" a sale; it simply provides the developer an option to lawfully step in to become the buyer. In the final analysis, it's the exact same end result and sale proceeds for the owner / seller, but the would-be willing buyer essentially just gets "aced out" of the transaction entirely if / when a developer opts to exercise ROFR.

ROFR is not routinely practiced by all "chains", but any and every timeshare on Planet Earth is much less expensive when purchased in the resale market vs. buying developer-direct. Where ROFR exists, the tricky part is finding the elusive resale "sweet spot" price that a buyer is willing to pay, but that the developer is not willing to match, opting instead to "pass" on exercising ROFR and allowing the resale transaction to proceed between the owner / seller and their willing buyer.

Based upon your post, it seems that either the salesperson was misrepresenting the facts and details regarding ROFR, or perhaps he / she was being entirely truthful and you perhaps simply misunderstood what he / she said about ROFR.

In resorts where ROFR applies (which are most Marriotts) when an owner finds someone who is ready to enter a contract of sale, the seller must submit that offer and give Marriott the opportunity to buy on the same terms. Marriott's ROFR allows them between 10-30 days (depending on the resort) to either exercise ROFR and then start the transfer to Marriott on the same terms as the original deal with the buyer or waive ROFR and then the sale can proceed. Once waived the sale can proceed with the buyer. As a potential buyer you can negotiate that you only pay a small deposit until after the ROFR is waived.

I am aware of the ROFR clause. However, I understand that Marriott also regularily buy back time share weeks from the owners. Can anyone give me contact details (mail and/or telephone number)?

Several years ago I attempted to purchase an "odd year" Marriott Mountainside, Park City, UT timeshare. Just prior to Closing, Marriott exercised their Option and aced me out of it. I tried again for an "every year timeshare" at the same resort and the same thing happened. A few months later both an "odd year timeshare" and an "every year timeshare" became available and I negotiated prices with two different sellers and this time I was able to purchase both of them at deep discounts. Marriott did not exercise their options for those two timeshares. All four attempts to purchase were for the Silver Months during the Summer. I suspect that Marriott exercises their options to buy back from the Owner's when they need inventory and do not exercise those options when they have sufficient inventory on hand. The transactions that worked out were in Sept./October.

Has anyone used the full service option when selling a timeshare? If so, has there been any scams?

I looked at redweek rental forums and have rented personally thru redweek with no problems.

Does anyone know the answer? I'm thinking on purchasing a Marriott Timeshare in the Orlando area. If the owner is requesting $1600 could a bid of 2000 and have the existing owner pay all closing and legal fees, will that appear as a 2000 purchase to Marriott in regards to trying to avoid ROFR? Doug H

I have bought two deeded timeshares on the "aftermarket" at Marriott resorts. No problem. In fact, I would always do it this way if you are ever buying a deeded property. There are two kinds of Marriott properties on the "aftermarket" deeded and points. Points are a different story since Marriott says they will charge for every point transferred. (Not sure if this is true but that's what they said at my last presentation).