Secrets of the Timeshare Resale Market

Get Insider Tips on How to Sell Your Timeshare on the Secondary Market

The timeshare resale market can seem like a confusing place to enter, especially for first-time sellers who need help navigating the often-puzzling resale world. Perhaps you’ve looked at resale websites and can’t figure out why one timeshare can be listed for thousands of dollars more or less than the next one at the same resort. Or how to get an accurate price for timeshare points.

That’s where we can help. There are secrets of the timeshare resale market that are not necessarily apparent to the casual observer, such as:

• Timeshares can be sold, but at the right price. This may seem obvious but knowing how to establish that price point is crucial to a successful sale.
• A network of brokers exists, often under the radar. These are industry pros that work together to connect sellers with buyers and negotiate deals.
• You should leverage information from the resorts or timeshare companies. Details such as a resort’s right-of-first-refusal policy can make the difference between a happy or an unhappy potential buyer.

Getting the inside scoop about how your resort operates in the resale market and whether there is demand for your timeshare requires professional advice, so let’s take a look.

Is There a Strong Resale Market for Timeshares?

Contrary to some so-called timeshare experts, a robust secondary market for timeshares has existed for years, dating back to the arrival of the internet. Google was a game-changer for the timeshare resale market, allowing owners to sell their timeshares without needing to go through newspapers or beg their resorts for help.

Some timeshares or timeshare programs such as Club Wyndham, WorldMark, and Marriott Vacation Club have thousands of offers placed through our data-protected system each year adding up to millions of dollars worth of offers. Even lesser-known resorts like Silver Lake Resort in Orlando and Maui’s Sands of Kahana Vacation Club attract multiple offers worth thousands of dollars through our system.

Last year, more than $90 million worth of offers were submitted through our system by prospective buyers, proving that buyers are looking for deals by searching the secondary market for timeshares. Each timeshare is its own unique case and needs to be assessed based on its location, facilities and the particulars of ownership such as the season and specific layout of a unit.  

The issue isn’t whether there is a strong resale market, but how to tap into that market in order to successfully sell a timeshare.

Where is the Best Place to Resell your Timeshare?

Online is, without question, the best place to resell your timeshare and using a licensed timeshare resale brokerage gives you an inside track on selling because you’ll have professionals working on your behalf.

One of the real secrets of the secondary timeshare market is the ability to price a property correctly to sell it. No matter how many websites you check out and advertising salespeople you talk to, nothing compares to having a market analysis conducted by a licensed agent for a few reasons:

• Commission – licensed agents work on commissions similar to the way a real estate agent operates in the residential real estate marketplace. Agents will tell you the truth and price your property based on market forces. They won’t tell you what they think you want to hear in order to get an upfront fee, since they only get paid when a sale actually goes through.
• Experience – timeshare resales is a specialist industry with nuance needed to effectively sell a timeshare. Professional agents live in this space every day, researching the market and staying on top of trends that can make the difference when negotiating a sale.
• Regulatory Protection – because agents are licensed under state real estate law, there are important consumer protections in place that don’t exist in other areas of the timeshare resale market such as with advertising companies. In many states, a licensed agent is the only one, other than the owner and the resort, who can legally price a property for the resale market.

Do Timeshares Ever Go Up in Value?

In exceptional cases timeshares can go up in value, depending on the timeshare, when it was bought and how it was purchased. For instance, Disney Vacation Club timeshares on average hold their resale value very well, and the DVC points purchased in the 1990’s when the resorts were first opened, such as with Disney’s Old Key West resort, are likely worth more now than when they were originally bought.

Timeshares linked to a major hospitality company also have a better chance of holding and increasing their value, such as with Westin Kaanapali resort in Maui. Also, because buying a timeshare on the secondary market includes significant discounts compared to new sales through the resorts, you could get a great resale deal and be able to sell it later for more money.

However, it isn’t a good idea to think of this as flipping a timeshare the same way you would with residential homes. The value of resale timeshares is too unpredictable and lacks the type of MLS listing service that undergirds residential real estate.    

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