timeshare resale

[kitty1950]

Has anyone successfully resold their timeshare contract. We bought it in 2000 for a 23 year period and have been to it every year (it is in Malta) but due to ill health (lung disease) I don't travel well any more. I have googled for timeshare resales but would like some information from someone who has first hand experience if possible.
Kind regards
Kath

[Law Man1856]

Time Shares are very difficult to sell - the usual method of sale is while you are reflexed on holiday abroad and the timeshare companies use this to sell you a dream.

If you cannot travel abroad now try contacting one of the UK based companies who do shares on the UK mainland and may swap yours for a more useable UK product.

GOOD LUCK

[kitty1950]

Thanks for your reply Law Man1856. I know its not going to be easy and I will take your advice about trying for an exchange but in the meantime hopefully someone will answer that has actually sold theirs or tried to and come across problems and can offer me advice on do's and dont's.
Regards
Kath

[buildersmate]

Well one of the obvious don'ts is do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES pay ANY money upfront to a resales agent. (They should expect to get a %age of the sale - probably around 15%). There are mutliple scams going around to cream off yet more money from unsuspecting punters, under the guise of tax prepayments, transfer fees etc etc, which do not result in any sale, and merely extract more hard-earned cash.
Another scam is selling you another week under the guise of swapping your week for another - you end up with two weeks.

[kitty1950]

Thanks buildersmate, I appreciate your reply, this is one point that I do know to steer clear of. My brother came across www.wesellyourtimeshare.com in an inflight magazine last week, it is based in America but has an english freephone number, I had a look at the website and it states that it doesn't charge anything up front. Maybe I will look into it deeper but I am still holding out for someone with actual experience. I have also thought of just writing it off and not pay the maintenance fees but I'm not sure of the legalities of doing that.
Regards
Kath

[buildersmate]

If your timeshare is a Club system (whereby you are granted a licence to use the facility for a number of years - typically 80 years) you may be able to do that. The Timeshare Operator reclaims your week (because you are in default), you have effectively written off your investment and the Operator resells your week to someone else. Many unscrupulous Operators have done just this - forcing up the cost of the maintenance to encourage owners to renege on their agreements. You have to balance the costs you are incurring on your maintenance versus the likley resale value. Many timeshare resorts are virtually worthless as a resale.

[BarbJensen]

While this may be an old post I thought I might share my bit of good news. I also posted this on another question but I just wanted to let you all know that I was able to sell my Wyndham through Timeshare Sell Now. I will not leave any details but they do have a website that you can visit for more details.