US Timeshare Exchange – Scams: How to avoid them
Many timeshare owners who wish to rent or sell their timeshare property are victims of timeshare resale scams. Unfortunately, in today’s day and age you cannot trust just anyone who may contact you. You must do you due diligence before doing business with any company, let alone timeshare resale companies. US Timeshare Exchange is a safe place to market and advertise your timeshares.
First, we must understand what a scam truly is. A scam is a deceptive act or operation, meaning if someone lies to you to earn your business.
Second, you must understand what it truly is that you are buying when it comes to purchasing timeshare resale services. Whenever you are paying an upfront fee for resale services, the fee is for advertising, no matter what the company or its representative may tell you. You are not paying an upfront commission; you pay for exposure and marketing.
Most timeshare resale companies will solicit owners and tell them many different things to earn their business and we will outline red flags for you to look out for.
1) Timeshare Resale Company will tell you that your timeshare can be rented or sold at a specific, unrealistic price.
Only real estate brokers can tell you a range or a price that a property can rent or sell for, anyone else legally cannot tell you that a property will sell or rent at any price point. Also, many times, the timeshare resale company will give you a very unrealistic price, usually more than the purchaser has originally paid at the timeshare resort. US Timeshare Exchange is a for sale by owner and for rent by owner marketing and advertising company. US Timeshare Exchange uses various marketing techniques to bring buyers, renters, and sellers together, and offers a service to timeshare owners who wish to rent or sell their timeshare properties.
How US Timeshare Exchange is different:
US Timeshare Exchange will never tell you what a timeshare can be rented or sold for, what we can do is give you a range of what other owners with the same types of timeshares as you have listed their property for in the past. This will give you a good idea of what the market is asking, and giving you the best shot at being competitive. At the end of the day, US Timeshare Exchange is a For sale by owner marketing company, meaning the owners set their rental or sales prices, after all it is your property and you maintain full control throughout the entire process.
2) Timeshare Resale Company will tell you that your timeshare can be rented or sold within a specific, unrealistic timeframe, and guarantee it.
There is no way anyone can tell you how long it will take to sell anything, let alone real estate. If anyone tells you that a timeshare can be sold within any timeframe or can guarantee it, be very weary. This is usually an outright lie just to entice timeshare owners to list with their company, many timeshare owners are so worried about getting rid of their timeshare they believe these empty promises. Some companies will guarantee the timeshare will be sold, and again this is untrue.
How US Timeshare Exchange is different:
US Timeshare Exchange will never tell you that a timeshare can be sold or rented within any particular timeframe, or guarantee that the property can be sold period. Again, there is no guarantee that a timeshare can be rented or sold. Our goal at US Timeshare Exchange is to generate acceptable offers within the first ninety days of advertising, however, in the event that we are not able to generate an acceptable offer, we will continue to market and advertise the property until it is rented or sold by you. With renting in selling timeshares it is very important to be patient with offers, and pricing properties reasonably. Although we generate the best exposure in the industry, people will not buy or rent timeshares if the prices are through the roof. You want to price your timeshares competitively with other owners and the resort.
3) Timeshare Resale companies pose as Finance companies telling timeshare owners they have a buyer or renter ready and the timeshare owner must pay for closing costs in order to complete the sale.
We have received phone calls from many timeshare owners stating that they have received calls from companies stating they have a buyer for their property and all they have to do is pay the closing costs and they will get paid right away. This is the biggest scam in the resale market, and it is not slowing down. They will tell you they may have gotten your information from a listing company, and again this is untrue. Never pay anyone upfront for closing costs on a timeshare, no matter how good it may sound.
How US Timeshare Exchange is different:
US Timeshare Exchange will never state that we have a buyer or renter waiting for your timeshare property, period. Also, US Timeshare Exchange will never give any of your personal information out to anyone, not even prospective buyers or renters. When an offer comes in on a timeshare, US Timeshare Exchange will get the First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, Address, and E-mail of the party that is interested. Once we have that information, we will forward the timeshare owner all the information of the prospective buyer or renter, and then you may contact the buyer or renter as you wish. So if a company ever tells you that they got your information from us, it’s a lie and let us know as soon as possible so we can report this fraud to the authorities. It’s impossible to find a buyer for anything if no one knows it’s available. Also keep in mind, typically with timeshares the buyer pays for the closing costs, unless otherwise negotiated by you. If you remember when you bought the timeshare at the resort you paid the closing costs, not the resort.
4) Timeshare resale companies will tell you they attend conventions, and have companies ready to buy or rent timeshares under contract.
Anyone can tell you anything over the phone. It’s up to you to validate that it’s actually true. Out of the thousands of resale companies out there, only a handful actually go to the events they say they do, or market at conventions. If someone tells you they have a convention coming up go to that show’s website and verify that the company has a booth and is actually an exhibitor, if they cannot do that for you then they are lying and it is a scam.
How US Timeshare Exchange is different:
US Timeshare Exchange actually attends conventions. Not only do we attend conventions in Orlando, FL, the timeshare capital of the world, but nationally. Giving our owners exposure all across the United States. Every time we have a convention, you will see it displayed on our website under the conventions tab. There you can go directly to the website of our featured event, and see our booth numbers as well as any sponsorships we may be doing. Our next even is the Tampa Bay Home Show starting on April 19th, and there will be over 20,000 attendees. We don’t have companies waiting to rent or buy, but we do market our services at each show, showing corporations the benefit of renting or buying timeshares on the resale market.
Remember, always do you research before doing business with any type of company, but especially timeshare resale companies. US Timeshare Exchange is a proud member of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, maintains a positive rating with the BBB, a membership with the Online Business Bureau, as well as being licensed by the state of Florida.
If you would like more information on how to advertise your timeshare for rent or for sale