My mom-in-law sold a blue week to friends for $4,500

[rapmarks Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close rapmarks]

do you think she would sell a couple of my timeshares for me?

[Thirsty Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Thirsty]

If your MIL and the couple have a good relationship then I would speak up and let both know the real value of the week. Friendships are worth more then money and the older you get the more valuable they become. I would also explain to the couple that is was not the intent of your MIL to take advantage of them.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

Boca, you know how I feel about you, you sweetie pie! Just don't tell your wife. I just thought you would think it odd that I won't let it rest. Rick told me not to fret over it anymore.

So we are going out with Mom this evening for dinner at her favorite restaurant. I think I will mention that I saw a week like hers for sale on a resale website for $500 and see what she says. She will probably say, "it is probably a winter week and you could never get up there at that time of year, the snow would be so bad." That is how she thinks! Snow is bad, skiing is probably not all that popular for most folks, just the young, noisy ones that you want to stay away from. She is 79 and as innocent as the day is long. Truly a loving, caring person.

This young couple is very dear to her. They are kids of some friends of hers and she has known them for years. The man (35 so not young) is in construction and remodeled her kitchen and bathrooms for her. They had her over for dinner on Mother's Day when we were out of town. She would never intentionally overcharge them, so the best thing is to tell her, I guess. I will let you know if she believes me. She is a little set in her ways and will argue with me a bit. I have known her for 35 years and she gets an idea in her head and will not let go of it. We will see.

This is a kinder, gentler crowd.

Marti, yes I am a Realtor, I adhere to the ethics of the National Realtor Association (NAR) and the local North Metro Denver Realtor Association. But timeshare really has no value as real estate, even though most are deeded. If they had such value, we would all be rich with our 10-20 weeks. This unit that Mom is selling is in a townhouse that would likely sell for $600K as a wholly owned unit. divide that by 50 and you have a pretty impressive amount of money. This is probably where her notion of value is coming from. These units sit above the town of Breckenridge and are as large as most houses. Really nice places, really huge real estate value being wasted as timeshares.

Timeshare is subjective if you think about it. Not only is it based on emotion, a number one sales ploy for selling weeks, but it is based on use-ability. If you use your week, no matter what week it is, it has value to you because you don't just let it sit. You enjoy that time with the week. In the case of my MIL, she loved to use it and compared it to the real value of things and how they generally go up in value and not down.

A used car can be two different things, a classic or just an average old car. It is the buyer who decides if the car is one or the other. Who determines the value of that car? The person who pays the price determines the value. You can ask whatever you want for your '66 mustang, but if no one will buy it, what is it really worth? All collectibles are like that. Someone can place value for insurance purposes, but those numbers arbitrary if no one will pay that price for it.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

Marti, this is the woman that sells weeks for Val Chatelle (the resort we own) and Rockridge I.
http://www.myresortnetwork.com/Times...-Chatelle-III/

She is selling this ski week at our resort for $10K. I can buy one of the same directly from our HOA for $5K and I think that is too high.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

Okay, thanks to Marti, I figured out where she got her idea of value.

http://www.jovanrealty.com/new/listings.htm

Scroll down and look at all of the listings for Summit County timeshares that this company has listed. I talked to the owner of this RE company about RCI points at Swan Mountain and could not believe what she charged to convert weeks to points. She is the one who does the conversions on all of the resorts up there, including Rockridge. Her prices are astronomical and this is where Mom looked to determine the value. Jovan mailed her a list of weeks for sale. Of course, she charges a fee to list and sell, much like the upfront companies and Mom did not pay the fee but used her values. I think this is so odd. I wonder if people pay these prices? Crazy.

[Ryne08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ryne08]

My friend stock broker sold him a blue week (January week) at Fairfileld Patriot Place for $6,000 dollars. A joke right!!!!i

[Jimbo Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jimbo]

Cindy,

I personally would not be able to let my MIL go without the knowledge of what it could have sold for. Once she knows the true value what she does with that information is on her conscience not mine.

I would definitely tell her especially knowing how "close" they are.

[Barbeque Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Barbeque]

Put your mother in law to work for a developer. She'd sell a bunch and make herself rich.
I honestly think a willing seller and a willing buyer.

How many of us didn't overpay for our first timeshare?

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

I have one that she could sell for me and we could split the profits.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

If your MIL and the couple have a good relationship then I would speak up and let both know the real value of the week. Friendships are worth more then money and the older you get the more valuable they become. I would also explain to the couple that is was not the intent of your MIL to take advantage of them.

Cindy, reading Glitter's post earlier and this one here, I agree with them. Friends are worth more than money. You will realize that when you get older. Even your MIL will be upset with you if you didn't tell her the truth because she may value her friends more than money too.

You are in a real awkward position here since you know the value of that timeshare. Also, you are a Realtor so I would not want to have anything to do with that transaction, if I were you. I have thought about it all day since you asked us your honest opinion. It will be very hard for you to let your MIL know but that may be the best solution and let her take over from there. She has to make the final decision.

Yes, buyers have responsibility to not get ripped off but you wouldn't like to have your friends ripped off nor would your MIL want to do this either, I am sure.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

Oh, Boy!

Okay, so we just finished our dinner and we talked to Mom.

I told her that I see weeks all the time on ebay, even in Hawaii, that are much less than she is asking for her week. She asked, "How do you know that the deals are legitimate?" I told her they are closed through title companies that hold the escrow and make sure everything is on the up and up. I also told her that I talked to Rockridge management about the week and was told that they are giving the blue weeks away. She asked, "What is a blue week?" Oh, brother! Rick had to tell her that the value is just not there and that charging that amount of money was too high. He told her to work out a different deal with them. She was acting a little different at the end of the evening, kinda moody.

If she is upset that we spoiled the deal, it is very uncharacteristic of her. Mom is not hurting for money. Dad was also a Denver firefighter, retired, and Mom retired from Keebler as a supervisor on the lines. She has no bills at all and fixed up her house with a small portion of their savings.

We have no idea if we got anywhere with her. She just cannot believe that real estate could lose value. I understand her dilemma. We have no reason to lie to her and only know the couple a little, they are much younger than the two of us. They are almost as young as our oldest son who is 30 next month. We are not trying to tell her something to help these people we barely know.

Did anyone look at Jovan's listings for Summit County timeshares for sale? This is a Realtor selling weeks for that price. I wonder how many she sells? Wow! Maybe I should set up a website with a bunch of fake listings and call owners of weeks listed with various resorts/HOA's up there when I get a hot prospect for the sale. I don't really have to have the listings, I just need to be able to find the weeks people want. No problem there.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Cindy, you have done the right thing and now it is your MIL's worry. Let her deal with it. If she values her friends, she can let them have it cheap or they can split the difference with them so both of them have the financial benefits of this transaction.

Her friends will respect her and love her always for letting them know. They learned a lesson here to check things out more carefully when they buy something. We all need to learn that lesson once but the earlier you learn this in life, the better it is.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

Cindy:

I believe you are upset also, and write something you probably will never do (I mean create that listing). It is an unfortunately situation. She probably feel bad for her friend, I think she will find the best solution and will have the courage to follow that through.

Jya-Ning

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

The ball is now out of your court and you should let what happens happens. I was on Jovan's mailing list for a few years- not sure if I quit or if it's going into the bulk file- the prices were always a bit beyond the high side.
I'm not a fan of blue weeks- you would have to pay me well to take one.

[JROBIN Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JROBIN]

Did anyone look at Jovan's listings for Summit County timeshares for sale? This is a Realtor selling weeks for that price. I wonder how many she sells? Wow! Maybe I should set up a website with a bunch of fake listings and call owners of weeks listed with various resorts/HOA's up there when I get a hot prospect for the sale. I don't really have to have the listings, I just need to be able to find the weeks people want. No problem there.

I also received the Jovan e-mail for a while when I was looking for Marriott Mountain Valley Lodge ski weeks. The prices listed were all very high (really not much of a discount below developer costs) and she would not negotiate on prices, so I just looked elsewhere and now I own 3 weeks at MVL that were priced well below the Jovan listings. Jovan must be able to sell some weeks to people who have gone through the sales tour and they think that their prices are a bargain.