Can we trade our deed with someone else?

[Phil&Kim Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Phil&Kim]

Sorry if this isn't too clear, this whole process still confuses me over a year later.

We have a bi-yearly timeshare in Vegas (17-20 points on RCI depending on deposit) that we will NEVER use. The reason being it's in the sweltering mont of August and for us, a package on Expedia is about 500-800$ LESS for a week than buying a flight and staying at the resort. For example right now a flight for 2 is 2380$ but we can stay in City Center for 1750-1900$ including the flights, taxes and fees. Hell, we deserve to be beat if we decide to stay at the resort when looking at the prices!

However; we drive to the NorthEast US at least once a year for shopping and last year loved the resort we stayed at. It wasn't overly fancy or new, but it was huge and looked like a home more than a place to crash.

So all that said, I'm wondering if there is a way for us to trade our deed for one in these states? Would I need to find someone willing to do so and then have to go through lawyers and everything or is there a simpler process? Our maintenance fee in Vegas is fairly cheap too, 169$ yearly so some people might like that. We wouldn't object to losing our value with RCI because we'd always use our week. Hell, this might even allow us to ditch RCI.

Vacation Village owns our resort actually and they have a few in Mass and possibly Vermont, any chance they'd play ball with us to switch?

Advice? Recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

I guarantee that Vacation Village would be happy to offer you an "equity" trade to get you to purchase another ownership from them.. However- that will cost you thousands! The only instance where I'd recommend an upgrade with the resort was if you still had a mortgage and believe that owning in the Northeast would allow you to use the timeshare. Eliminate every other option first, though.. To "upgrade" through the resort means that you would be paying resort prices twice for something you could possibly find for pennies on the dollar via resale.

On the secondary market, permanent swaps rarely ever happen. Closing costs always apply (check with a timeshare closing agent for estimates) and if you found someone to trade- there would be two closings required.

Your best bet is simply to try to sell, liquidate, or just give away what you own now. To do so, there cannot be a mortgage and the account must be free and clear. Once you are out of yours, then you acquire the one you want..

[Phil&Kim Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Phil&Kim]

Thank you for the quick answer. I was hoping there would be an inexpensive option but it looks like it won't happen!

I knew Vacation Village would offer us the trade but it sounds worst than I ever imagined. I should have known considering they called us last week with their 'fantastic' offer to swap us to a points based plan instead of weeks for the paltry sum of 5000$. She had the balls to sound outraged when I refused.

You seem to know a lot about this aspect- do you think there is any value to our deed? Bi-Annual, 169$ a year maintenance fees for a week in the middle of August in Vegas at the Grandview? If I could sell it and buy another to break even I'd consider it a steal- otherwise I figure we'll eventually find a way to get rid of it and eat the loss as a lesson learnt about pressure sales.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Unfortunately, your ownership currently has no expected resale value. You are not alone, many timeshare owners are in the same situation. All you want to do is focus on liquidating your ownership, and then acquire your target resort.

The other option is to hang on to what you own and just focus on exchange. I'm personally not a fan of exchange systems- but because the maintenance fees at Grandview are still low enough, if you can get the exchanges you want it may not be a bad choice. If you take ownership of another resort, you will most likely be paying higher maintenance fees and taxes than what you currently own..

The grass is not always greener on the other side of the timeshare fence!

Spend some time on this site daily. Just a few minutes a day can increase your knowledge base and you may find that you can squeeze more than enough usage and exchange potential from what you now own to satisfy your needs. Give it some time.. Consumers should never make a quick decision to buy or to sell a timeshare!

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

There are companies that will gladly sell it for you but for a big upfront fee. Do not pay a fee in advance before they have sold your timeshare because they will only list it for you and these listings almost never sell. They make you sign the contract first and then, when you read the fine print, you know that you have been scammed and it is too late. Be very careful. A resale timeshare broker gets a fee after the sale and that is the way it should be.

I googled "Upfront fee timeshare companies" and found some answers for you.

( 1 )

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( 3 ) Good advice here how to sell it yourself.

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

There is always the option to give it away here on our Freebies forum.