Florida Disney Family Fun Timeshare / Oak Plantation

Q:
I have a similar timeshare, deeded unit 1405, week 52. I want to sell it. I own it outright. 2009 maint is paid. What will you charge me to perform the auction and handle the closing of sale? Any other vehicles for listing other/including eBay? I bought this unit on eBay over five years ago. Thank you, Larry

A:
Thank you for considering using eMidsouth for your Timeshare Listing or Timeshare Donation needs. Unfortunately, at this current time, we are not able to accept new listings or donations for resale. After a long process of evaluating our resale program, it is evident that in terms of timeliness and profitability, the current model has not proven efficient or effective. As a result, we are excited to have created a new program that I believe is the best solution for people undergoing a lifestyle change, and no longer have a need for their timeshare. Please visit www.donewithtime.com to read about our new program. If you feel this is the best solution for you we are happy to help and always available to answer questions, especially those that will help you compare other programs on the market who might charge up-front fees or the like. We take pride in specializing in timeshare, and are confident we can serve you. Thank you for your interest, Jennifer Sluppick

Q:
Hi. Am I understanding this correctly? I pay you money, and you take my timeshare? I don't owe anything on it. How could this possibly make sense? Forgive me if I'm being dense. Thanks, Larry

A:
This is for people who just don't want their timeshare any longer. We used to do this differently. With the way the economy has been it was no longer considered doable. Most people do not realize that the resale value of their timeshare is very low. Pennies on the dollare of what they paid. When those people try to sell it and cannot get rid of it they are still paying fees on something they no longer wish to own. We offer a service. You can try to sell it on your own or you can see if you can get the resort to buy it back. Done with time is for people who have tried their options. Thank you for your interest, Jennifer Sluppick

Q:
Thank you for your explanation. Wow... But, if I pay several hundreds of dollars in fees, and I turn over a deed, who gets the deed? This sounds like an opportunity to collect a bunch of deeds (without paying even the transaction fees for title transfers, etc). Am I understanding this correctly? In other words, people are considering the value of these things as basically garbage (an economics teacher once explained garbage as something you pay to have removed). But in the long run these won't be garbage. True, they were never worth what people paid the developers for them, but they aren't worth nothing. (Of course, if your business model proves itself, then that is proof they are garbage.) Perhaps week 11 in Michigan might be pretty crappy, but are they all really garbage? Thanks again for the enlightenment. Larry

A:
Larry, Done with Time is a last resort. The first thing you should do is attempt to sell it on your own. There are other venues besides eBay where that can be done. If you do a search on the prices timeshare are selling for you will see that many sell for just a few dollars. It all depends on where they are located and how much in demand they are. You can put what ever price tag you want on something, but in the end it is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. We used to have people give us their timeshares simply so they could get out from under the annual fees. The problem was we had to find buyers for them or we would have the annual fees to pay. In many cases we spent hundreds of dollars in fees to find a new buyer, only to sell it for much less then what we spent. It did not take too long to realize that if there is more money going out then is coming in, the business does not survive. We stopped doing that, but still had lots of people coming to us wanting our help. The reason there are fees is because that covers what it will eventually cost us to sell the timeshare. Fees on eBay are $75 to $130 PER auction. Most timeshares do not sell on their first auction. So it adds up quickly, and that does not even take into consideration the man hours involved. Done with Time does not collect deeds. Deeds come along with annual fees. The object is to find new buyers. The problem is that it is costly to do, thus if someone wants the deed out of their name we charge them for that service. Best of luck to you in finding a buyer for your timeshare. If you have any other questions please let me know. Best Regards, Jennifer Sluppick

Q:
wow again! Can't someone just stop paying the fees, and eventually the resort would take over the deed? And then wouldn't you just "lose" it without having to pay to transfer the deed? This is fascinating! Larry

A:
In most cases no. A maintenance fee is a contracted legal obligation that you enter into when you purchase a timeshare. If you stop paying the maintenance fee the first thing that happens is the account is put into collections. Eventually the resort would foreclose on the deed for the unpaid maintenance fees. That is one of the biggest misconceptions that some people have. They will stop paying the annual fees and then when they get a notice from the collection agency they are floored. That is when they scramble to get it sold, or at least get it out of their name. That is where Done With Time can become a valuable service for them. If they have exhausted all avenues in selling it and the resort will not take the deed back, this is a way that they can pay a fee and be guaranteed that the deed be taken out of their name. That way once the deed is out of their name they no longer are obligated to pay the annual fees. Best Regards, Jennifer Sluppick