For anyone that has ever bought a new car, we know that sinking feeling we get as the value drops like a rock after we drive it off the dealership parking lot. Once you sign the contract for a timeshare, the impact is as if you bought and drove several new cars off the dealership lot at once. You’re going to lose a lot of value immediately.
A timeshare can lose 40% to 75% of their market value immediately after you sign the contract with the timeshare salesperson. One factor that contributes to the steep drop in value is that the salesperson and the company immediately receive their percentages on commission.
In the short time that it takes for the ink on your contract to dry, the timeshare turns into a notch on the timeshare salesperson’s belt. Immediately considered an asset to the timeshare resort, the clock starts to siphon money from the fresh timeshare owner in the form of maintenance and special assessment fees.
After a while, the timeshare resorts have little incentive to provide upkeep and to upgrade the timeshare. There is a reason for that. The timeshare contract guarantees revenue through all the fees the resorts collect from timeshare owners, so they do not need to bother with improvements. They take this money and use it to build new resorts that guarantee that they can collect even more maintenance fees from new timeshare owners.
As the timeshares age and the maintenance fees increase, there is less desire to purchase a condo unit from that location. Most potential buyers would prefer new, more modern timeshare units. At the same time, if the value for the increased maintenance fees paid begin to annoy timeshare owners, how do you think it will affect a potential owner who never vacationed there before? For many owners, they end up paying for something they don’t use and no one is looking to purchase from them. So, the value of that timeshare is negative — below zero — it’s taking money away constantly.
Timeshare Relief helps people out of this vicious downward spiral of value and get rid of those timeshares.
