Drop Your Timeshare Payments, Save Your Home

By Bobby Kipp Hernandez

During these harsh economic times, it's stressful enough to think about how to pay for your home mortgage, putting food on the table, and filling up the gas tank. So, as foreclosures reach all-time highs and thousands of people are losing their jobs each month, timeshare owners have actually been billed special assessment fees for hundreds, and in a number of cases, thousands of dollars. When added to rising maintenance fees paid every year, homeowners should consider getting rid of their timeshare(s) before it's too late.

If you are financing your timeshare, you must pay it off as quickly as possible. First, you'll end your interest payments that make your timeshare even more costly. Remember, these interest payments are not tax deductible like the interest payments for your primary home mortgage. Secondly, by having a mortgage on the timeshare, the likelihood of getting an offer is the same as seeing flying elephants. There are simply too many timeshares for sale on the market without mortgages.

The timeshare resale market has historically been a difficult one for sellers. In a report by the FTC, only 3.3 percent of timeshares listed have been sold on the resale market over the last 20 years. Attempting to sell it in today's economic climate may prove even more difficult. You may end up waiting for a long time even after spending good money on advertising and broker fees. It's time wasted that you can ill afford not knowing if a special assessment is on its way.

Renting does not make sense when you could be invoiced for thousands of dollars in special assessments. You might make some money in rent, but lose money overall without ever going to the timeshare resort yourself.

Furthermore, fewer charities are taking ownership of timeshares because of the inherent cost and liabilities. Again, like selling, donating your timeshare may take too much time to find a proper charity that will take it. Unfortunately, the clock is always ticking and the next timeshare bill may be just around the corner.

If your checkbook cannot handle a sudden $1,000+ special assessment with the possibility of future fees, do your best to part with your timeshare as soon as you can. As you have read, trying to discard it yourself may or may not quickly end in success. Meanwhile, the time spent waiting will only build more stress on yourself. So, if you want a fast solution, go to a timeshare transfer company to get relief from your timeshare today.

A timeshare transfer company can get the timeshare out of your name so that you won't be responsible for any further assessments or maintenance fees. Of course, there will be a fee for this service but when compared to the cost of owning a timeshare, it's a small price to pay. The transfer can be done very quickly and once the contract is signed, you won't be liable for any expenses related to the timeshare.

You'll want to choose a timeshare transfer company which has been in operation for at least four years; this will weed out the fly-by-night operations. You should also look up any company you are thinking of working with at the Better Business Bureau. Of course, no company has a track record which is completely free of complaints; but you should make sure that complaints have been addressed by the company and that it is highly rated by the BBB.

No matter how you go about it, getting rid of your timeshare frees you from the financial and emotional stress of maintenance fees and special assessments -- which lets you focus on more important matters like ensuring that your mortgage is kept in good standing. - 29971

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