The Pros and Cons of Timeshare Ownership

Let’s be honest, owning a timeshare isn’t all bad.  If it were, no one would ever enter into an agreement with a resort development.  There are many advantages that come along with purchasing a timeshare (as any salesman worth his salt will tell you).  But it is important to investigate all variables when considering purchasing a timeshare.  In this article, I’d like to take a minute to look at both the good and bad aspects of timeshare ownership.

The basic premise behind timeshares is simple: buy a fraction of a piece of vacation property and use it for a fraction of the year.  This is an appealing proposition for those families who vacation regularly and have a favorite destination.  Rather than purchasing their own property outright to use during their trips, timeshare owners share the cost of a property with a collection of other investors and spend an allotted amount of time there.  In theory, this is an excellent way for many families to enjoy quality time with one another in a prized vacation locale.  For those owners who really enjoy a specific vacation destination, they can familiarize themselves with an area and create lasting memories.  Unfortunately, for many timeshare owners, these memories have a nasty habit of becoming bittersweet.

Most families really enjoy the first few years of owning a timeshare.  It can be an exciting and convenient vacation option.  However, as children get older, and families begin to use their timeshares less frequently, the property can begin to lose its luster.  What initially seemed like a great way to treat your family to a special annual trip can become a headache as various maintenance fees and special assessments begin to add up.  Coupled with the rising cost of travel and a stagnant economy, suddenly your timeshare can begin to seem like less of a luxury and more of a burden.

At this point in the life cycle of timeshare ownership, many people consider selling their property.  The problem with this, of course, is that a timeshare is a liability, not an asset.  The value will only depreciate over time, which makes the resale market virtually non-existent.  There are many listing agencies and exchange companies who will make empty promises about the value of your property and the abundance of buyers lining up to purchase it, only to cash a large check without providing adequate service.  The bottom line is that it is nearly impossible to sell a timeshare.  The resale market has decreased significantly and shows no signs of rebounding.

We make no pretense about the value of your timeshare.  If you use and enjoy your timeshare, then it has significant value to you and your family.  If not, then you need to ask yourself if timeshare ownership is still a good choice.  The best option to get out from under the heavy burden of a timeshare contract is to transfer it with Newton Group Transfers.  Ever confident in our ability to remove the timeshare from your name, we back up our service with a 100% Guarantee of our services.

Please visit us online at newtongrouptransfers.com or contact us today at 1-877-354-4321 to begin the process of becoming timeshare free!

What Is a Perpetuity Clause?

There are a lot of things that we wish could last forever: the latest book by your favorite author, a perfect evening spent with family and friends, the youth and innocence of a new-born baby. These things have a timeless quality that, although short-lived, we carry with us as treasured memories for a lifetime. Other things, we are stuck with for eternity, whether we like them or not.

You may not have realized it at the time, but if you signed a deeded timeshare contract, you were committing to a potential financial nightmare from which there’s no easy escape. Most timeshare contracts are written with a “perpetuity clause” that makes your contract nearly impossible to break. Timeshare salespeople insist that this element of the contract is vital to ensuring that your progeny will enjoy ownership of such a valuable asset. But what this really means is that, after purchasing your timeshare, you will be required to all of the costs related to your timeshare for the remainder of your life. When you pass, the responsibility of maintaining these fees will be assigned to your next of kin.

Usually, family members do not want the property bequeathed to them for a few critical reasons. In recent years, timeshare occupancy has steadily decreased due to a struggling economy and unfair business practices on behalf of the resort developers. As the number of buyers decrease, resorts raise maintenance fees arbitrarily and well above the rate of inflation in order to mitigate their losses. In fact, the average annual cost of timeshare maintenance fees was $674in 2009. According to 2011 figures, that number has now jumped to $776 every year. That’s a 13% increase in just two years!

In addition to astronomical maintenance fees, the value of your timeshare decreases dramatically the instant you purchase it. Therefore, in the unlikely event that you are able to sell your timeshare, you will only be able to do so after taking a significant loss. Taken together, two factors make selling a timeshare extremely difficult; people just don’t want to take on your financial burden in the same way that you no longer want to continue to suffer under it.

So, if you’ve signed a contract making you and your family the permanent owners of the property, what are your options? Well, resale listing companies have very little incentive to follow through with their promise to sell your property; most donation options are scams that will land you in hot water with the IRS; and failing to keep up with your timeshare obligations will lead to a foreclosure that will destroy your credit.

Newton Group Transfers is NOT a resale listing agency or a donation company looking to scam you by falsely appraising your timeshare. We are a timeshare disposal company with a sterling reputation within the industry. We take an honest approach with our customers to completely transfer the deed from timeshare owners who have paid their mortgage in full. We are an experienced group of veterans of the timeshare transfer industry with a universal reputation of integrity based on our core values of accountability and transparency.  We’ve built a culture of good faith between ourselves and our clients based on our 100% Money Back Guarantee and an A- rating from the Better Business Bureau.

We have our client’s best interests in mind, and we will work tirelessly and honestly to remove you from your timeshare obligation.  So please contact us today at 1-877-354-4321 or visit our website at newtongrouptransfers.com to liberate yourself from your timeshare contract.

The Sad Truth About Timeshare Donation

The holiday season is rapidly approaching and we all know what that means… the season of giving is upon us! Christmas is a time of goodwill, peace, and charity, but it’s not necessarily always better to give than receive. For instance, donating your timeshare to charity might seem like a convenient way to rid yourself of such a financial burden, but the only thing you’ll receive is a massive headache!

Timeshare donations paint a picture of philanthropy coupled with massive tax deductions, along with the obvious benefit of ridding yourself of your timeshare obligations. This pie in the sky offer seems too good to be true! Unfortunately, it is.

Timeshare donation is one of the most common and expensive scams in the industry today. Not only that, but it could trigger an audit of your tax returns by the IRS, upon which, it will be revealed that the donation was really a scam – leaving you owing Uncle Sam a hefty sum. To put it simply, donation just isn’t a viable option as a timeshare exit solution.

Here’s how it works: A group of sales professionals sequester a group of disgruntled timeshare owners into to a physical location or a webinar with someone posing as a timeshare counselor.

Once the presentation begins, they’ll feed you quasi-accurate information about the folly of listing your timeshare on the resale market (Note: This is the only part of the scam that is remotely valid – timeshare are nearly impossible to sell).

When they feel like they’ve convinced you to enlist their services, they will request a large up-front fee to channel the timeshare to various charities with which they’re affiliated. Next, they’ll appraise your timeshare and claim that it’s worth roughly 75-80% of its initial value.

After the bogus appraisal has been completed, they’ll ensure you that you can write the appraisal figure off on your taxes. For the salespeople, the closer is that the amount that you will receive in your tax deduction will far exceed the amount you paid for their services – a patently false claim.

Keep in mind, if you go through with this process, the IRS will audit you and hold you responsible for the refund that you receive. At this point, it will be too late to plead ignorance.

Given the shabby resale market, the IRS is fully aware that your timeshare is not worth what these companies appraise them at. Further, they know that you are also well aware of this fact, and they will act accordingly.

Timeshare donation is a dangerous, expensive, and inefficient method of timeshare disposal. If you don’t believe me, discuss the matter further with your attorney or accountant; you’ll hear the exact same thing from them. At best, it’s a poor financial decision, at worst, it’s a scam that could get you and your family in hot water with the IRS. If you’re honestly considering timeshare donation, please, at the very least, seek an accurate appraisal of your timeshare from an objective source.

I strongly urge you to be thorough in your search for an efficient and expedient timeshare exit solution, but I’d really hate to see you dig deeper into financial difficulty by dealing with timeshare donation agencies. I know that many of your have dealt with less that reputable individuals and organizations in the past, so please don’t make the same mistake twice!

At Newton Group Transfers, we make no pretense about the value of your timeshare. The goal isn’t to prey on your financial insecurity and then swindle you out of your hard-earned money. We genuinely want to help you end your timeshare obligation through honest and legitimate means.

If you use and enjoy your timeshare, then it has significant value to you and your family. If not, then you need to ask yourself if timeshare ownership is still the best choice. The legitimate, most expedient way to get out from under the heavy burden of a timeshare contract is to transfer it with Newton Group Transfers. Ever confident in our ability to remove the timeshare from your name, we back up our process with a 100% Guarantee of our services. 

We have our client’s best interests in mind, and we will work tirelessly and honestly to remove you from your timeshare obligation through legitimate means. Please contact us today at 1-877-354-4321 or visit us online at www.newtongrouptransfers.com to liberate yourself from your timeshare contract.

Timeshares: The Ultimate Impulse Buy

After I filled my gas tank yesterday, I strolled inside the gas station to pay. It was a busy time of day, and the price of gas was cheaper than it has been recently, so there was a long line in front of me at the checkout counter. While I was waiting, my eyes began to feast on the candy prominently displayed below the counter top. As a professed chocolate addict, I freely admit that as soon as I got to the front of that line, I greedily snatched a King Size Reese’s and tossed it next to the register; I couldn’t help myself! Spending $0.99 on a candy bar is a relatively harmless exercise in impulse buying, but timeshare salespeople use a very similar method of appealing to emotions other than the purchase itself in their pitch.

Marketing and advertising are everywhere, and they’re here to stay. A product or service no longer sells itself on its own merit, there’s just too much sales competition, too much market research, and too much profit to be gained. As a practice, marketing toward impulse buying is generally an unethical exercise, but usually potential buyers see through the shtick and are responsible with their purchases. However, one major exception is buying a timeshare.

Most people that are invited to a timeshare sales pitch assume they’ll sit through a little speech, qualify for their free meal or gift, and be on their merry way, but the relentlessness of the salesmen make this impossible. The trick is to offer these gifts in exchange for a simple, brief, conversational meeting to discuss a potential vacation opportunity. These supposedly low-pressure sales presentations quickly devolve into an intense and uncomfortable bullying session. The salesmen use a full arsenal of anger and shame to play on your emotions in the hopes of pressuring you into an impulse buy. They extended the pitch far over the allotted time, and they’ll deny you the promised gift if you refuse to buy.

Here are a few tips to avoid the impulse buy. Keep these in mind if you agree to attend a sales presentation:

• Drive yourself to the presentation: This is probably the single most important thing to remember when attending a timeshare sales pitch. Many times, the resort development will suggest a meeting at a central office and then transport you to the actual presentation miles away. This is their sly way of kidnapping you and should be avoided at all cost!

• There’s no need to be polite: Be firm from the beginning and maintain a disinterested stance throughout the presentation. These salespeople are determined to capitalize on any indication that you may be willing to buy a property and they will use your kindness against you when you refuse to buy. If you’re only there for the free gift, be sure to make this known from the beginning and don’t waver on this stance.

• Beat them at their own game: Before you attend the presentation, do a little research online. Find the resale prices of some of the timeshares for the resort you’re visiting, print them off, and bring your homework with you to the pitch. Early in the salesperson’s speech, publicly ask if they can match the lowest prices on the sheet. This will serve as a crippling blow to the foundation of their proposal and drastically shorten the presentation.

A timeshare sales speech is much more than a minor inconvenience; it’s a manipulative assault on your emotions. Remember that you don’t owe these people anything regardless of how they will try to guilt you into an impulse buy. Stay strong, don’t lose your cool, and keep the tips listed above in mind.