We had a call this morning on the show about selling a timeshare. You should know a couple of things about timeshares:

  • Some people like ’em, some people don’t use ’em, but timeshares are really difficult to resell or unload. They’re even tough to give away.

  • Buying a timeshare is not like buying real estate. It will not appreciate in value. It will probably be worthless when you sell it.

  • Be careful when financing a timeshare. You can easily pay credit-card interest rates on the loans. You won’t be able to refinance it with a traditional mortgage lender. And, if you stop paying on your timeshare loan, it will ding your credit and turn up as a debt and drop your credit score perhaps 100 points or more.

Where can you try to sell a timeshare? Try these websites:

  • eBay.com, craigslist.com, zillow.com

But the best way to sell your timeshare might be to actually go to your timeshare week and try to connect with some of your neighbors. Chances are that someone else might want to bring a friend along and buy your timeshare for just the cost of your outstanding loan.

You can try to give your timeshare to a charity, but make sure that you handle the ownership transfer correctly, or it could cause problems down the line.

BE FOREWARNED:

If you use one of the timeshare sales sites, don’t pay anything upfront to sell your timeshare. Oftentimes, these companies will take your cash and you’ll STILL have your timeshare.

Sept. 23, 2007.