General Discussion

Timeshareforland

May 19, 2010

I posted this in another forum, but didn't get much of a response.

So, I stumbled upon this site the other day as I was looking to unload my Liki Tiki Village, FL timeshare and wanted to ask the community a quick question. I searched the forum before asking and didn’t see anything on it, so apologies if this has been brought up before.

Has anyone ever heard of companies that allow you to trade your timeshare for land? A friend of mine was talking to me about certain organizations that will allow you to trade your timeshare for land equity. She heard the timeshare/equity value is traded at a 1:1 ration! We no longer use our timeshare and I want to get rid of it fast, but know that the resale value of it will not be anywhere near what I paid for it just trying to dump it or listing it with a broker. If I could trade my timeshare for land that is valuable somewhere near to my home in Texas I may be able to build a nice little vacation getaway on the property that my family could truly put to good use.

Has anyone ever traded a timeshare for land equity???

Does anyone know anything about these timeshare for land trade deals???

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Lyle L.
May 20, 2010

I have never once heard of any such thing at ANY time in my own 27+ years of timeshare ownership and experience, but these are a few of the concerns / questions I would have, right off the bat:

1. Why would ANY entity, commercial or private, want to take ownership of a timeshare which the current owner can't sell, thereby willingly taking on inheritance of the annual maintenance fee obligation? That just makes no sense at all to me, personally.

2. Assuming for just a moment it's actually a legitimate proposal (...which I very seriously doubt, quite frankly), how would you ascertain whether this "land" actually has any value, present or future? Personally, I'd be concerned that someone is trying to somehow "unload" their ownership of utterly worthless land. Maybe there is no legal access to the land. Maybe no future building (or ANY other use) is allowed by some undisclosed covenant. Worse still, maybe it's land on which some sleazy contractor illegally buried hazardous waste, construction debris --- or Jimmy Hoffa...

I understand and empathize that you have a timeshare that you don't want and apparently can't sell (...or even give away maybe), but I'd still be very, very suspicious about this alleged "land for timeshare" scheme. It just doesn't add up --- not logically, not financially, not conceptually.

My advice is to not let your desire to rid yourself of this unwanted timeshare cloud (or override) your decision making and judgement...


KC

Last edited by ken1193 on May 20, 2010 05:50 AM

May 20, 2010

I actually did a little searching and found that this Timeshareforland program is through the company BlueGreen. I haven't looked into the details, but may give them a call and see what the program is all about.


Lyle L.
May 20, 2010

lylel12 wrote:
... did a little searching and found that this Timeshareforland program is through the company BlueGreen.
There has been some discussion of this new BlueGreen angle in the Timeshare Users Group forums recently. If you're interested in checking it out further, see http://www.tug2.net. I haven't followed the discussion there at all myself, but rest assured that you will get much more objectivity and full disclosure input from the knowledgeable folks on TUG than you will ever get directly from BlueGreen itself...

If you are not already aware, BlueGreen is a timeshare related entity itself, one which sells its' own points memberships in which members can use the points to reserve (available, limited) weeks at a variety of different facilities. While it might seem obvious what BlueGreen might do with additional acquired weeks (more availability for their current and future points members, without having to pay a dime for the weeks), it is unclear how the "land" issue factors into the picture, whose land it is, where it is, if it actually has any use or value, etc.

Caveat Emptor --- Buyer Beware!


KC

Last edited by ken1193 on May 20, 2010 09:39 AM


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