Our Timeshare and Divorce: How do you Value this "asset" ?

Any one out there have any ideas or resources that might help with establishing a TimeShares Fair Market Value when going through a Divorce. I find little or no information on this topic.

peters379 wrote:

Any one out there have any ideas or resources that might help with establishing a TimeShares Fair Market Value when going through a Divorce. I find little or no information on this topic.

What resort and what week do you own ..... in reality fair market value is only what someone is willing to pay .... there is no strict criteria in valuing a timeshare .... it's all about supply and demand of the resort and time owned and in this economy millions of timeshare weeks can't even be given away.

Perhaps some of the high end timeshares such as Hyatt, 4 Seasons, Marriott, Hilton etc. retain some value but nothing like they did 2 years ago. Marriott has even suspended ROFR.

peters379 wrote:

Any one out there have any ideas or resources that might help with establishing a TimeShares Fair Market Value when going through a Divorce. I find little or no information on this topic.

My specific suggestion would be to first go to eBay to see if you can find comparable weeks at your resort under "closed listings". If so, you will then have actual, confirmed, current and indisputable resale prices, from transactions which have actually been completed.

You DON'T ever want to use "for sale" ads to estimate value, since many would-be sellers have a very unrealistic and overly optimistic notion of what their timeshare is worth, often based upon what THEY paid for it. Unfortunately, what THEY paid for it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with it's actual, current market value today.

If the resort has a resale office (...as only some do), they might be willing to share with you the "sold" prices for weeks much like yours. Generally, resort resale prices are MUCH higher than the same week sold on eBay (if you can even find a "closed listing" match there).

Truth to tell, timeshares in weak demand locations or off-seasons can easily be regarded more as a LIABILITY than an asset, since such an "asset" comes with its' own guaranteed annual maintenance fee legal obligations --- but possibly without the item itself actually having any current market value. If of no real market value, it's hardly an "asset".

Hope this helps you somehow. Good luck.

The Fair Market Value (FMV) of an asset is a frequently contested issue in Federal Estate Tax audits and the IRS looks to comparable sales where both buyer and seller are fully informed of all relevent facts and neither is under any pressure to buy or sell. Where there is no established market and comparable sales can not be found the IRS usually accepts the opinion of an expert. While a divorce is not an IRS audit the same approach to determining FMV is probably applicable. Get a written and signed opinion of an expert in the area where the timeshare is located.

As Ken suggests, the timeshare could actually be a liability rather than an asset in today's down economy what with the maintenance fees that stretch into perpetuity! If you are dividing the marital property equally and the divorce is contentious then possibly you should agree to a high value - the price the resort is charging - and then maneuver (a don't throw me in the briar batch approach) to have the timeshare included in your spouse's share of the marital property. If it is a friendly divorce and neither party really wants the timeshare then place an agreed to value on the property and flip a coin to decide who gets it. Judges as well as arbitrators usually accept property settlements agreed to by both spouses.

I own at the Maui Westin Ka'napali Resort Villa North, It is an EOY, Oceanview , 2 bdrm Lockoff, Paid $39K 3 yrs ago with Maintanice fees of $1,300/yr. I agree that this is more of a liablity than an asset but my ex is wanting to maximize its value for settlement reasons. I have stated that I am willing to agree to a FMV of $10K but I feel this is even too high! Just looking for some guidance. Thanks

Go to Ebay and peruse completed timeshare auctions .... you may have to sign up but it's free .... then enter Hawaii timeshares in search or specifically your resort .... copy and paste url below:

http://completed.shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_PrefLoc=1&_nkw=timeshares&LH_Complete=1&_armrs=1&_from=R10&_ipg=&_sargn=1&_sop=15

I agree with JayJay in that easily identifiable values for timeshares can be viewed on eBay by tracking auctions until they complete, or to a limited extent viewing the completed auction lists. A lot of times the completed lists do not show all completed auctions, and when they do they are only listed for about 1-2 weeks after the close of the auction in the "Completed" listing, even though you can view a specific auction for about 2 months after it closes.

FMV will be difficult to determine. On the one hand I have seen Westin KORV/KORVN 2BR OV Biennial go for $3k-$8k and one Annual OV for $10k on eBay recently but the low end probably wouldn't fly as FMV. There's not much in the way of verifying what the FSBO and Realtor listings fetch because there does not appear to be any records of the final prices. Even looking at deed records is not reliable because the counties do not enforce actual sale price recordings on the deeds. People understate the sale price on the deeds to keep the recording cost to a minimum.

Anyway, I recommend proposing the average price of any eBay auction found over a 1-3 month period

You might be able to find more completed austions by Googling: Westin Kaanapali site:ebay.com "Westin Kaanapali" site:offer.ebay.com But IMHO the only way to collect a good volume of historical auction prices on eBay is to set up a search for "Westin Kaanapali" in the Real Estate for Sale : Timeshares category, then add each auciton to your watch list, and then once the auction ends, document the final prices. I don't recommend including "Biennial" in the search criterion. Some aucitons say biennial, others bi-odd or bieven, or even misspel biennial or use biannual incorrectly.

jayjay wrote:

Go to Ebay and peruse completed timeshare auctions .... you may have to sign up but it's free .... then enter Hawaii timeshares in search or specifically your resort .... copy and paste url below:

http://completed.shop.ebay.com/i.html?LH_PrefLoc=1&_nkw=timeshares&LH_Complete=1&_armrs=1&_from=R10&_ipg=&_sargn=1&_sop=15

Thanks for all the insight. I have checked the EBay site and found some good information that will "help" the process. Oh, and tell your partner how important they are to you..every day! This whole thing just plain sucks! Regards