NEW YORK (Money magazine) -- Q: We no longer want our vacation time-share. How do we get rid of it? Can we return it to the resort? -- Fred M., Galena, Md.
A: Resorts rarely buy back time shares, though they may have a resale program. Your best bet is to try to sell your annual vacation weeks on your own.
Just don't get your hopes up for a big payoff. Nowadays most time shares are fetching no more than 25% of the original price, says Brian Rogers, owner of Timeshare Users Group. Some are worthless.
List yours on eBay or Craigslist, or try a specialized site like tug2.net ($15 for an annual membership), Bidshares.com (free), or RedWeek.com ($75 for a 12-month listing).
Steer clear of sites that ask for a large fee upfront. You can also hire a broker .(Find one on ltrba.com).
But if your time-share would sell for just a few hundred bucks, a broker is unlikely to take the listing. If your time-share is worth little or nothing and you're sick of paying maintenance fees, you can try turning your shares over to the resort. The company, however, doesn't have to accept your offer. 
How to hide from the NSA
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 4.01% | 4.04% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 3.11% | 3.18% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.82% | 2.88% | |
| 30 yr refi | 4.00% | 4.03% | |
| 15 yr refi | 3.11% | 3.16% |
Today's featured rates:
| Index | Last | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | 15,318.23 | 138.38 | 0.91% |
| Nasdaq | 3,482.18 | 30.05 | 0.87% |
| S&P 500 | 1,651.81 | 12.77 | 0.78% |
| Treasuries | 2.18 | 0.01 | 0.51% |
| Company | Price | Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pfizer Inc | 29.40 | 0.24 | 0.82% |
| Dell Inc | 13.48 | 0.07 | 0.52% |
| Sprint Nextel Corp | 7.32 | 0.10 | 1.39% |
| General Electric Co | 24.33 | 0.56 | 2.36% |
| Bank of America Corp... | 13.27 | 0.06 | 0.45% |
|
Google says it wants to disclose when the government sends data requests like those in the newly discovered Prism program. More |
Bipartisan Senate reform bill would likely reduce deficits by $175 billion over first 10 years and by roughly $700 billion in the second decade, nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says. More |
Google says it wants to disclose when the government sends data requests like those in the newly discovered Prism program. More |
Thinking about starting a business? These 10 states saw more startup activity than anywhere else nationwide, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. More |
Total costs for health care services, including everything from doctor visits and prescription drugs to surgeries, are expected to rise 6.5% in 2014, when the Affordable Care Act fully kicks in, according to a report released Tuesday. More |
.
