The closest beaches to Vacation Village at Weston are about a 20-30 minute drive depending on traffic. Fort Lauderdale beach is about 20 minutes away and the resort is within driving distance of most major south Florida beaches such as Miami Beach.

The resort is collectively owned by the timeshare owners who have purchased deeded interests into the resort. Here it is important to draw a distinction between the Vacation Village at Weston resort and the management company, which is Vacation Village Resorts. Because the resort is technically owned by its timeshare owners, the resort’s directors work with the management company in order to maintain the quality and upkeep of the resort. The management company, Vacation Village Resorts, is collectively owned by its 1,900 employees in a unique corporate ownership structure.

Vacation Village does not buy back timeshare and the company is reluctant to even address the issue of resale or secondary market concerns. Unlike most branded timeshare operators, Vacation Village has no information on its website addressing the secondary market. You can try contacting them directly to see if they may be able to help, since some companies work on a case-by-case basis with owners to address their ownership concerns. In a few unique instances, they may offer to take back timeshare but this is often for long-term owners without mortgages or unpaid annual fees that are under extreme financial duress. Under these circumstances, there is no compensation for the owner to give back their timeshare. The only real way for an owner to get some money back for their ownership is to sell it on the resale market and get something back for their initial purchase.

There are basically three ways to sell your Vacation Village timeshare: 1) yourself through your own channels, 2) using a timeshare-specific advertising company, and 3) using a timeshare resale broker.

If you choose to sell your timeshare yourself, you could use platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or any other social media account. Also try asking family or friends, since they are probably aware of the vacations you’ve had in your timeshare. Otherwise, there are traditional advertising methods such as magazines or newspapers. The problem is that these methods often miss the mark because buyers don’t normally use them in order to look for timeshares.

With online timeshare resale advertising companies, you would take out an ad on a website that specializes only on timeshares. Nearly 94 percent of all travel product bookings begin with an online search, so having an online presence is essential if you want the best chance to sell Vacation Village timeshare. Look for companies that have a great online presence, since you’ll be leveraging their search engine marketing tactics to bring a buyer to your ad. These companies allow you to target buyers, negotiate your deal and get out of your timeshare.

Working with a timeshare resale broker is another option. They employ licensed agents to work on your behalf to negotiate a deal, similar to the methods of a real estate agent. This may sound like a good option, but it is almost always the more expensive option since they usually charge $1,500 or 15% of the sale price, whichever is more.

Walking away from a timeshare can have important consequences for your credit score as well as possible financial ramifications, depending on the payments associated with your timeshare ownership.

There are two types of ongoing payments normally associated with timeshares - mortgages linked to the initial purchase and annual maintenance fees or dues. If you have a mortgage for the balance of your purchase price, you would be paying off the loan like any other type of loan payment. The difference between a timeshare mortgage and a traditional real estate mortgage is that the timeshare mortgage is considered an unsecured loan, so it operates more like a credit card payment than a mortgage.

The agreement is between you and the lender, so walking away could lead to your account being handed to a collection agency. If the loan is not paid, then the lender could try taking legal action to recoup its money. Credit bureaus would be notified, leading to hits to your credit score.

When it comes to maintenance fees, this is between you and your resort or management company. Paying annual fees is a contractual obligation of ownership, so if you stop paying your timeshare fees they would contact you to find out why. This could also lead to a referral to a debt collector and the resort could eventually initiate foreclosure proceedings. Again, the case would be alerted to credit bureaus and credit scores could be significantly impacted by the alerts.

When owners consider this as an option, they should first look at selling their timeshare in order to get some money back for their ownership. Give us a call at 1-800-640-6886 so we can walk you through your options.