Westgate does not have a buyback program so you are not able to sell your timeshare back to Westgate. You can contact Westgate directly about your timeshare but, by their own admission, they do not have a formalized buy back program.

There is no set price for a Westgate timeshare, since the cost depends on several factors such as the resort itself, location of the resort, size of the unit and week or season of ownership.

One factor you can count on is that the resale cost of a Westgate timeshare is much lower than the cost of one purchased at the resort.

As a general guide, the average price of a week of timeshare sold at U.S. resorts is a little less than $23,000 according to the American Resort Development Association (ARDA). This average is an estimate of the prices reported from the resorts, so this would be an average cost from the sales made at the resorts.

Westgate prices would average out close to this, but remember that the larger the unit, in the more in-demand resorts at the peak seasons, would cost more than the smaller units during the offseason.

For Westgate timeshare resales, the prices would start out about 60% less than the resort prices because the resorts include marketing costs and sales commissions in their prices. Those marketing overheads don’t factor into resale prices because the sellers are existing owners and not sales professionals working on commission.

On the resale market, when you remove those marketing costs you’ll have a better idea of the actual value of the timeshare on the secondary market. Then, the negotiation begins between the sellers and the buyers which can bring the price even lower.

There are a few ways you can get out of your Westgate timeshare, either by selling it and getting some of your money back from your purchase, or you can try giving it back to Westgate.

Selling your Westgate timeshare involves a couple of ways, either selling it yourself through a timeshare-specific advertising company or hiring a timeshare broker to handle the process for you. Advertising it is generally a less expensive way to sell since the cost of using a broker can be 15% of the sale price or $1,500, whichever is higher.

Westgate has a program called the Legacy program which is geared toward owners looking to get out of their timeshare. Several criteria must be met, such as all annual fees being up to date and no mortgage owed on the timeshare. Even so, there is no guarantee that Westgate will take back your timeshare and they have been known to use the program as a way to upsell owners into their travel club program, so be aware of this if you talk to them.

One area you want to avoid is working with a so-called timeshare exit firm. These companies charge owners as much as $5,000 and claim to get owners out of their ownership, but the only company that can authorize the relinquishing of your ownership is Westgate itself, not a third-party exit company. These firms have come under extensive legal scrutiny for alleged deceptive trade practices, so be very careful if you decide to discuss your ownership options with them.

This is a serious decision that could have important consequences for your credit score. When an owner stops paying their Westgate timeshare, there are a couple of different areas to consider.

The first involves whether there is a mortgage attached to the timeshare ownership. Even though you may have initially signed up for your mortgage with Westgate, your mortgage may have been sold to a third-party lender who holds the account. The mortgage would, in all likelihood, be structured as an unsecured loan similar to a credit card account. In this scenario, your agreement would be with the lender and not paying could result in the lender taking action to recoup the debt.

The second area regards annual fees such as maintenance fees paid on your timeshare. These fees are paid to Westgate, so if you stop paying then Westgate will contact you to find out why the payments have stopped. Your account could be referred to their collections department to try and force the issue, and foreclosure proceedings may be taken so Westgate can get the timeshare back.

In both of these situations, your account could be reported to the credit bureaus and each step could result in your credit score taking a hit. The longer the process takes and the more involved it becomes, the bigger the hit.

If you want to stop paying your timeshare payments, contact us so we can at least go over your options with you to sell your timeshare. There is no cost to consult with our staff and at least you’ll have more information before taking such a strong move.