What to do with time shares?

1) Don't buy in the first place. That is about the only good advice that I can offer. 2) Let it go back to the finance company and take the hit. At least it stops the bleeding, but destroys your credit rating. But the less to be learned here is that one shouldn't buy a luxury on time, so who needs a credit rating anyway? 3) Try to donate it. Sometimes that works. Problem is that charities are getting smart and are finding that they cannot even give them away sometimes. 4) List it on E-bay. But be realistic. A timeshare is really only worth a $1000 or so per deed week, so asking $18,500 for one is not going to result in a sale. 5) Try to sell to someone who already owns at the timeshare community. Someone who goes there year after year might just want to add a week. You likely will not get more than a $1 for the week, but at least you get out from the $500 to $850 a year fee. 6) Try to work with the sales manager of the place that is selling the units. Tell him/her that he/she can either sell the next unit from the new inventory, or sell yours and get twice or 3 times the commission. You then write the big commission check when they sell the unit to the next pigeon. 7) Wallpaper the development and surrounding area. Let all the pigeons going for sales talks know that you have a unit for sale for far less than what the high pressure sales guy wants. This is the hardest to do since it requires your time on site, and it will make you an unwelcome guest at the resort.

Like Skip said, there just are not any good options.

BTW, don't fall for the old pre-paid real estate sales scam. There are several real estate companies, including one large ERA franchise, that charges hefty fees to list your unit and print the listing in a book. This almost always costs lots of money, and almost never results in any leads.

-john-