There are many genuine reasons why so many people want to sell their Timeshare. It could be that when you brought it you had a young family so you brought a two bed unit in high season and maybe even two or three weeks to secure the family school holidays for years to come. If your children are now grown up and doing their own thing with their holiday plans, you might find that you are holidaying on your own again and out of the school holiday seasons, if this is the case you don't want to be paying high maintenance fees on two bed high season weeks that youre no longer using.

I quite often find that when there is bereavement in the family the remaining partner doesnt want to continue holidaying alone and when they are ready to start holidaying again the holidays they take will tend to be more group organized activities with people in the same situation.

There are also the couples who get divorced and just like everything else they own together, it needs selling or dividing up.

Unfortunately there are also a lot of people who are selling their Timeshare because they were badly advised when they bought it and didnt buy the right sized unit or on the right resort or even brought it for the wrong reasons.

What ever your reasons, lets look at some things you should consider before selling your Timeshare.

• Dont expect to make a profit. You might have been told by the sales rep you brought it off, that youre investing in property and property always goes up in value. This is true when talking about freehold property. Timeshare is more like buying a brand new car. As soon as you start it up and drive it off the forecourt youve lost 50% of its value through the built in marketing costs. The resort will go up in value, but for the developer, not for the people who just own weeks or the right to use.
• Before thinking about passing it to your children make sure they want to continue with the growing debt of a yearly maintenance or not?
• You may be able to trade in with your home resort and change into a more flexible system that suits you better if your resort is now selling a points based holiday club or another system, but do expect to pay something on top for the privilege. The marketing company is in business to make money not spend it.
• When setting your price look at other Timeshares similar to yours either on the same resort or in the same location and set your price accordingly.
• Always use a reputable resale company that is licensed to do all the legal paperwork through a recognised trustee or you could be left with additional and hidden legal costs.
• Never pay money up front to register your timeshare with a resale company. A good resale company should work like a real estate agent and only charge a commission once they have secured and completed the sale.

These are just a few pointers. Always seek expert legal advice before entering into any type of sales contract and remember. Be realistic with what youre willing to accept to sell it. You cant put a price on all those memories, good times and great holidays youve had with your family whilst using your timeshare, if youve owned it for a number of years; youve probably had your initial investment back over and over.

Alan takes a deeper look into the changing face of Timeshare in Europe and discusses how these changes are affecting Timeshare Owners World Wide. Drop by http://www.tapasandtantrums.blogspot.com for regular updates on the latest industry news and developments.