Whether you are a current Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) owner or are looking into purchasing a Hilton timeshare on the resale market, you’re probably wondering how Hilton timeshares retain their value on the resale market. In this article, we’ll be talking about how well Hilton timeshares retain their value on the resale market, we will compare the resale value to the retail prices found at Hilton’s timeshare presentations, and we’ll give you some insights on how to determine the value of Hilton timeshares on the resale market. Let’s dive in!
A Tale Of Two Perspectives
Depending on where you purchased your Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare, you could have two completely different views on whether or not Hilton timeshares retain their value on the resale market. Let’s explore the differences between buying a Hilton timeshare directly from Hilton, and buying it from a trusted timeshare resale broker on the secondary market.
A Retail Buyer’s Perspective: Retail Values Vs Resale Values
If you’ve purchased your Hilton timeshare from Hilton directly, and are now looking into selling your HGV ownership on the resale market, you may be shocked to find the difference in value between retail prices and resale value.
Why Are Hilton Timeshare Resale Prices So Much Lower Than Retail Prices?
When Hilton sells a timeshare at a presentation, it’s estimated that over 50% of the retail cost of the timeshare has already been spent on sales commissions, gifts to attract guests to attend the presentation, and other miscellaneous costs involved in the presentation model of marketing the ownership. These costs can truly never be recouped when selling your ownership on the resale market, as they do not represent the actual value of owning and using the timeshare itself.
So, from the perspective of the retail buyer, Hilton timeshares are massively discounted on the resale market, and those who purchase directly from Hilton know all-too-well the eye-watering losses seen by those who choose to sell the ownership.
Avoiding Timeshare Scams – If It’s Too Good To Be True
This is one part of why there are so many scams that target Hilton timeshare sellers. Many dishonest companies will promise unrealistic sale prices if the seller would only pay an up-front listing or marketing fee. Only for these sellers to realize when it’s too late, that there timeshare will never be sold for what they paid for it, any upfront fees that are paid have been offered up to the altar of uninformed consumers, and they are back to square one of successfully selling their Hilton timeshare.
Any honest timeshare broker will always offer their sellers a free listing, with no up-front fees, and will only be paid a commission out of the proceeds of the sale.
Explore The Resale Market
This is why we always recommend timeshare buyers to at least explore the resale market before signing on the dotted line at a presentation. Resale values will never recoup what a retail buyer spent, and it can be a heart-breaking conversation to have with sellers who still have a loan on their ownership and owe more than the timeshare can be realistically sold for.
A Resale Buyer’s Perspective
Now, let’s switch gears and imagine you were an informed buyer, and knew about the huge savings that can be had by buying your Hilton timeshare on the resale market. If I choose to sell my resale purchase in the future, will I have to give it away or sell for pennies on the dollar?
No one can guarantee that the price you paid for your Hilton timeshare will remain steady through many years of ownership, and there have been price fluctuations over the years that have seen Hilton timeshare’s resale values change through time. While resale prices do change, there are a few things in place that help bolster the resale value of your purchase, and hedge against the timeshare being sold for less than what you paid.
Hilton’s Right Of First Refusal
Hilton has a right of first refusal policy that helps to preserve the resale value of its properties. This is a straight-forward process that allows Hilton the option of buying the timeshare back from the owner, and thus, preventing the timeshare from being sold on the resale market.
The existing owner would need to have a purchase agreement contract signed by their buyer, and send it to Hilton to determine if they will exercise or waive their right to purchase the timeshare directly from the existing owner.
This is one of the reasons that Hilton timeshares have historically maintained a very respectable resale value when compared to other timeshare brands. If a seller enters into a contract on the resale market that would see the ownership sold for too low of an asking price, Hilton will simply swoop in and purchase the timeshare out from under the resale buyer.
If you’d like to learn everything there is to know about Hilton’s right of first refusal program, you can read our in-depth article here: Hilton Grand Vacations Right Of First Refusal: Resale Buyers & Sellers.
Resale Benefits Vs Retail Benefits
There are some timeshare developers that strip their ownerships of all their useful benefits and features once they are transferred to the resale market. This is not the case with Hilton Grand Vacations.
While there are some differences in buying your ownership on the resale market, many of the fringe-benefits as well as the core functionality of the timeshare remains intact after transferring to a resale buyer. If you’d like to explore more about the differences in benefits between resale and retail Hilton timeshares, you can read our article on the subject here: Hilton Grand Vacations Elite Benefits: Retail vs Resale.
An Active Resale Market, Bolstered By Consumer Demand
With Hilton Grand Vacations offering a name-brand, high-end timeshare experience, there is always a steady stream of new resale buyers that wish to purchase these ownerships. The flexibility of their points-based reservation system, and over 50 luxurious HGV resorts in some of the most desirable vacation destinations, make the experience of owning and using a Hilton timeshare one of the best in the industry.
What’s My Hilton Timeshare Worth?
While we would love to give you a one-size-fits all answer, there are just too many configurations of Hilton timeshares to give one simple answer. The value of your Hilton timeshare will be determined by the following attributes of your ownership:
- the location of your home resort
- the number of annual club points you own
- the unit size you are deeded to
- the weeks in the season you are deeded to
- the number of any banked or saved points held within your membership
- current Right of First Refusal buy-back thresholds
You can get a rough estimate of your timeshare’s fair market value by reviewing the asking prices of similar Hilton ownerships at the same resort online, but keep in mind that you will be seeing the asking price other owners have posted. This is not the same as the exact amount a buyer has recently paid for similar Hilton timeshare ownership on the resale market.
To determine the exact value of your Hilton timeshare, we suggest consulting with a trusted timeshare broker who can use their years of experience, and in-depth knowledge of current market conditions, to accurately value your ownership. You can fill in a seller’s form on our website to get a free consultation with one of our Licensed Real Estate agents who specialize in Hilton Grand Vacations. We’d be happy to provide a free market analysis, whether you’re ready to list your timeshare or not.
Any Remaining Questions?
We hope this article has been helpful in clarifying the protections Hilton Grand Vacations offers to owners, and can help you understand how the resale value of a Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare is derived.
If you have any remaining questions about your resale value, or would like to learn more about the process of buying or selling your Hilton timeshare, please contact us today. We’d be happy to answer any questions you have!
