Westgate Timeshares, better than just good enough!
Built on its corporate motto that, “Good enough, is never good enough,” Westgate Resorts has grown from Westgate Vacation Villas (opened in 1982, barely a mile from Disney World Orlando) to become the largest privately owned timeshare and vacation ownership company in the world.
Today you’ll find Westgate Resorts timeshares in Orlando (five resorts), Kissimmee (three resorts), Lake Buena Vista, Miami, Cocoa Beach, Daytona Beach, and the ranchlands of south central Florida. Beyond Florida, you can also enjoy your Westgate timeshare ownership, vacationing in:
- Branson, Missouri - Branson Lakes at Emerald Pointe, Branson Woods
- Gatlinburg, Tennessee - Smokey Mountain Resort,
- Las Vegas, Nevada - Flamingo Bay,
- Mesa, Arizona - Painted Mountain Country Club
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - Oceanfront Resort
- Park City, Utah. - Park City Resort and Spa
- Tunica, Mississippi.
- Williamsburg, Virginia - Historic Williamsburg Resort
- Florida - Lakes Resort and Spa, Westgate Towers, Blue Tree Resorts, Town Center, Westgate Palace, Seasons the Resort, River Ranch, Leisure Resort, South Beach, Harbour Beach Resort, Westgate Vacation Villas
Although the venues vary and the settings take you from seashore to ski lift to the threshold of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, owners know they can count on Westgate Resorts for accommodations that are safe, clean, spacious, and yes…even luxurious.
Buy a Westgate Timeshare
Westgate Resort timeshares are widely known for being family friendly resorts located at America’s most popular vacation spots. Whether you choose a studio floor plan, or a larger unit designed to accommodate the whole family (even the extended family), such as a Westgate 4-bedroom timeshare villa, you’ll be vacationing at a resort with loads of on-site conveniences and amenities.
Most Westgate condos and villas include full kitchens or kitchenettes, private patios or balconies, sleeper sofas in the living room, and many even feature soaker tubs or jetted tubs in the master bathroom. With on-property cafes at most properties, some resorts feature acclaimed restaurant dining. And with Westgate ownership, the fun doesn’t stop with your annual vacation(s). Throughout the year, Westgate offers its owners specially priced getaway weekends, often designed to include concert or sporting event tickets.
With resorts in high-demand vacation destinations, and widespread consumer confidence in the brand’s quality, Westgate resales often don’t stick around on the market for long. If you have your eye on a favorite resort, your best move is to contact the timeshare professionals at BuyaTimeshare.com and let us help you find the vacation ownership property you’ve been dreaming about at a price that makes for some very sweet dreams.
Ready to Sell Your Westgate Resorts Timeshare Now?
When lifestyle changes leave you ready to sell your timeshare, turn to BuyaTimeshare.com. We are the timeshare authority on helping owners sell their Westgate timeshares. As an owner, you don’t have to hold on to vacation ownership you no longer use. Instead, let our specialists help you advertise your timeshare, get it sold, and get you out from under your monthly payments or annual dues.
If you are not sure you want to sell the Westgate Resort timeshare you currently own, but you are finding your schedule too busy or your budget too tight for a vacation right now, then why not use your property as a timeshare rental? You could recoup part or all of your annual fees, giving you timeshare relief for now, until you are ready to go back to using your timeshare for yourself.
- Note to Westgate timeshare owners looking to resell their property. Your terms of ownership with Westgate Resorts likely include a Right of First Refusal (ROFR). This means that when you accept an offer to buy your timeshare, Westgate must be notified. If the company chooses to exercise its Right of First Refusal, it can match the price offered by your prospective buyer and legally, per the terms of your agreement with Westgate, step in as your buyer.
For Westgate Resorts owners, the ROFR does not stop you from selling your timeshare, nor does it complicate the sales process. Instead, the Right of First Refusal requirement helps ensure the ongoing value of Westgate vacation ownership for both the company and the property/interval owner.
Westgate Timeshare Resorts FAQs
By their own admission, Westgate does not have a buy back program so they do not buy back timeshares. They have a program called the Westgate Legacy Program which is designed as more of a customer service retention tool to reengage owners looking for options to leave the program.
Westgate admits that there is a life cycle to their program and some owners look to exit for a variety of reasons. This program is meant more as an educational program, but the company has been known to use this as a way to upsell owners into their club program known as Westgate Travel Club as a transitional program from traditional timeshare ownership.
Westgate timeshare costs operate on a sliding scale based on a number of factors such as the location of the resort, size of the unit and season in which the timeshare is purchased. These factors are fairly standard for timeshare in general since, for example, a timeshare week at Westgate Park City will be more expensive in January than in July since it is considered a prime ski destination.
As a point of comparison, the average cost of a week of timeshare (or interval ownership as the latest industry expression) is just under $23,000 according to the American Resort Development Association. That is an average based on what the resorts charge when they sell timeshare through their sales centers.
Keep in mind that prices such as Westgate Resort timeshare prices include overhead costs such as sales commissions and marketing costs. These can add up to as much as 60 percent of the sales price at the resorts. This is why Westgate timeshare resales are such a great deal compared to buying at the resorts, since those overhead costs don’t factor into resale prices.
On the resale market, the sellers are existing owners looking to sell on the secondary market. The prices will be a more accurate assessment of the market value of the timeshare and save buyers thousands of dollars in the process.
Before you buy, even if you have just sat through a sales presentation at a resort, it’s always a good idea to check the resale market and compare prices.
Yes you can get out of a Westgate timeshare, since the best way is to sell your Westgate timeshare and make some money back in the process. Selling usually involves one of two methods – either advertising and handling the process yourself or using a timeshare broker.
If you are looking to promote your Westgate timeshare for sale, advertising using a company specializing in timeshare resales is your best option. For the cost of an advertising fee you’ll be provided with the online marketing and customer service support needed to get your timeshare in front of online buyers. You’ll handle the negotiation yourself and, once you have agreed with the buyer on a price, your company can refer you to a closing company to complete the transfer to the new owner.
Timeshare resale brokers can help you, but they are often a more expensive option in the long run. They operate like a traditional real estate agency where an agent handles the negotiation on your behalf. They normally charge commissions in the range of $1,500 or 15 percent of the sale price, whichever is higher, so this usually costs more than advertising.
An area you want to be cautious about is using the services of so-called timeshare exit firms. For high upfront fees upwards of $5,000 these companies say they can get you out of your timeshare. Westgate is the only company that can authorize relief from your ownership and they fight hard against exit companies, often tying these companies up in court. Exit companies have also run into their own legal troubles as well as coming under state Attorney General investigation. Best to steer clear of them.
Owners who stop paying their Westgate timeshare fees can be subject to collection agencies and foreclosure as well as taking a hit to their credit scores. There are a couple of different areas involved in making timeshare-related payments, with potentially different consequences.
Because of the way a timeshare is initially purchased, many owners don’t realize that there may be separate companies involved. At the resort, it seems like everything is wrapped up into one deal, but if you take out a mortgage to pay for your timeshare then you’ll probably be dealing with a lender which is separate from Westgate. Chances are that your mortgage is structured more like an unsecure loan (think credit card account) and as such the mortgage lender can come back to you using legal methods to try to obtain payment.
When owners think of paying Westgate, they usually think of the annual maintenance fees. These are paid to Westgate to cover the upkeep and maintenance of the resort, much like an HOA fee. If you stop paying these fees, you’ll hear from Westgate first. Then their collections department and possibly a third-party collection agency. If it continues, Westgate could initiate foreclosure proceedings to get the timeshare back.
In either, or both, of these scenarios your case could be reported to the credit bureaus and your credit score could take a drastic hit.
If you are considering not making your payments to Westgate, please give us a call so we can help.
Westgate operates more like a traditional timeshare company, where owners purchase a week either as a fixed or floating week in a unit at a specific resort within the Westgate network. Where a buyer purchases timeshare is considered their home resort and owners can book a stay as early as 11 months before their scheduled travel dates. Owners who own a floating week are especially encouraged to reserve as far in advance as possible to get the best selection.
Because Westgate has 24 resorts in major U.S. vacation destinations within its network, they provide options that traditional single-site resort operations can’t provide. Westgate allows owners to exchange the use of their timeshare into a different Westgate resort. This is considered an internal exchange and can also be made as far out as 11 months prior to travel.
Owners can also exchange toward a cruise or other travel products, but this requires a separate membership in their Travel Collection program.
The third way an exchange can be made is through an exchange company such as Interval International (II). Known as an external exchange, a separate membership is required with II and allows owners to deposit their week in the II system and choose from 3,200 resort options around the world for their next vacation. Other independent exchange companies such as 7Across are also options for vacations beyond the Westgate network.
