Chris N., who has been buying new and resale timeshare units since 2000, says there are great deals out there to be had if you simply have some patience and look around for opportunities.

“In 2001 I bought my first resale: a Marriott in Fort Lauderdale,” he says. “The location is great, it is a top trader, and the price was unbelievable. I believe it was from a couple in the middle of a divorce.”

Finding a unit like that on the resale market is easier than you might imagine, as there are far more people looking to sell their timeshares than there are people seeking to buy them. An unfortunate fact of supply and demand is that you almost always will be able to profit from the misfortune of others, which you may or may not feel so bad about when you are sitting in your bargain-basement-priced timeshare balcony right next to another person who paid full price from the developer for the same experience.

Aside from finding a person so desperate to sell that you can get a good deal, you need to pay attention to the resort itself when sifting through the countless units on the resale market. One thing that longtime owner George M. says to look for when evaluating resale units is how many of them are for sale in any given resort. “Are there a lot of units for sale? If so, why are so many owners selling?”

Often, he says, it's because maintenance fees have increased dramatically or because a special assessment is being considered to cover general renovations and repairs — indicating that maintenance fees were either set too low in the first place or that owners' money is not being handled wisely.