Opinions on Resale Realtors

francie57

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 24, 2008
We are currently looking at buying resale contracts for the BWVs. There are listings at The Timeshare Store (dvc-resales) that we like but there is also one with Fidelity that is good. Is one better than the other? Also, would it be dumb to do a contract with each since the Fidelity one is so good but to make the total points we want the TSS has one that would make up the difference. TSS has another that would work to make our total points but the Fidelity one is cheaper. Also does anyone know if we would have to finance separately or do you just finance the total amount you want to and then send checks to each realtor. Just when I think I have this figured out more questions come up. Thanks for any help.
 
:) From what I understand both are excellent choices. We purchased direct. I believe Fidelity actually has the contract with Disney--officially. But you can purchase from any resaler. Many people by different contracts from different vendors. I would have to have the same UY though.
 
I've used both and have been happy. I'd go with the better deal. Remember though that fidelity have a $195? fee on top of the purchase price. And I don't think either finance.
 


We had a terrible experience with Fidelity last week.
The week before we found a contract they had that we wanted. Some of the brokers have agreements where they sell each others' listings and share the commission. Our broker called Fidelity to confirm the contract was still for sale-- Fidelity often leaves them on long after they have been sold.
It was still available and we made a full price offer, agreed to pay MFs and closing, and no financing contingency. It was accepted. The next afternoon we were told it was sold to someone else.
The next day someone on here posted they had bought the contract the day before--made offer after ours was received and accepted. She bought from Fidelity so they did not have to share the commission with our broker.
Little did they think when they switched to their buyer that we would both post here and they would be found out!
For years people talk on here of how incompetent Fidelity is; we can add unethical and greedy.
I think Disney gives them the foreclosed contracts because they do not want to make resale easy for us.
 
Had very good experiences with DVC by Resale, Timeshare Store and Fidelity. Don't worry too much about others experiences. Just pick the best contract and go for it! Good Luck!
 
We are in the process of closing on a BWV contract with TSS and it has gone very smoothly and quickly. Fidelity was very helpful when I spoke to them but didn't have the UY I wanted. They also NEVER update their website so I've almost stopped looking at them because it's a waste of time.

TSS offers financing options.
 


We had a terrible experience with Fidelity last week.
The week before we found a contract they had that we wanted. Some of the brokers have agreements where they sell each others' listings and share the commission. Our broker called Fidelity to confirm the contract was still for sale-- Fidelity often leaves them on long after they have been sold.
It was still available and we made a full price offer, agreed to pay MFs and closing, and no financing contingency. It was accepted. The next afternoon we were told it was sold to someone else.
The next day someone on here posted they had bought the contract the day before--made offer after ours was received and accepted. She bought from Fidelity so they did not have to share the commission with our broker.
I kind a disagree with that statement, couple times I made an offer to Fidelity on same property some one else made offer before me and was lower then mine, but they will allow first responder to complete the process before second offer can start the negotiation.
Little did they think when they switched to their buyer that we would both post here and they would be found out!
For years people talk on here of how incompetent Fidelity is; we can add unethical and greedy.
I think Disney gives them the foreclosed contracts because they do not want to make resale easy for us.

Bolding is mine
 
Bolding is mine

We were the first buyer. Our process was completed in that the seller accepted our offer.
The second buyer came along after but Fidelity got a better commission from them and bounced us. She posted on here when she made offer and when it was accepted--both were after us.
It would have been great and the ethical thing if they allowed the first buyer (us) to complete the process through closing.
 
We are in the process of closing on a BWV contract with TSS and it has gone very smoothly and quickly. Fidelity was very helpful when I spoke to them but didn't have the UY I wanted. They also NEVER update their website so I've almost stopped looking at them because it's a waste of time.

TSS offers financing options.

Maybe Fidelity doesn't update their site because like in our case they will switch buyers if a better offer comes along???:confused:
 
We are in the process of finalizing a contract with Fidelity and so far have few complaints. I was very nervous about using Fidelity, because of Belle & Ariel's experience, as well as everyone else saying how slow they are. I have to admit, our only issues have been based on the seller, and not Fidelity. Anytime I have had a question, our agent has been quick to respond. We got our contract within one business day of coming to terms with the seller. However, I highly suspect that the seller is using snail mail for their contract and not email/fax. Nothing we can do about that except wait for them. No way to know.

It is hard when I see people who use TSS talk about having everything done in one day - I'm so jealous! Lol! But luckily we have plenty of time and don't need these points immediately. Patience is not one of my better virtues! :-)

I highly agree with everyone who has said to go with whoever has the right contract. If you have flexibility with resort, UY, # of points, etc, then you will be able to choose whichever realtor you feel most comfortable with. However, if you are firm about these things, and someone has exactly what you're looking for, just go for it.

Good luck!
 
Maybe Fidelity doesn't update their site because like in our case they will switch buyers if a better offer comes along???:confused:

We had a great resale purchase experience with Fidelity, though the agent I dealt with has since moved on and created her own business. I think the entire DVC (and probably timeshare) resale industry is a bit unconventional, unruly, and even shady. I'm not sure that this should be pinned on an individual company, and these experiences seem to happen on occasion regardless of the resale agency.

I'm hoping I never have to do it again, I feel like I got lucky with such an easy transaction the first time.
 
I have bought 5 contracts via resale since 2006 (tried to buy a 6th that got cancelled on me) and so I've dealt with all the brokers at one time or another. Here is who we can discuss on the DIS: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3039176 and the only one of those I recommend is TTS (for smooth transaction and good service...also will negotiate price and are very communicative).
 
We had a terrible experience with Fidelity last week.
The week before we found a contract they had that we wanted. Some of the brokers have agreements where they sell each others' listings and share the commission. Our broker called Fidelity to confirm the contract was still for sale-- Fidelity often leaves them on long after they have been sold.
It was still available and we made a full price offer, agreed to pay MFs and closing, and no financing contingency. It was accepted. The next afternoon we were told it was sold to someone else.
The next day someone on here posted they had bought the contract the day before--made offer after ours was received and accepted. She bought from Fidelity so they did not have to share the commission with our broker.
Little did they think when they switched to their buyer that we would both post here and they would be found out!
For years people talk on here of how incompetent Fidelity is; we can add unethical and greedy.
I think Disney gives them the foreclosed contracts because they do not want to make resale easy for us.


I'm not saying that your experience did or did not happen as you described it, but I want to play devil's advocate for a quick second.

Some of the resale brokers have hundreds of contracts listed, many of which, as you mentioned, belong to other brokers. How can you be 100% positive that the other DIS Member bought your exact contract? There is a possibility that the contract they posted about was the same resort, # of points and use year, but a different contract, is there not?

Secondly, how do you know that Fidelity didn't have the other offer submitted before yours? Perhaps it might not have been fully accepted, thus still showing as "available". But perhaps Fidelity has a policy where they will let things play out with a direct client before giving the offer to a secondary broker? Sometimes it can take a few days for the back-and-forth negotiations between buyer, broker and seller to become finalized. Your offer might have fallen somewhere in the middle, and your broker may have simply mis-communicated things back to you? If it was the same contract, we're only talking about the difference of one day, which is nothing at all in the resale world.

Lastly, I will just mention that each resale broker has a number of people selling. Perhaps another person within Fidelity "sold" the contract, but neglected to update the status, whereas the other salesperson dealing with your broker wasn't aware that the contract was no longer available? This really could have been an honest mistake, rather than a deceitful act as you described it.

Without knowing all of the facts, and with no surefire way of knowing exactly what transpired and when, I really don't think it's right to flame Fidelity and trash their credibility for something that really might not have gone down as you described it.
 
OP,
Based on my personal experiences, all things being equal, I would go with the TSS before Fidelity.
We purchased our first contract through the TSS and it went very smooth.

This past spring we were looking for another contract and tried to get 2 through Fidelity. Although the agent said she would put in my offer and call me back later that day, I never heard from her again - just saw the listing removed several days later.

The second attempt I specifically asked for the other agent. Same result.
I have heard that Fidelity is understaffed compared to the TSS.

Not sure if the more negative Fidelity feedback is for purchases during this busy resale time opposed to people who purchased during a slower market but that was our recent experience.
BTW, we ended up with the perfect contract for us through TSS and it is now ours.
 
I just purchased thru TTS. I couldnt be happier. IMO the broker there went above and beyond to get the deal done. Was quick and went off without a hitch...
 
I'm not saying that your experience did or did not happen as you described it, but I want to play devil's advocate for a quick second.

Some of the resale brokers have hundreds of contracts listed, many of which, as you mentioned, belong to other brokers. How can you be 100% positive that the other DIS Member bought your exact contract? There is a possibility that the contract they posted about was the same resort, # of points and use year, but a different contract, is there not?

Secondly, how do you know that Fidelity didn't have the other offer submitted before yours? Perhaps it might not have been fully accepted, thus still showing as "available". But perhaps Fidelity has a policy where they will let things play out with a direct client before giving the offer to a secondary broker? Sometimes it can take a few days for the back-and-forth negotiations between buyer, broker and seller to become finalized. Your offer might have fallen somewhere in the middle, and your broker may have simply mis-communicated things back to you? If it was the same contract, we're only talking about the difference of one day, which is nothing at all in the resale world.

Lastly, I will just mention that each resale broker has a number of people selling. Perhaps another person within Fidelity "sold" the contract, but neglected to update the status, whereas the other salesperson dealing with your broker wasn't aware that the contract was no longer available? This really could have been an honest mistake, rather than a deceitful act as you described it.

Without knowing all of the facts, and with no surefire way of knowing exactly what transpired and when, I really don't think it's right to flame Fidelity and trash their credibility for something that really might not have gone down as you described it.



If you read carefully, I stated that our broker checked to see the contract was available on Friday. It was and we made offer which was accepted. On Tuesday we were told the contract was instead sold to another buyer. On Wednesday someone posted here they had bought the same contract--if you haven't noticed lately supply is low and there are not multiple contracts of the one we both bought. They posted they made the offer Monday and it was accepted Tuesday--the day we were notified our accepted contract was being sold to another buyer.
Like I said, Fidelity probably never expected us both to be posting on the disboards.
Our broker (who was cheated out a commission he earned) talked to the manager at Fidelity who said it was an honest mistake. If it truly was, why did they not return the contract to us since we were the first buyers? It was OUR contract the seller accepted--the other had not been offered yet. Probably because of greed in wanting to not pay our broker his commission. We both lost because of their dishonesty.
You had a good experience--good for you--but that does not mean this is a company that operates with integrity. I wonder if our situation was not the first and will not be the last.
No one from Fidelity has contacted us to apologize or make it right. If it was "an honest mistake" I feel they would do something.
There are a lot of honest competent resale companies that deserve our business--Fidelity is neither.

We made a full offer that was accepted. We did nothing wrong but because we dealt with a less than honest company we lost our contract. I don't think you would be singing their praises if they treated you that way.
 
WOW - Did you even read my post??? If you read carefully, I stated that our broker checked to see the contract was available on Friday. It was and we made offer which was accepted. On Tuesday we were told the contract was instead sold to another buyer. On Wednesday someone posted here they had bought the same contract--if you haven't noticed lately supply is low and there are not multiple contracts of the one we both bought. They posted they made the offer Monday and it was accepted Tuesday--the day we were notified our accepted contract was being sold to another buyer.
Like I said, Fidelity probably never expected us both to be posting on the disboards.
Our broker (who was cheated out a commission he earned) talked to the manager at Fidelity who said it was an honest mistake. If it truly was, why did they not return the contract to us since we were the first buyers? It was OUR contract the seller accepted--the other had not been offered yet. Probably because of greed in wanting to not pay our broker his commission. We both lost because of their dishonesty.
You had a good experience--good for you--but that does not mean this is a company that operates with integrity. I wonder if our situation was not the first and will not be the last.
No one from Fidelity has contacted us to apologize or make it right. If it was "an honest mistake" I feel they would do something.
There are a lot of honest competent resale companies that deserve our business--Fidelity is neither.

We made a full offer that was accepted. We did nothing wrong but because we dealt with a less than honest company we lost our contract. I don't think you would be singing their praises if they treated you that way.

Yes – I read your post. That’s usually key before crafting a lengthy response, as I did to your initial thread. I understand that you are frustrated for having lost out on an ideal contract. Unfortunately, it comes with the resale territory, and is part of the pain that we deal with for the discounted price vs buying direct. If you lost the contract as a direct result of deceitful practices on behalf of Fidelity, then your frustrations are definitely warranted. If I could see definitive proof that Fidelity engaged in the practices that you described above, then I would change my opinion of them and would consider other brokers for future purchases. The point that I am trying to make is that you are “assuming” that this all played out as YOUR broker told you. Did you ever speak to anyone directly at Fidelity yourself? I’m guessing the answer to be “no”. Does YOUR broker have anything to gain from making Fidelity look bad? Sure they do.

Consider this plot: You made your offer on Friday to YOUR broker, offering to pay asking price + closing costs. Your broker assumes this to be a “slam dunk” as there will be no negotiations, tells you that the offer has been accepted, and waits until Monday to formerly submit the offer with Fidelity. Low and behold, by the time your broker contacts Fidelity first of the week, the contract has already sold. Rather than telling you that YOUR broker dropped the ball, they point the finger at Fidelity.

Is this a stretch? Probably. But who really knows? You’re going on the word of your broker alone. I’m going on my past experience, and the experience of many others on this forum that have been positive. My only point in responding to this thread is that you are making a very broad and sweeping statement that could really damage Fidelity’s reputation and credibility simply because you are upset, and you are assuming them to be at fault for having lost out on one contract. Until I witness something for myself or have undeniable proof at my disposal, I don’t like to trash people on a public forum seen by thousands.

I would urge the moderators to review those sweeping statements, and consider removing them unless they can be proven without a doubt.
 

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