My experience is that most timeshares aren't worth much on the resale market and so are negotiated directly via a closer because there's not enough money involved for a broker....
With the exception of specialty brokers being paid to unload timeshares in bulk and at a loss either from owners willing to pay to get out of the trap or other timeshares that "exchanged" a worthless timeshare for a worthless discount on their timeshare.
Since
DVC has real and decent resale value, it more closely approaches a real estate transaction. Add in ROFR and and purchasing a DVC resale contract without a broker isn't something a novice should do.
Here's the hook: a seller might be very experienced with DVC and easily able to navigate the resale process. Most buyers aren't. The savings is only going to the seller. So. A novice buyer would be at the mercy of an experienced seller for essentially no benefit to the buyer.
A novice buyer is much better off using a broker because there is no cost to the buyer to do so. And no. An experienced seller isn't going to pass some of the savings to a novice buyer.
Unless both buyer and seller are experienced DVC owners (and many of them DO direct transactions), having a broker is in the buyer's interest.
Since so many people start their DVC search here, no way this forum should or would put them at the mercy of an experienced seller to navigate the resale process.
While the broker represents both parties, and might even have a financial interest in a higher selling price, the broker should level the experience playing field somewhat.
