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7/2/2003
Selling the American dream—in weeklong intervals.
He has 80 associates affiliated with his brokerage. So you'd expect that Wayne Stroman, president of Stroman Realty, would be moving a lot of houses. Actually, few of his associates sell homes. Instead, they sell timeshare intervals in resorts around the world. Stroman says he's hoping to broaden people's interest in timeshares at a time when the vacation home market is growing in leaps and bounds.
With baby boomers deep into their peak earning years at the same time that their aging parents are turning over much of their assets to their children, the market for timeshares is huge, says Stroman, who chairs the National Association of REALTORS® Resort Real Estate Forum, a panel launched last year to help REALTORS® stay on top of resort trends.
Last year, about 2.7 million U.S. households owned a U.S. timeshare interval, up from 155,000 in 1980, according to the American Resort Development Association. That growth trend is likely to continue with the entrance in the last few years of major resort developers, including Cendant Corp., Disney, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Sheraton, and Westin.
In addition, improved resort construction and increased professionalism of salespeople have moved the industry away from its hard-sell tactics of the past, Stroman says.
Given differences in unit quality and market areas, timeshare prices vary widely. In general, though, buyers of new timeshares today can expect to pay an average of $12,500 retail, plus annual maintenance fees, for a two-bedroom unit that they can use one week a year, Stroman says.
He believes his company's 20-plus years of timeshare experience leaves him well-positioned to maintain a strong presence in the resale niche. But he also believes he can build on that position—to the tune of 20 percent revenue growth in 2003—with his launch in January of Resort Inventory International. The launch marks Stroman's entrance into timeshare exchanges, a fast-growing part of the industry. Last year, the industry posted about three million exchanges worldwide, an all-time high, according to ARDA.
In an exchange, timeshare owners trade units with one another, enabling households to occupy a unit in a different resort or a unit in the same resort but at a different time.
Stroman's company can now help clients buy, sell, rent, or exchange existing units. The only aspect of the industry his company isn't involved in is new-unit (or retail) sales, which are dominated by resort developers. But he shows little interest in moving in that direction. "It's more practical for households to buy a timeshare on the resale market," he says. "First-time resale units can sell for 20 percent to 40 percent below the original price, making them a popular value with a lot of households."
Besides posting little appreciation, timeshares can be difficult to resell. But Stroman says his team of salespeople improves owners' prospects for a sale. The company doesn't release sales figures, but it maintains one of the largest sales operations of its kind, says a spokesperson. "The fact that we're successful in a difficult business says something about the quality of our people," Stroman says.
Reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine (http;//www.realtor.org/realtormag) by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2003. All rights reserved.
