Sharing the Pain

When 67-year-old Gary Furbee and his wife Rose decided to go shopping for a time-share vacation home in Hawaii, they couldn't believe the bargains. The couple had rented a two-bedroom ocean-view penthouse unit at Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club on Oahu in 2007, liked it and resolved to watch for resales. The Furbees thought the recession might flush out some distressed sellers, but they were stunned by how far prices had plunged. "At Marriott, it was [listed] for between $50,000 and $60,000, but we paid $18,400," Gary says. He bought their time-share through SellMyTimeshareNow.com one of a number of...