We would like to rent or sell our timeshare Villa at Pueblo Bonito Mazatlan..not getting answers

We are interested in renting 1 week in July (2010) at Pueblo Bonito Mazatlan for the Villa that we own 2 weeks (even number weeks). When we went to the owners of the property with questions on us renting 1 week (as advised on RedWeek) all they did in the first response,was to direct us to Suite Destinations that wants to charge us 35% if they can rent the week (which we feel is wrong!). Outside of paying our maintenance fee's, is anyone aware of any issues in renting our week? Thanks!

scottp252 wrote:

...all they did in the first response,was to direct us to Suite Destinations that wants to charge us 35% if they can rent the week

Personally, I stay far, far away from Mexican timeshares, but I can still tell you that 35% is also a common "commission" charged by many U.S. resorts when they rent out weeks on behalf of owners.

If you want to avoid paying a commission, then you have to invest the time and effort and advertising expense to rent out your weeks on your own. There is is no "free lunch".

Thanks for the advise on renting the timeshare. I don't want to sound rude,but telling me at this point that you would "stay away" from Mexican Timeshares,is like telling me after my girlfriend is already pregnant I should have used protection. I never asked for a free lunch. All I am trying to do is find a up front legitimate way to try to rent 1 week of my 2 weeks. The property I want to rent has 2 1/2 baths, TV's,Computer and Pool (and right by a golf course). I just don't want to give away,what I worked hard to pay for. Tell me this,is it going to be that hard to find a legitimate company to help rent my week or even sell it at this point?

scottp252 wrote:

I just don't want to give away,what I worked hard to pay for. Tell me this,is it going to be that hard to find a legitimate company to help rent my week or even sell it at this point?

Selling a Mexican timeshare in the current (tanked) timeshare resale market will be very difficult. It's a tough economic climate, travel is expensive and unfavorable publicity about the ongoing drug cartel wars in Mexico all work against your success. It is entirely possible that you could not even give it away for FREE, sad as that may be.

As far as renting, in my opinion and experience you basically only have two choices which minimize your risk of failure or fraud:

1. Let the resort rent for you and accept the fact that that their commisssion will be 35% (which it would be at most USA resorts too, by the way, for "house-handled" rentals on behalf of owners).

2. Undertake the time and effort required to advertise and rent out the week yourself, if you feel strongly about not paying the resort commission. Time is money too, however. You'll have to prepare and post ads (I recommend RedWeek, MyResortNetwork, Bidshares --- and I do NOT recommend eBay or Craigslist). You'll then have to field all the incoming inquiries and weed out the "tire kickers", unrealistic bargain hunters and would-be scammers in order to (hopefully) ultimately find find a legitimate renter. You'll then have to (...or at least should) execute a formal rental agreement and you'll have to work out a mutually satisfactory payment method and timetable.

There is no cheap OR easy route for renting, nor any "magic bullet". Third party "rental agencies" are a VERY big risk AND in the end offer very little (...more likely none at all) cost savings to you compared to a resort-handled rental, minus commission. Many third party entities are nothing but outright scams, with ZERO chance of success.

The options are clear. It's your choice, your decision. Good luck.

scottp252 wrote:

Thanks for the advise on renting the timeshare. I don't want to sound rude,but telling me at this point that you would "stay away" from Mexican Timeshares,is like telling me after my girlfriend is already pregnant I should have used protection. I never asked for a free lunch. All I am trying to do is find a up front legitimate way to try to rent 1 week of my 2 weeks. The property I want to rent has 2 1/2 baths, TV's,Computer and Pool (and right by a golf course). I just don't want to give away,what I worked hard to pay for. Tell me this,is it going to be that hard to find a legitimate company to help rent my week or even sell it at this point?

If your resort and time owned are in demand (it's all about supply and demand in the timeshare world), then you can just as easily list it on Redweek for rent without going through any agency .... also you have to remember in this down economy that many people are not traveling so you have to list your rental fee very competitively.

Also, never ever pay a large upfront fee (hundreds) to any company to list your timeshare for rent or sale ..... they're all scams.

In this market some timeshares can't be rented out at all or even given away.