How can I rent a timeshare?

http://www.redweek.com/resources/rental_process/rw_sample_rental_agreement.pdf

I'm so confused!! Mnop can you email me at jamiepope@tampabay.rr.com I have a question regarding this posting.

Hi

How long does it generally take for an owner to connect with you. I have emailed two with my desire to rent their time share but really have gotten no where with one email response back and then nothing.

I am interested in renting a timeshare in Aruba for week 10. I found two but again I have been having a hard time connecting despite emails.

phyllisd25 wrote:

Hi

How long does it generally take for an owner to connect with you. I have emailed two with my desire to rent their time share but really have gotten no where with one email response back and then nothing.

I am interested in renting a timeshare in Aruba for week 10. I found two but again I have been having a hard time connecting despite emails.

Hi Phyllis,

We generally give the owner at least one week to respond. Please be sure to always check your spam filters on your email account in case any replies are being filtered out. If you don't hear back from owners after one week please email support@redweek.com.

Thank you, Marty

Hi again Marty

I heard back from one of the renters I contacted but feel a little uneasy about the way in which this gets handled. Here is a copy of the mail I received (I am taking out the personal parts of the email)

Please consider this Email verification that you have reserved _________________ pending my receipt of your check for ____________. Once the check clears I will mail you the reservation confirmation that shows that the maintaince fee's have been paid and will notify ________that you will be the occupants for week #10. Have a great week!

It is signed by the renter with address included.

I just dont feel right blindly mailing this person a check.

Phyllis

phyllisd25 wrote:

Hi again Marty

I heard back from one of the renters I contacted but feel a little uneasy about the way in which this gets handled. Here is a copy of the mail I received (I am taking out the personal parts of the email)

Please consider this Email verification that you have reserved _________________ pending my receipt of your check for ____________. Once the check clears I will mail you the reservation confirmation that shows that the maintaince fee's have been paid and will notify ________that you will be the occupants for week #10. Have a great week!

It is signed by the renter with address included.

I just dont feel right blindly mailing this person a check.

Phyllis

Hi Phyllis,

This may turn out just fine but it is scary to blindly mail a check. We always highly suggest that a Vacation Rental Escrow Company be used for the transaction. This protects you and the owner. You can find more information at http://www.redweek.com/resources/rental_process/escrow/. If a private transaction is done then please check out the different types of payments and the pros and cons: http://www.redweek.com/resources/payment-method-comparison

There is more information in our Resources area or please feel free to contact support@redweek.com for any further questions or concerns.

Thanks, Marty

While I can't speak for other resort chains, we have owned with Fairfield/Wyndham for many years and have never heard anything about not being allowed to rent out time at either the resort where our actual contract is or other resorts in the Fairshare Plus community. The salesmen are required to emphasize that buyers should buy primarily for their own use but they certainly don't say we shouldn't rent out what we can't use in a particular year. We can also transfer points to another Wyndham owner and let them make their own reservations. MD

After someone has agreed to rent your timeshare, what is the next step? Is there a rental contract involved? I am totally new to this and need to be prepared if someone is interested in my unit.

Yes, you should definitely have a contract and decide on a down payment if you are not requiring the full payment up front. This depends somewhat on how far ahead the reservation is set. It is good to have full payment ASAP or by 60 days out, whichever comes first. You will then need to get the Guest Confirmation from your resort sent to the renter (if you have a floating week) or at least inform the resort of who is coming in your place if you own a set week every year in the same location. I make the reservation in my name, send a copy to the renter so they know I really have it, and change the name to that of the renter when full payment is received. If there is a short time between getting the Guest Confirmation and the arrival date, it's wise to call the front desk of the resort and make sure they received the changed information. (I imagine JayJay will chime in and send you a copy of His contract!) MD

We could not use any of our 2008 Wyndham points. Except for losing the points, the only option was to exchange them for RCI weeks. We cannot use the RCI weeks. According to the rules, we aren't supposed to rent them to anyone. How can I recover the maintenance fees I paid on the points converted to RCI weeks?

annep71 wrote:

We could not use any of our 2008 Wyndham points. Except for losing the points, the only option was to exchange them for RCI weeks. We cannot use the RCI weeks. According to the rules, we aren't supposed to rent them to anyone. How can I recover the maintenance fees I paid on the points converted to RCI weeks?

Otherwise, ask your friends, family, and co-workers if they want to use the week. They might pay you most if not all the MF cost (they'll also have to pay the exchange fee and the guest certificate).

annep71 wrote:

We could not use any of our 2008 Wyndham points. Except for losing the points, the only option was to exchange them for RCI weeks. We cannot use the RCI weeks. According to the rules, we aren't supposed to rent them to anyone. How can I recover the maintenance fees I paid on the points converted to RCI weeks?

Since you exchanged your points for RCI weeks, then it's against RCI terms and conditions to rent those weeks out. You can however, by buying a RCI guest certificate, gift or give your weeks to family or friends .... the only compensation to you being the exchange fee and guest certificate fee ..... you cannot ask for reimbursement of your maintenance fees or make any profit.

Then RCI weeks are worthless.

annep71 states: >>Then RCI weeks are worthless.<< ===================================

I'm no fan of RCI (...not by ANY stretch of the imagination) but it is neither fair nor at all accurate to label your RCI week(s) deposited via FSP points as being "worthless".

On the contrary, depending on the number of FairShare Plus points (also now sometimes known as "Wyndham points" since Wyndham bought out Fairfield some years back), these deposits can have decent "trading power" within RCI to acquire a substitute week (even multiple weeks from one batch of points) somewhere else --- and anytime in the next two years, I might add.

It seems that you choose to characterize your inability to now extract "cold cash" out of your (late) FSP deposit in 2008 as somehow making that deposit "worthless". That's just not true, unless you narrowly view that FSP deposit only in terms of "cold cash", instead of acknowledging that it also represents and provides access to an alternative week (...even several weeks) elsewhere, anytime in the next two years, for the cost of a RCI exchange fee.The reason you can't rent out RCI weeks obtained via FSP points deposited is simply that you don't OWN the weeks obtained by deposit of FSP points into RCI Weeks. Weeks acquired by FSP deposits are simply not yours to rent out. They are "exchanges" --- you don't OWN them.

If it was just "cold cash" you wanted out of the 2008 FSP Points which you failed to use, you could have (completely legally) rented (transferred for a fee) those FSP points to another FSP owner before the end of CY 2008. The market value was 4 or 5 dollars per thousand FSP points and the demand was certainly there. (Wyndham intends to stop allowing the rental of FSP points effective in March of 2009, by the way, but that imminent change would NOT have in any way affected your ability to rent out your 2008 FSP points out in 2008). Instead, you did not use your FSP points and you did not rent out those FSP points. So, with 2008 expiring and neither one of those two options having been exercised, the only choice remaining to you was to deposit the FSP points as RCI weeks. No disrespect or offense intended, but whose fault do you believe it to be that you did not plan for, use or otherwise extract the inherent value of those 2008 FSP points very well? It most certainly is not RCI's fault...

annep71 wrote:

Then RCI weeks are worthless.

Only if you chose weeks you weren't going to use yourself with the thought of renting them out.

tammiek15 wrote:

Good morning, I am interested in possibly renting a unit... Can you please email me photos and let me know if the unit will be available plus all pertinent info regarding renting the unit, such as name & location of resort/unit, price, deposit, etc. Thanks much, Tammie

jayjay wrote:

darraughb wrote:

Hello,

Can someone share a rental template with me?

Thanks Darraughb.

SAMPLE RENTAL AGREEMENT

RENTAL AGREEMENT

RESERVATIONS - Upon mutual agreement of unit rental, a ____% deposit must be made to confirm your reservation. Balance is due upon written confirmation or no later than _________, 2007. Payment is to be made with a bankcheck/draft (or a personal check if you accept that mode).

CANCELLATIONS - No cancellation allowed once a reservation has been made.

CHECK-IN/OUT - Check-in time is _____ P.M. on arrival date of __________, 2007. Check-out time is _____A.M. on date of departure of_________, 2007. Any exceptions must have prior approval from the owner and/or resort. The agreed upon rental price for the above stated timeframe or week of ______, 2007 is ________$ for unit number ____ at _________ (resort).

RULES AND REGULATIONS - Upon check-in, you must present a credit card to the front desk personnel, just like when you rent a hotel room. YOU are responsible for any damage, loss or theft incurred while renting this property. Any damage, which is not considered normal wear and tear, loss or theft caused by you, the renter, may be charged to your credit card. In order to reserve the integrity of the unit, we ask that it be occupied in a quiet and dignified manner. As guests of ______________(resort), you are expected to respect the premises and its contents and guard against damage, loss or theft. You are expected to adhere to all of _______________(resort) rules and regulations. The _____________ (resort), its employees and property owners will not be held libel for any claims, suits, damages, costs, losses and/or expenses arising from injury to any person or property occurring on the premises resulting from/relating to rental of this property. The renter must be at least 21 years of age and agrees not to sub-rent this unit. The rental rights acquired from this rental agreement are non-transferable.

TELEPHONE - All telephone calls, toll calls etc. will be billed to your credit card. NO PETS ALLOWED AT______________ (RESORT) AND NO SMOKING ALLOWED IN THE UNITS. A copy of this rental agreement is hereby acknowledged by both parties.

_________________ _________________ Signature of renter Signature of owner

Name, address, phone Name, address, phone __________________ __________________

How does Hawaii get away charging timeshare owners additional occupancy taxes on top of the yearly property taxes we already pay. We are not renting a hotel room, we are occupying our own deeded property, not renting? We are getting screwed.

joanjett wrote:

How does Hawaii get away charging timeshare owners additional occupancy taxes on top of the yearly property taxes we already pay. We are not renting a hotel room, we are occupying our own deeded property, not renting?

I understand your pain. If I recall correctly, but don't hold me to this, there were a couple of issues behind this.

First, from what I've read, there was a vote/referendum about raising taxes and how to do it. So the voters obviously went with the philosophy "Tax the visitor, not the voter". So rather than raise income tax hurting the voters, they decided to raise occupancy tax dinging the visitors.

The other issue is contending that "we [owners] are occupying our own deeded property, not renting" I agree with you but I guess the reasoning is that timeshares, like motels/hotels keep the furniture and dishes there each time a new owner moves in. Therefore, it's transitory occupancy as opposed to long-term occupancy.