Anyone have experience with Preston Green or Americap International Corp

Yes, it went well!

barbaraw117 wrote:

Yes, it went well!

Karac12 asked, "Did you pay them or were they to pay you?"

Your response didn't exactly answer the question.

I received a check from them for a timeshare rental. I did not pay them.

Did it clear the bank successfully? I am also waiting for payment! Was it through "VacationHomesOnly"? Did yoiu have to remind them at all regarding promtness of payment? Just curious! I would like to list our rental "as rented", but until full payment is recieved, I am still entertaining other parties for renting it.

Yes, the check did clear the bank. It took a bit longer than I had hoped for the final transaction, but all in all it worked out. I would work with them again.

SHILL ALERT

Maybe / maybe not....

This fellow Preston Green of (California based) "Vacation Homes Only" has been around a while. I encountered him myself somewhere along the way, but chose not to do business with him. Instinctively, I just plain did not like him, although that's just my own subjective, personal opinion.

It seems that he trolls the Internet for rental ads and then contacts posting owners, offering to serve as "middleman" for a rental. If / when he finds a renter, he then "marks up" that rental, pays the owner and keeps the "mark up" difference. I didn't care for the man, personally, but I acknowledge that his operation COULD be a win / win situation for an owner having no luck renting on his / her own.

It is my opinion that, as long as, both parties mutually agree on a rental price, there isn't a issue with "the middleman" approach. We personally stood out ground on $. He was professional, kind, & understanding to the price point we set. Now just waiting for payment!

karac12] states in part: >>It is my opinion that, as long as, both parties mutually agree on a rental price, there isn't a issue with "the middleman" approach.<< ================================================

I concur. I have no issue with a "middleman" and a win / win situation is generally a good thing for both parties involved. My own personal dislike for the man was of a more subjective, intuitive nature. That was not to suggest (previously, or now) that he is not legitimate --- I just plain didn't like him and given a choice, I'm not in the habit of putting money into the pockets of people I dislike. As they say about automobiles --- "your mileage may vary".

ken1193 wrote:

It seems that he trolls the Internet for rental ads and then contacts posting owners, offering to serve as "middleman" for a rental. If / when he finds a renter, he then "marks up" that rental, pays the owner and keeps the "mark up" difference. I didn't care for the man, personally, but I acknowledge that his operation COULD be a win / win situation for an owner having no luck renting on his / her own.

Just the term 'middleman' doesn't resonate well with me to define Mr. Green's business practices. If Mr. Green trolls the internet to find rental listings, adds them to his own database all the while raising the lister's rental rate (for his gain) is not ethical or moral.

Why doesn't Mr. Green find his own clients without trolling the internet.

jayjay states in pertinent part: >> If Mr. Green trolls the internet to find rental listings, adds them to his own database all the while raising the lister's rental rate (for his gain) is not ethical or moral. <<

In all fairness to the man, I'm not sure that this is a completely accurate description of his actual practices. I don't think that Mr. Green ever considers anything part of "his own database" until such time as an owner he has contacted (...or one who has contacted him) has agreed to an arrangement with him. If a prospective renter is willing to pay a particular amount, and the net amount (i.e., after Green's "take") is acceptable to the owner, it seems like a reasonable arrangement for all involved. If a prospective renter is unable or unwilling to exert the effort to "shop around" on his / her own and discover for himself / herself that he /she might be overpaying, then I respectfully submit that this prospective renter cannot reasonably expect to get the best possible "deal" offered in the open marketplace. Also, there might very well be instances where Green doesn't actually "mark up" the rental cost at all, but instead convinces an owner to accept a lower "net" amount (out of the same advertised rate), in exchange for Green coming up with a renter which the owner has not been able to find on his / her own.

Re: >> Why doesn't Mr. Green find his own clients without trolling the internet.<<

I'm not sure I can really fault the man for simply reviewing publicly placed ads and inquiring of an advertising owner if /when he thinks potential exists for a "win / win" arrangement . It seems like a cost effective (...free actually, except for the expenditure of time...) way to determine "what's currently offered out there". I know that Green also "surfs" the Net for "weeks wanted" postings. He contacted me once (apparently having completely forgotten our previous unproductive encounter) in response to an ad I had placed seeking to purchase one very specific fixed week in one very specific geographic location. In retrospect, I'm not sure why he even bothered to contact me at all since, as it turned out, he had absolutely nothing even remotely resembling either the specific week or geograhic area which was very clearly identified in my ad.

All that said, I'm certainly not trying to defend the man. As clearly stated previously, I found that I intuitively disliked him and quickly declined to even consider doing business with him. However, my own negative (and admittedly subjective) personal opinion certainly doesn't make him in any way dishonest...

I once received a call from a person represented a "Vacation Club" telling me that she had a client interested in renting my unit and was asking if I'd accept $X.XX. I said sure, when I get the money and the person's name, address, etc, I'll send along the confirmation. Funny thing was that all of a sudden, the client wasn't all that interested.

Hi,

I too have recently been contacted by Preston Green (Vacation Homes Only), and unfortunately wasn't suspicious enough so basically signed the very short contract he sent me. DOES ANYONE KNOW IF THE CONTRACT IS LEGALLY BINDING?

My situation is that (1) My date to cancel my booking and turn my unit in for the point or Star Options etc.. is coming up on Feb 4th. If I cant rent my unit by then, I'd like to just take the points and be done with it. 2nd - I have had two further inquiries from legit / private renters who are interested.

His contract indicates that I would be liable for costs incurred by "the renter" who he is saying have already booked flights and could have substantial losses if the unit isn't available for them... The whole thing feels really ugly and this guy uses tactics like this to "hold" the unit I think... All i have asked him for is the payment in the next few days to secure the unit for his renter, but he is saying "their clients don't like to be pestered and will be forwarding the check in due time"... I just don't know that it's going to be soon enough to give me options...

Any ideas? thanks,

Don

Don't know if this will be of any comfort to you, but I did receive my check for my rental. It took longer than I had hoped. All in all the rental did take place. Good luck.

Hope you reminded Preston that YOU would have substantial loss if the renter did not come through and therefore "due time" is now! MD

I spoke with him again today (they called) and according to Preston the check is in the mail, along with the clients name who is taking the unit, so I'll update the board when (if?) it all goes as planned, or not. Seems to be working out though.

dm

I just recently decided to rent out our weeks and also found scammers at all of the sites mentioned here. They all want up front fees and I haven't found one yet that will list my weeks when i tell them I have no problem paying their fee and commission on top, once they find me a renter.

Companies that were recommended to me by my Timeshare Resort... all get rid of me quickly and won't give me any more info. Resort Rentals, Destination International, Royal Marketing and others that i found online.

They all tell me this is the hot time to sell, want to get my 1-time fee right now! Most of the horror stories i've read here are identical to what i've been thru.

I decided to start my own site and see if i could get enough exposure to rent my own weeks. I'm going to try and figure out how to run a website over the next few days. Nobody pays anything until they get paid!

Wish me luck!

Hi,

So, if you go back through this thread, you will see that I was (honestly) nervous about working with Vacation Homes Only and Preston - he just comes off a little aggressive and "too" defensive when you ask questions...

BUT - I did get my check a few weeks back (it was hand-written, not certified) but it was real and YES - it cleared and there was no problem with the funds. I have since turned my unit over to them and all is well. In the end, they seem to do what they say... At least in MY experience.

Cheers,

Don

Don, I'm new to redweek and haven't really got the hang of this site yet, but was wondering if you had property listed for quite a time?

I am interested in renting out my 2weeks, but very cautious after reading many of the posts. I listed it myself at thetravelnation.com, a site that looked nice, and required a listing fee. This site is registered to Destinations International, aka Divacations (who knows what else). The pres n vice pres are Dawn Gottman and Lynne Versaw, claim 2 have been in business since 1994, but records show they've only been incorporated since 11/06. They operate out of Lynne's home in Arizona, which she has owned since 1998. I would assume that that makes them a relatively stable company since it would be quite easy to upset their lives if they were not legitimate.

They are an upfront fee based company which didn't really want to deal with me when i started asking questions, but kind enough to send me to thetravelnation.com, which after i dropped a few bucks learned was their company also(which is fine if the rent my time).

I guess it will be an exposure site where we sell or rent our own weeks for free and after the sale share a small % with the site for expenses??

That sounds more interesting to me than throwing more money away on "unassured" sales.

Does anyone know of agents that sell your weeks and collect the money after they have assured you of the sale?

I don't know that I'd be comfortable paying anything other than a "subscription fee" (very little) like I did with Redweek. This site, along with Craigslist, seemed to work well enough for me and I got leads including the one with vacation Homes Only. In that case, I didn't pay them ANYTHING at first. They contacted me, already with a renter, and we both signed a contract and then they paid me. (VHO makes their money on the difference between what i'm willing to accept for the week and what their other client is willing to pay).

I wouldn't pay any company much money at all just to list my unit along with hundreds of others.

Good luck,

don