Own a timeshare? Can’t make it out for your designated week this year? Congratulations—you’re about to eat this year’s maintenance fees! Or, alternatively, you’re about to take on the hassle of renting out the property just so you don’t … eat every last penny of this year’s maintenance fees!
Naturally, first you have to determine if you’re even allowed to rent your property during your designated week. Some developers don’t allow that. Others put some severe restrictions on the process. You’ll have to find out.
Those of you who don’t have fixed weeks and/or locations will want to try to get as much money as you’re able by reserving a high-demand week and/or location to rent out. (That means getting started with all this as early as humanly possible.)
In order to decide what to request in payment, you will need to do research on comparable properties at the same time and location. If your location is not in high demand at the time of year you’re trying to rent, this will likely mean a race to the bottom—listing at the lowest possible price so as to attract any renters at all.
Many of you will want to create a rental agreement to limit your personal liability in case whoever rents from you behaves egregiously. (You’ve heard the stories people tell about how they treat rental cars. Some folks just can’t be trusted with property that is under their ownership for only a brief period of time—and that’s “your” time, buddy.)
When you can list your timeshare rental outside of a strictly designated network, try to do so with a reputable rental platform. Some people get along going through E-bay, Craigslist, or Facebook—but we wouldn’t seriously trust a timeshare rental advertised on one of those platforms (and neither should you!), least of all the latter two (E-bay does have some level of protection at least). You may be trustworthy, but people will behave warily, and they’re right to do so.
When you create your listing, make sure to include a good image of the property, and describe the property realistically. Include the dates available, the accurate location, the name of the resort and any amenities available to the renters. And do include “fine print” issues like check-in policies, deposits, housekeeping fees, and so forth. Don’t become a rental scammer—either on purpose or by accident. If you’d rather try for cancellation of the timeshare contract, contact us. We here at The People’s Advocate take on the timeshare industry, to help people who are put through deceptive sales marathons and pressured into signing contracts by dishonest people using lies and manipulation tactics.