One of the sad realities of owning a timeshare is that the experience tends to be far more expensive than most people expect. It sounds like you are getting a great deal when you are sitting in the sales pitch and hearing about all of the fabulous amenities that you will enjoy, but the ongoing maintenance fees and assessments – in addition to the upfront cost – mean owning a timeshare can be very expensive.
With that in mind, you might be considering trying to make some of your money back through renting the timeshare. This is possible, to be sure, although it might not be the cash cow that you are hoping for when you first list your points or property for rent. This page will walk you through the realities of what renting a timeshare looks like and how it might be able to help improve your experience.
Start by Investigating Your Contract
Without a doubt, this is where you need to start with this process. It’s critical that you take the time to look at your contract and determine what the terms are and whether or not you are permitted to rent it out to other people. Sometimes, renting out the timeshare will be expressly prohibited and you will need to put this idea to the side.
In other cases, renting out the timeshare will be allowed, but with specific stipulations in place. You will need to know these rules in order to avoid running into trouble with both your developer and your potential renters. The last thing you want to do is accept payment from someone who wants to rent your timeshare only to find out later that they aren’t going to be permitted to use that timeshare as expected.
If necessary, it could be helpful to have a lawyer look over the contract and explain to you in simple terms what rules apply to the prospect of renting out the timeshare. Paying for an hour or two of time might not be as expensive as you might think, and the information you gather could be extremely valuable. Also, if you happen to know any other owners within the same company who have rented out their timeshare, talk to them about their experience and ask what you need to know if you are just getting started.
Do Some General Market Research
It will help to think about renting out your timeshare like running a business. In essence, that is what you will be doing – running a (very) small business that attempts to make money by renting out space at a timeshare property. With that in mind, one of the first steps involved in running any business is doing market research, and that’s what you’ll want to do here.
To get started, look around at various places on the web where timeshares can be listed for rent. Some of the many options include RedWeek, Airbnb, Craigslist, and many others. When searching, try to look for properties that are as comparable as possible to what you would be offering. Of course, the asking price doesn’t mean that the owner is actually going to get someone to rent the timeshare at that rate, but it will at least give you a general idea of what it might be worth on the market.
If you are doing this for the first time, consider listing with a price that is a little on the low side, just to test the market and see how it goes. If you quickly book the timeshare at that price, you can always bump the price up a little bit next time. Before long, if you rent the timeshare a few times, you’ll wind up with a pretty good idea of what it is worth to renters and will be able to maximize your return.
Find the Right Place to List
As mentioned above, there are plenty of different places to list a timeshare for rent on the internet. To get started, stick with places that will allow you to list for free or close to free. Spending money upfront to list your timeshare doesn’t make a lot of sense if you don’t know that this will work. You are already spending enough on the timeshare itself, you don’t need to add to your expenses in this way.
Also, remember that there is nothing wrong with casting a wide net with your listing. Find several different places to post the timeshare for rent and see what happens. It shouldn’t take too long for you to determine which sites are going to bring you some interest and which seem to be falling on deaf ears.
Work Hard on the Marketing Side
You will quickly notice that there is a lot of competition online for renting timeshares. That’s a good sign in one sense, as it means that there are potential renters out there who might be interested in your property for a week. However, you’ll need to take steps to stand out from that competition and gather enough interest to find some renters.
For one thing, it will help to write an attractive listing that highlights everything that is good about the property. Do your best to write this from a personal perspective – why do you love visiting this place? When the listing rings true to the potential renter, it will be far more likely that they’ll want to get involved and book a trip for themselves.
In addition to writing an appealing listing, plenty of quality photos are also important. If you have your own photos to use, that’s even better than the generic ones that can be found online. With good pictures and a description that clearly explains what there is to do and see at this place, you’ll be well on your way.
Manage Everything Professionally
Renting out a timeshare is a good way to earn some money back, but this is far from an easy process. There is a lot to do, including screening the renters to make sure they aren’t going to cause trouble when staying at the property, and putting together a rental agreement for them to sign. That agreement should outline all of the basic information that the renters will need, including the times for check-in and check-out, payment terms, and more.
Speaking of payment terms, you can decide if you want to collect the entire payment upfront or require a deposit with the balance due at a date in the future. Whatever path you select, be sure to offer secure payment methods so renters feel comfortable sending their money to you.
Remember, this is a business that you are running, so there are going to be tax implications to think about. Update yourself on the laws that govern renting out a timeshare property in the area of the resort, including whether you need to pay occupancy taxes. Also, this income is going to need to be addressed on your personal taxes at the end of the year. Having to pay taxes is not a reason to skip out on renting your timeshare but it is a factor that needs to be considered when doing the math on how this is all going to work out.
Consider Hiring Help
If the section above has you feeling like renting out a timeshare is a lot of work, you are correct. This is not an easy thing to manage, especially if you have a job and family obligations demanding plenty of your time already. To avoid dealing with all of the hassles of acting as a landlord for the timeshare, you might consider outsourcing the work to a property management service.
The benefit of this approach is as obvious as the drawback. With a property management team on your side, you won’t have to worry about all of the little details or taking care of customer service issues. The management team will do that for you. And, of course, the drawback we mentioned is that these services aren’t free. A large chunk of the rent you receive is going to stay with the property manager, so what you get out of this deal is going to be dramatically reduced. Whether or not that is worth it to you in the end is a personal decision that you’ll have to make.
The Timeshare Life is Expensive
No matter how you look at it, owning a timeshare is expensive, and many people don’t feel like they are getting good value for their money. If you want to just get out of your timeshare contract instead of trying to rent it to make money, contact us at 833-416-8796 to learn more about what that process looks like and what the first steps may be. We also have a convenient live chat feature if you would rather get in touch that way. Don’t let another day pass without getting started on this important move for your financial future.
The benefit of this approach is as obvious as the drawback. With a property management team on your side, you won’t have to worry about all of the little details or taking care of customer service issues. The management team will do that for you. And, of course, the drawback we mentioned is that these services aren’t free. A large chunk of the rent you receive is going to stay with the property manager, so what you get out of this deal is going to be dramatically reduced. Whether or not that is worth it to you in the end is a personal decision that you’ll have to make.