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renting timeshare (by KC):

karenm699 wrote:

We have not had much success this year with renting our units, which are all premium properties with Marriott. In past years our units rented almost immediately and we got a lot of inquiries via Redweek. Does anyone have recommendations about other sites for rentals? Is airbnd taking the air out of these other rental sites? I personally do not want to rent via airbnb. I found the site chaotic.

By all accounts, airbNb is NOT a good venue to attempt to rent out timeshares. However, the subject of airbnb is directly relevant; many timeshare owners believe that airbNB has had a negative impact on timeshare rentals in recent years.

As you surely know, except for some "points" based systems, most timeshare weeks are pre-defined, predetermined and inflexible (e.g., Friday to Friday, Saturday to Saturday, etc.) and owners cannot change or influence that fact. Because (non-timeshare) airbnb rentals often provide more date flexibility (and sometimes lower nightly costs), some people theorize that airbnb is hurting timeshare rentals. I don't personally claim to know if that theory is true, since I only occasionally rent out any of my (fixed, non-points, deeded) timeshare weeks. Nonetheless, I have certainly seen that theory expressed many times by timeshare "landlords" who report having more difficulty successfully renting out their timeshares.

When it comes to timeshare rentals, your week obviously has to be priced "right", regardless of the advertising site chosen. No renter cares one bit about your "maintenance fee costs". People shop for the best rental deal --- period. For any given week at any given timeshare property, the lowest priced rentals will successfully find tenants and the highest priced rentals may find only "crickets". Any lower priced rentals for the same week at the same place will get rented before anyone will even look twice at the higher priced rentals for the exact same thing.

Bear in mind too that if someone can rent directly from a resort at a price remotely close to that of a private rental, they may opt to rent from the resort instead. Inexperienced people may (understandably) be uneasy about "private" rentals, fearful of somehow being scammed. Such folks may just be more comfortable renting directly from the resort if the rental cost is even remotely comparable.

In any event, I wish you luck in your timeshare rental endeavors.