First time renter in need of good advice - how to verify who I am renting from

jamess304 wrote:

Can you negotiate a price with the owner or is the price set in stone?

You can always ATTEMPT to negotiate the rental price with any advertising owner, but it might help to keep a few things in mind:

1. Every owner has annual maintenance fee obligations for each timeshare week they own. At the very least, owners want to meet (and preferably exceed) that maintenance fee amount in rental of owned week(s) which they can't or won't be using in any given year.

2. Most experienced owners who rent out weeks tend to know something about both the market demand and the availability for their particular week(s). Most owners will price their weeks accordingly, knowing that if they overprice the rental it simply won't get rented. Owner rental price will almost ALWAYS be well below the "rack rate" (the rate charged if renting directly from the resort). How much below that "rack rate" an owner might charge for a owner-direct rental is mostly determined by simple supply and demand --- and, of course, how much time an owner has to advertise and complete (and receive full advance payment for) a rental before the actual usage date.

Generally speaking, with a well informed and knowledgeable owner who has planned long in advance to advertise and rent out a week, you should probably expect to have to pay the advertised price --- or very close to it. Only for "last minute" (previously unplanned) owner-direct rentals will you likely encounter much flexibility in the advertised rental price.

3. ALWAYS make very sure that any advertised rental that you consider involves a week actually OWNED by the advertiser. Some people obtain weeks via "exchanges" with RCI or II --- and then attempt to rent out that "exchange" for profit. This practice is clearly prohibited by BOTH II and RCI and, if discovered, can result in denial of occupancy for the unfortunate would-be tenant (who has already paid in advance for the rental!) as well as the suspension or termination of the RCI or II membership for the would-be "landlord" --- who had no right to rent out a "exchange" week they don't even own in the first place.

Resorts will not (and they should not) ever PROVIDE owner information, but they will certainly at least CONFIRM an ownership if you, as a prospective renter, call the resort after already having the (alleged) owner name in hand FIRST. In other words, a resort will VERIFY information that you ALREADY have, but a resort won't PROVIDE or DISCLOSE owner name or any related information which you DON'T already have for verification before calling. Privacy laws require (as they should) resorts to protect owner information from unauthorized release to just anyone who might want it, for whatever reason.

Hope some of this helps prospective renters to be prepared, informed, smart and careful. Not everyone advertising timeshare rentals is honest --- to say the very least!

I have rented from him twice. Very accommodating... and I will be doing so again.

deleted by poster

I am a first time poster of my timeshare for rent. In my photos, I have provided a copy of my reservation confirmation to prove that I am the owner of the unit and the reservation has already been made for that week. Some of the information has been "whited out" to protect me and my reservation.

Ask any owner that you are interested in renting from to see a copy of the reservation if it is for a specific week.

Once you have decided to commit to an owner, the owner should change the reservation into your name and provide you with a copy of that as proof that you are now the owner of the reservation after payment has been made.

That is how I plan to operate. Does anyone see any flaws in that plan?

ruthh91 wrote:

I am a first time poster of my timeshare for rent. In my photos, I have provided a copy of my reservation confirmation to prove that I am the owner of the unit and the reservation has already been made for that week. Some of the information has been "whited out" to protect me and my reservation.

Ask any owner that you are interested in renting from to see a copy of the reservation if it is for a specific week.

Once you have decided to commit to an owner, the owner should change the reservation into your name and provide you with a copy of that as proof that you are now the owner of the reservation after payment has been made.

That is how I plan to operate. Does anyone see any flaws in that plan?

No flaws in your plan at all......BUT prospective renters should be aware that owners of fixed weeks / fixed units don't actually HAVE or receive any "reservation confirmation" paperwork to provide to someone else, since such owners have the same unit for the same week each year. In such instances, I recommend that the prospective tenant simply call the resort to confirm / verify the owner identity already obtained. The resort should not and will not PROVIDE any owner information, but they will certainly at least VERIFY information you ALREADY obtained before calling the resort. Alternatively, a prospective renter can ask an owner to provide a copy of a maintenance fee bill as proof of their ownership.

I've done that a couple of times. Just nicely asked if they were willing to negotiate their price. I gave them a slightly lower price and they accepted. Can't hurt. If they say their price is not negotiable, then it's not.

Connie,

I've been renting my Orlando timeshare for 10 years and I'll tell you what I've done. So far, I haven't been ripped off, and each year, the renters seem to have a great time, since Orlando Grand beach is a top notch place.

(btw - I'd love to get rid of it, but as we all know, that's extremely difficult! separate posts on that.)

#1 - No "rush" deals. Vacations are seasonal and families plan at least 3 months in advance. Advertise accordingly.

#2 - Email and phone converse. Each rental involved 3-8 solid interactions by email or phone.

#3 - Ask if they've rented before. If yes, they know the drill. If no, they'll be more cautious and you should be too.

#4 - Who are the Parties? (your question) - You get all of this through email and phone 1st interaction. And it's a 2-way street. have your information ready to verify for them you're not ripping them off.

#5 - Reservation. My process is to reserve 8 weeks in advance for their week. I have a floating week so this works well.

#6 - Payment. I usually use Paypal, and get half at Reservation and half 3 weeks before (in case anything goes wrong).

Party arrives, has a great time, and I keep their names for future rental. Hope this helps.

Elyse,

I know this was 7 years ago, but did Bill Maund ‘s timeshare turn out to be legit? Thanks.

Looking to rent from Thomas Bianco from Vacation Clubs Always. Property is Crystal shores Marriot in Marco Island. Any reviews would be helpful.

More important then who you are renting from is, are they the owner of the unit they are renting. Ask to see a copy of their reservation confirmation.

Ask for their name and look them up on the internet or Facebook.

On Redweek.com, go to their listing and on the right column look for something like this: Posted by John B. Member since 2016

The longer they have been a member, the more likely they are to be ligit.

The method of payment, i.e. personal check, PayPal and credit card are good indications. Wire transfer, not so good.

John B.

Esther: Although we do not vouch for or recommend any person using our website, if you email support@redweek.com with the posting number, we can let you know how long they have been a member and if there are any complaints on their account.