How can I rent a timeshare?

Now that, I wouldn't have a clue. Many people rent for what their maintenance fees are, but if you want to make a profit you would have to decide what would be a fair price and if the market (prospective renters) would agree.

bobd110 wrote:

What would be a fair price?

jayjay wrote:

Those weeks are during summer, so I believe if you price the rentals fairly you should be able to rent them. Hilton Head is a popular destination and a favorite of mine.

bobd110 wrote:

I have weeks 24 & 25 at Marriott's Harbour Point in Hilton Head. I was wondering how successful I could expect to be in renting the units out.

I recently rented a week at HGVC @ Seaworld from a Redweek seller. The paperwork I received was from RCI in Malaysia which included the reservation and guest certificate. Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive, but went through with it after doing a bit of research on the seller. Anyway, I contacted RCI before going to verify the validity of the paperwork I had received (I actually faxed them the paperwork and they sent a return fax) and they said everything was valid. A month prior to arriving in Orlando, I contacted the HGVC and confirmed my arrival. Wouldn't you know it...they couldn't find me in the system. However, after some checking, they found the reservation and said to just bring my guest certificate with me.

My question is this...even after verfiying with RCI and HGVC and telling them that the reason I was asking for confirmation was because I didn't know the person I purchased from; they could have still refused me at the door? The person to whom I paid the money was not the person on the confirmation (timeshare owner), however they never asked me who I was purchasing from. Is this a "don't ask, don't tell" situation?

I am reading this post thanking my lucky stars everything went okay, when it appears things could've went much worse if anyone of the contacts I made along the way wanted to do things by the letter of the law.

Tom

I have a question. I have two weeks banked in RCI and if I do not use them before the end of november, I will loose them. I was going to reserve two separate individual reservations and rent them through redweek. Do you think that there will be a problem in my doing this.

David

maryi9 wrote:

cynthia281 wrote:

Make sure that your reservation is from the resort and not from RCI or Interval International. Many are renting weeks that do not belong to them, so be careful not to rent something they do not own. If it is an exchange, it is against the rules to rent it out.

I have a week at the Boardwalk at Disney that I just exchanged for on II- It is against the rules for me to rent that out??? Can't I get a guest certificate for the people I rent it to?

This is my first time trying to do this - we had to bank our week last year and have not been able to exhange for a week we can take - I got boardwalk by pure luck and would love to go but the kids are in school so I thought I would rent it - I know it is very popular.

If we have to we will go for part of the week but what a waste!

The following post was in General Discussion, but I thought it should also be in Buying, Selling and Renting as it pertains to renting:

Jayjay, Redweek staffs control what goes on the testimonial board. Do you think they will post unsatisfied members comments, I do not think so? I read many posts in this forums, and I found many members complaining about they can not rent out their timeshare units for just the cost of the Mfee.

Thanks,

Soonn

Oh my goodness soonn, I have seen many negative posts here pertaining to Redweek, including yours, but every business, company or corporation has their dissatisfied customers .... that's just part of the territory of owning any business.

I give kudos to Redweek for NOT deleting some of the more negative posts against them .... free speech is alive and well here as it is not on other timeshare discussion sites. On some of those sites you are NOT ALLOWED to question or post anything negative about the site, the moderators, the administrators or the owner, even if you are a paying member. Redweek has been accused of everything from A - Z, but they have not deleted those posts.

It's not Redweek's fault that many of their members list their rentals and sales way too high, and it's not their fault that many members can't rent their timeshares even to reimburse themselves for their maintenance fee. If the rental is not getting any interest, it's certainly not Redweek's fault. Thousands of people search Redweek each and every day for sales and rentals and Redweek has over 1 million members.

Redweek is a listing service, they don't guarantee to sell or rent your timeshare ... that job is up to the member and where they own (location), season, supply and demand, rental rate, popularity of the resort and pertinent information in their ad to catch the eye of a wannabe renter or buyer.

I am interested in renting a week in Cancun Mexico, the Crown Paradise Club to be specific. I am confused on whether All Inclusive is obligatory or not. Some postings say it is obligatory but others say it is not. I don't want the All Inclusive but I am afraid to pay and when I get there find out it is obligatory. The owner says it is not obligatory but how can I verify this?

George

You cannot rent an exchange as it's against the two major exchange companies Terms and Conditions.

davide81 wrote:

I have a question. I have two weeks banked in RCI and if I do not use them before the end of november, I will loose them. I was going to reserve two separate individual reservations and rent them through redweek. Do you think that there will be a problem in my doing this.

David

Some all inclusive resorts are obligatory and some are not. You will have to call the resort to get this information.

georgefr wrote:

I am interested in renting a week in Cancun Mexico, the Crown Paradise Club to be specific. I am confused on whether All Inclusive is obligatory or not. Some postings say it is obligatory but others say it is not. I don't want the All Inclusive but I am afraid to pay and when I get there find out it is obligatory. The owner says it is not obligatory but how can I verify this?

George

It is against RCI and II's Terms and Conditions to rent an exchange.

cynthia281 wrote:

I have a week at the Boardwalk at Disney that I just exchanged for on II- It is against the rules for me to rent that out??? Can't I get a guest certificate for the people I rent it to?

This is my first time trying to do this - we had to bank our week last year and have not been able to exhange for a week we can take - I got boardwalk by pure luck and would love to go but the kids are in school so I thought I would rent it - I know it is very popular.

If we have to we will go for part of the week but what a waste!

daddyd wrote:

I have a week at the Boardwalk at Disney that I just exchanged for on II- It is against the rules for me to rent that out??? Can't I get a guest certificate for the people I rent it to? Maryi9 posted: This is my first time trying to do this - we had to bank our week last year and have not been able to exhange for a week we can take - I got boardwalk by pure luck and would love to go but the kids are in school so I thought I would rent it - I know it is very popular.

If we have to we will go for part of the week but what a waste! Couldn't she help herself more by contacting II and getting them to market the Boardwalk Villa at Disney. She may lose an exchange fee but wouldn't she be given an alternative date?

Couldn't she

You can only change a disney timeshare reservation if you are an owner so you would not be able to transfer the reservation. Try to go, I own at Boardwalk and my kids 12 and 18 love it. We've been to Disney more than a dozen time and this is their favorite resort.

George,

Be careful, some all-inclusive fee is only cover B'fast and Lunch, no dinner, and there is an additional charge if single occupancy.

Good luck, I have Blue Bay in Cancun, if you are interested.

Soonn.

jayjay wrote:

Some all inclusive resorts are obligatory and some are not. You will have to call the resort to get this information.

georgefr wrote:

I am interested in renting a week in Cancun Mexico, the Crown Paradise Club to be specific. I am confused on whether All Inclusive is obligatory or not. Some postings say it is obligatory but others say it is not. I don't want the All Inclusive but I am afraid to pay and when I get there find out it is obligatory. The owner says it is not obligatory but how can I verify this?

George

daddyd wrote:

jayjay wrote:

richie, you did exactly what you needed to do by checking with the resort to make sure you were renting from an owner and not an exchanger. This method promotes peace of mind before traveling to your vacation destination.

richiel wrote:

I rented a timeshare and did call the place to be sure person was owner of that unit and week. Because they changed weeks for me I wasn't sure whgich unit I would get but it worked out fine I just returned from Aruba 2 weeks ago. Good luck.It is a lot less expensive than renting same place from hotel

But, jayjay, what do you make of richiel's comment about " because they changed weeks for me I wasn't sure which (sp) unit I would get..." ? What is that all about? Certainly you should call to confirm, but what exactly did richiel confirm if they changed weeks for him? Who changed weeks for him/her? Why did they change weeks for him/her? Me thinks that richiel's comment provides more questions than answers! So here is the question.....one more time: Have you had success calling the resort that you are interested in renting into and been able to get the resort to confirm that owner ........... has booked week ..... to ....... and , as an owner at this time share resort, is entitled to rent it for those 7 days. His/her reservation confirmation number is: ______________.

Anybody done this?

The reason the owner changed weeks for me was at Rennaissance you own a specific week,if you can't use it you can ask Rennassiance if they have a certain week available and if you can use another week instead of the week you own. They are wonderful to try to help you out but you can't bank it with them so you need to know before your week is close if you are going to request another week. There is a small fee for changing the week. I have rented from and rented out mine that way but I wouldn't advertise my week as not assigned because it is but if someone wanted to see if I could swap it for another week I would try to do this. It has nothing to do with RCI or Intervale.

jennie wrote:

Please Richiel and anyone else reading the above post by joel232, DO NOT TRUST HIS ADVICE. The information he presents is "wishful thinking" and if followed can result in dire consequences for the renter and owner. He's got things all mixed up.

If one owns a "floating" week at a resort, the reservation is made directly through the resort. RCI and I.I. are in no way involved in the process. The owner may not even be a member of either of the exchange companies. The week reserved by the owner can definitely be rented and the owner can charge whatever price he wishes. There is no need for a guest certificate. The resort has it's own procedure for recording the name(s) of the person(s) who will be using the unit. They rarely, if ever, charge any fee for this.Some resorts accept the info from the owner by phone. Some require that the owner sign a letter or form and fax or mail it to the resort. Once this has been done, the renter will usually be sent a reservation in their name by the resort. Or the owner will provide them with a letter to present at check-in verifying that they have your permission to use their reserved unit. And the resort will almost always verify that everything is in order via a phone call from the renter.

If, however, the owner deposited (space-banked) either a "fixed deeded" week or a floating week with RCI or II, they are bound by the rules these exchange companies have established, no matter how unfair they feel the rules are, and no matter how vehemently we owners are opposed to it. And make no mistake about it, most knowledgeable owners HATE THIS RULE. There have been endless discussions about it on the Timeshare Users Group web site ("TUG")www.tug2.net. and in Timesharing Today Magazine www.tstoday.com.

Not every owner is aware of the rule. RCI quietly "slipped it" into the Terms and Conditions of membership about 5 years ago. It is buried in fine print near the end of the 400+ page RCI book. They never sent notice to members, nor did they mention it anywhere on their web site. Some owners who did not know about the rule change, learned about it "the hard way." Their RCI membership was suspended, if this was their first "offense," and was terminated "forever" if they were caught trying to do it again.

RCI employees (dubbed "the RCI police" by TUG members) have responed to rental ads on TUG, Redweek, MyResortnetwork, and Ebay, posing as potential renters to obtain enough information to catch people trying to rent out an exchanged week. I personally know two people who were "caught." One person was totally clueless about the rule. The other was aware of it but thought they could "get away with it." In both instances the exchanged week was cancelled and the renters were notified that they could not use the week. The renter of the clueless owner was kind and understanding and did not make any "waves" after the rental fee was returned. The second couple renting from the "slick" owner was furious. They had scheduled vacation time off from their jobs and had purchased non-refundable airline tickets. They threatened a lawsuit. The owner chose to pay the exorbitant "rack rate" to book a comparable unit at the resort for the renters.

I have heard of another situation where the renter showed up with an RCI guest certificate but mentioned during the check-in processs that they had rented the week through the Internet from people they did not know personally. The resort called RCI and the couple was denied use of the unit. They left vowing to sue "everyone."

There's another issue I have not seen discussed here. If RCI confirms an exchange for an owner/member, and the occupants to whom it has been "illegally" rented cause damage or other problems, the resort could initate legal action against the owner, and there would not be any RCI back-up assistance and protection to pursue and settle the matter. If I deposit my week with RCI and the personsRCI give it to as an exchange cause damage, RCI is ultimatelty responsible for remedying the problem if the resort is unable to collect enough from the exchange guest. So it is darn right risky for an owner to rent an exchange.

Many of us have decided to rent our own weeks directly on web sites like Redweek, and not deposit them with RCI. Previously, when I would deposit one of our prime weeks, I would have to wait months, or even years, before knowing if we would get one of the weeks we were requesting as an exchange. Sometimes, despite a 12-15 week wait, we would be told that nothing had yet been found for us. Meanwhile the weeks we wanted would be showing up on auction and rental sites owned or affiliated with Cendant (RCI's parent company). Finally, a major class action lawsuit has been filed accusing Cendant and RCI of renting weeks to the general, non-timesharing owning public--weeks that were deposited by RCI member/owners that should have been available solely for member exchanges, not rented by RCI and Cendant for profit, to the detriment of member/owners.

I now rent weeks we cannot use, mainly through ads placed here on Redweek. In most instances the rental fee barely covers our maintenance fees. But I'm glad to receive that help in covering our bills, and am glad to know that some nice, hardworking or retired folks have been able to have a nice vacation at a bargain price. Many have sent me lovely "thank you" notes, pictures, even a token gift or two after returning. And 3 couples have rented from us again each year; in fact, one couple has rented our Cancun unit for 8 years in a row! Another is going back in April for the 3rd year. These smart folks have learned how to enjoy the benefits of a timeshare vacation without having to spend the big $$$ to purchase a week.My loss is their gain.

When we are able to take a vacation, I go right to Redweek and rent what we need from a Redweek member. We are in effect doing an RCI exchange without the cost and aggravation and uncertainty of going through RCI. RCI has been losing a lot of prime week space-bank deposits from owners like me because of all the greedy "games" they have been playing. I have heard from a reliable source that RCI is losing far more members each year than they are gaining, despite billions of dollars of new timeshare sales that have taken place in recent years.

Bottom line, please read the rules before accepting joel232's word that it's okay to rent an exchanged week. It would be great if RCI would change the rule, but they have a vested interest in not doing so. And if you are an RCI or II member, you are bound by the rules of membership rules, whether they are fair or not.

Some of the smaller, independent exchange companies MAY have different rules (or lax enforcement). I haven't reviewed their policies lately. But you might want to check out the San Francisco Exchang Company, Donita's Dial-an-exchange, Trading Places, etc...

Jennie,

I just read your piece about RCI and I.I. and their reluctance to allow owners of timeshares to rent weeks "banked" with them. I found it very thorough and informative and I thank you for it. I have a dilemma and I need your advice.

I have had two weeks banked in the last two years with RCI. One was for a search for Hawaii and the other was a search for Snoeshow Mountains resort, each resulted in no results and we were just told last week that we have until the end of november of this year to use the two weeks or we loose them. I was going to rent them on either "redweek" or "timesharesonly", but from your piece it looks as though that will not be possible. What are my obtions and what do you think about timesharesonly compared to other rental or resale sites?

Thanks,

David E.

davide81 wrote:

Jennie,

I just read your piece about RCI and I.I. and their reluctance to allow owners of timeshares to rent weeks "banked" with them. I found it very thorough and informative and I thank you for it. I have a dilemma and I need your advice.

I have had two weeks banked in the last two years with RCI. One was for a search for Hawaii and the other was a search for Snoeshow Mountains resort, each resulted in no results and we were just told last week that we have until the end of november of this year to use the two weeks or we loose them. I was going to rent them on either "redweek" or "timesharesonly", but from your piece it looks as though that will not be possible. What are my obtions and what do you think about timesharesonly compared to other rental or resale sites?

Thanks,

David E.

Hi David, Try to spend some time reading the bulletin boards (BBS) and Forums at the Timeshare Users Group (TUG) www.tug2.net. There is a great deal of free information there about many aspects of timesharing. Look for the "stickys" at the top of each BBS/forum, as they contain a lot of FAQ-type (frequently asked questions) info.

If you care to share more detailed info here or at TUG, some of us experienced ts owners may be able to offer opinions as to how likely you are to be offered the exchanges you are requesting. By space-banking (depositing) your weeks early, you have theoretically increased the trading power of your weeks. But the quality of your resort, size of your unit, season, and general demand for the resort play a large role in the process. Also, if your weeks do not have super trading power, you have a better chance of receiving your requested exchanges if you are willing to accept weeks that are somewhat off-season for the area. If you are seeking time during major holidays or summer vacation, it may never happen.

Consider doing your own on-line searches at RCI's web site. There is a "science" to it that is often times discussed in detail at TUG.

If you are trying to accomplish a "tough trade," you are more likely to be offered something within 90 days of the check-in date. I don't know if that would be acceptable to you, especially if you need to buy airline tickets.

There is no way to rent out any exchanges you may receive from RCI. Just hope that they can provide an exchange that you or family members or close friends can use. You may have to change your requests.

Look at the rental ads for your resort (and the week or season you own) at Redweek.com or TUG www.tug2.net or MyResortNetwork.com . If you see that people are successfully renting weeks similar to what you own, then consider renting your weeks in the future and then renting what you want directly from another owner. I've been doing that a lot over the past few years.

One last thing to keep in mind is that you can extend the expiration date of the weeks you have banked with RCI by--you guessed it--paying addiitional fees. Call and ask about it, or see if the info is on their web site. It used to cost about $39. to extend it for six months. I'm sure it's gone up considerably. About 6 months ago they called and offered a friend of mine the opportunity to extend the expiration date and told her that if she did so and they could not find an acceptable week, they would refund her extension fee. I have no idea if that offer still stands, or whether it was even a legitimate offer to begin with. Ask for it in writing, or at least ask to speak to a supervisor to confirm info like this. There have been reports of RCI "vacation counselors" making all kinds of bogus promises just to get you to part with some more of your hard earned money.

If you give us info about what weeks you have deposited with RCI, and what you are seeking, we may be able to offer some helpful suggestions.

Consider using Trading Places (a smaller independent exchange company) for future trades, especially to Hawaii. If the week you own has sufficient trading value, the San Francisco Exchange Company may accept it and give you 2 for 1 trades. They have a lot of inventory in Hawaii and the west coast of the U.S. and Mexico. But they are very "picky" about what they will accept--only top quality resorts. But if they accept your week, you will get an equally high quality week (or 2) in exchange.

jennie wrote:

davide81 wrote:

Jennie,

I just read your piece about RCI and I.I. and their reluctance to allow owners of timeshares to rent weeks "banked" with them. I found it very thorough and informative and I thank you for it. I have a dilemma and I need your advice.

I have had two weeks banked in the last two years with RCI. One was for a search for Hawaii and the other was a search for Snoeshow Mountains resort, each resulted in no results and we were just told last week that we have until the end of november of this year to use the two weeks or we loose them. I was going to rent them on either "redweek" or "timesharesonly", but from your piece it looks as though that will not be possible. What are my obtions and what do you think about timesharesonly compared to other rental or resale sites?

Thanks,

David E.

Hi David, Try to spend some time reading the bulletin boards (BBS) and Forums at the Timeshare Users Group (TUG) www.tug2.net. There is a great deal of free information there about many aspects of timesharing. Look for the "stickys" at the top of each BBS/forum, as they contain a lot of FAQ-type (frequently asked questions) info.

If you care to share more detailed info here or at TUG, some of us experienced ts owners may be able to offer opinions as to how likely you are to be offered the exchanges you are requesting. By space-banking (depositing) your weeks early, you have theoretically increased the trading power of your weeks. But the quality of your resort, size of your unit, season, and general demand for the resort play a large role in the process. Also, if your weeks do not have super trading power, you have a better chance of receiving your requested exchanges if you are willing to accept weeks that are somewhat off-season for the area. If you are seeking time during major holidays or summer vacation, it may never happen.

Consider doing your own on-line searches at RCI's web site. There is a "science" to it that is often times discussed in detail at TUG.

If you are trying to accomplish a "tough trade," you are more likely to be offered something within 90 days of the check-in date. I don't know if that would be acceptable to you, especially if you need to buy airline tickets.

There is no way to rent out any exchanges you may receive from RCI. Just hope that they can provide an exchange that you or family members or close friends can use. You may have to change your requests.

Look at the rental ads for your resort (and the week or season you own) at Redweek.com or TUG www.tug2.net or MyResortNetwork.com . If you see that people are successfully renting weeks similar to what you own, then consider renting your weeks in the future and then renting what you want directly from another owner. I've been doing that a lot over the past few years.

One last thing to keep in mind is that you can extend the expiration date of the weeks you have banked with RCI by--you guessed it--paying addiitional fees. Call and ask about it, or see if the info is on their web site. It used to cost about $39. to extend it for six months. I'm sure it's gone up considerably. About 6 months ago they called and offered a friend of mine the opportunity to extend the expiration date and told her that if she did so and they could not find an acceptable week, they would refund her extension fee. I have no idea if that offer still stands, or whether it was even a legitimate offer to begin with. Ask for it in writing, or at least ask to speak to a supervisor to confirm info like this. There have been reports of RCI "vacation counselors" making all kinds of bogus promises just to get you to part with some more of your hard earned money.

If you give us info about what weeks you have deposited with RCI, and what you are seeking, we may be able to offer some helpful suggestions.

Consider using Trading Places (a smaller independent exchange company) for future trades, especially to Hawaii. If the week you own has sufficient trading value, the San Francisco Exchange Company may accept it and give you 2 for 1 trades. They have a lot of inventory in Hawaii and the west coast of the U.S. and Mexico. But they are very "picky" about what they will accept--only top quality resorts. But if they accept your week, you will get an equally high quality week (or 2) in exchange.

Hi Jennie,

I took your advice and called RCI about the two banked weeks and the possibility to pay for an extension like you said. They told me no dice that they do not offer that and I was out of luck, needless to say I might be done with them. In the meantime if I loose those weeks, I take that as a learning experience. I was also told that my banked weeks were "blue week" points so my options were limited anyway. With the points which I currently have which are about 700,000 for the year thru Wyndham Resorts. I cannot use all of them and will like to rent what I cannot use. I need advice on the steps to follow if I do this myself.

For instance I am assuming the first step will be to call Wyndham, reserve the weeks I do not need and then place the ads.

How do you deal with paperwork in terms of contracts, security deposits(in the event of damage or whatever else).

Since you are dealing with someone you do not know (renter), how do you handle the transfer of name to this person for when the person goes to check in at the resort.

Please help, I am very "green" at this and looking forward to the challenge.

David

davide81 wrote:

Hi Jennie,

I took your advice and called RCI about the two banked weeks and the possibility to pay for an extension like you said. They told me no dice that they do not offer that and I was out of luck, needless to say I might be done with them. In the meantime if I loose those weeks, I take that as a learning experience. I was also told that my banked weeks were "blue week" points so my options were limited anyway. With the points which I currently have which are about 700,000 for the year thru Wyndham Resorts. I cannot use all of them and will like to rent what I cannot use. I need advice on the steps to follow if I do this myself.

For instance I am assuming the first step will be to call Wyndham, reserve the weeks I do not need and then place the ads.

How do you deal with paperwork in terms of contracts, security deposits(in the event of damage or whatever else).

Since you are dealing with someone you do not know (renter), how do you handle the transfer of name to this person for when the person goes to check in at the resort.

Please help, I am very "green" at this and looking forward to the challenge.

David

You can extend the experiation date of your RCI banked weeks. The person to whom you spoke at RCI is uninformed. Ask to speak to supervisor, or call the RCI corporate offices and complain. You can go to the frequently asked question on the RCI website and see that you can extend your banked weeks, and what the fees are.

stanleyf5 davide81 Hi Jennie,

I took your advice and called RCI about the two banked weeks and the possibility to pay for an extension like you said. They told me no dice that they do not offer that and I was out of luck, needless to say I might be done with them. In the meantime if I loose those weeks, I take that as a learning experience. I was also told that my banked weeks were "blue week" points so my options were limited anyway. With the points which I currently have which are about 700,000 for the year thru Wyndham Resorts. I cannot use all of them and will like to rent what I cannot use. I need advice on the steps to follow if I do this myself.

For instance I am assuming the first step will be to call Wyndham, reserve the weeks I do not need and then place the ads.

How do you deal with paperwork in terms of contracts, security deposits(in the event of damage or whatever else).

Since you are dealing with someone you do not know (renter), how do you handle the transfer of name to this person for when the person goes to check in at the resort.

Please help, I am very "green" at this and looking forward to the challenge.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi, I "hear your pain" but you cannot expect to get all the information you are requesting on a forum like this. If you bought your first car, you could not expect to learn how to drive it by posting a question on a forum. You would first have to learn a lot of general info about driving, and then read the owners manual for your specific car. The same is true of timeshares.

A lot of information was given to you in writing when you made the Wyndham purchase. (It would have been better if you had taken the time to study the program and make sure it would work for you, before purchasing). But that's in the past.

At this point in time you need to read all the written material and figure out what you can and cannot do with the points you own. I'm sure they have an official web site too, hopefully with a detailed FAQ (frequently asked questions) section. After you figure out the basics of the program, write down any questions you still have and call Customer Service to clarify the issues. Find out the exact procedure for reserving weeks. Usually the earlier you make the request, the better your chances are of obtaining what you want. Find out what the procedure is for allowing someone else to use your week. Do they allow rentals? How do you place another person's name on a reservation? Can you change a reservation? Is there a fee involved? Can you carry unused points forward to the next year? Can you borrow or purchase extra points to accomplish a desired reservation? If you are unable to use all of your points in a given year, can they be converted into a week to be deposited with RCI or II? Will you receive an '"internal preference" when using said week to search for future exchanges. These are but a few of the numerous issues points owners deal with. It's a challenge to learn it all. The good news is that since a lot of owners never take the time to do so, if you do learn it you will have less competition when you are trying to accomplish highly desirable trades.

There are so many "points" systems out there. Wyndham systems (formerly Cendant), include Equivest, Fairfield, Pahio, Trendwest, and Worldmark. Each has its own rules and differences. There is a free Forum for discussion of Points Programs at the Timeshare Users Group www.tug2.net. You should spend a lot of time there reading all the questions and answers posted by owners.

And also read all the info here at Redweek about rental of timeshares. The info is scattered all over throughout the various forums. It is more involved than most people would suspect.

I would like to assume that you purchased all those Wyndham points with the expectation of using them for your own vacation needs. That's really the only reason people should buy any timeshare product. Renting timeshares takes time, energy, and knowledge. It rarely yields much, if any, financial profit. It is best done by people who bought and used their timeshares for the traditional reasons but are not able to do so for a year or two due to some change in their personal circumstances. If the change is permanent, it is usually better to sell the timeshare.

I hope you do not feel that I am being critical. It's just that you need to use your own time and resources to learn as much as possible about what you have bought and how to derive the best possible benefits from it.

P.S. Depending upon which Wyndham product you own, there may be a free Yahoo! group for it. Some are more active than others. If you happen to own Fairfield points (which is now a Wyndham product), there is an excellent Yahoo group. Apply to join it. It's a free and simple process. Then read all the "files" on the left hand corner of the home page before diving in to ask questions. The members of the group can be a little harsh if you haven't first done some homework.

If the Wyndham points you own are from Trendwest or Equivest, there are Yahoo groups for that too.

Good luck and try to report back here if you have found a good source of info that other "newbies" could benefit from.

stanleyf5 wrote:

davide81 wrote:

Hi Jennie,

I took your advice and called RCI about the two banked weeks and the possibility to pay for an extension like you said. They told me no dice that they do not offer that and I was out of luck, needless to say I might be done with them. In the meantime if I loose those weeks, I take that as a learning experience. I was also told that my banked weeks were "blue week" points so my options were limited anyway. With the points which I currently have which are about 700,000 for the year thru Wyndham Resorts. I cannot use all of them and will like to rent what I cannot use. I need advice on the steps to follow if I do this myself.

For instance I am assuming the first step will be to call Wyndham, reserve the weeks I do not need and then place the ads.

How do you deal with paperwork in terms of contracts, security deposits(in the event of damage or whatever else).

Since you are dealing with someone you do not know (renter), how do you handle the transfer of name to this person for when the person goes to check in at the resort.

Please help, I am very "green" at this and looking forward to the challenge.

David

You can extend the experiation date of your RCI banked weeks. The person to whom you spoke at RCI is uninformed. Ask to speak to supervisor, or call the RCI corporate offices and complain. You can go to the frequently asked question on the RCI website and see that you can extend your banked weeks, and what the fees are.

Yes, you can DEFINITELY extend the expiration of weeks deposited with RCI. But why don't you wait until it is much closer to the expiration date. Who knows, they may come up with a match for you before then. If not, have no fear. They will bombard you with Emails, regular mail, and Email messages touting the benefits (and costs) of extending weeks that are about to expire.

Since the deposits you have made are of "blue weeks" it may not even be worth paying any more to seek an exchange. Unless you are willing to accept off season weeks in locations with low demand, you will probably not receive anything you can use. Your best bet is to learn how to do your own on-line searches at the RCI web site. You may see something available that you would not have thought to enter as an on-going search.

I hope I'm correct in assuming that you have entered "on-going searches" for the weeks you want. don't ever rely upon sporadic phone calls to accomplish a dessired trade.

I just contacted an owner about hiis week which I'm intersted in. The owner wants me to pay upfront for his time share week.

I have no problem to pay and the owner should be paid for my use of his week but, it feels uncomfortable to send a check to someone who I don't know. What if he will not keep his word?

What if he does not even own the week? He good vanish as soon as he cash my check....

Please advise how to deal with this situation because I would like to rent his week from him but will not want to cick myself if I lost over $1K.

Regards,

This is a situation where you want to use an escrow company for holding the money. My timeshare closing company provides this service for rentals (as well as escrow for sales).

Our fee is a flat $69 and rent moneys are kept in an escrow account maintained by a local FDIC-iinsured bank. Our conduct with this escrow account is strictly dictated by New Jersey State laws and regulations.

Contact me if I can be of assistance:

Faeth Closing Services Inc. Attn: John Faeth 168 Gould Avenue North Caldwell, NJ 07006 973-699-4118

There is another company that has a deal with redweek.com and is listed on this site. I think they charge $100 for that service.

Thanks!

John

davida102 wrote:

I just contacted an owner about hiis week which I'm intersted in. The owner wants me to pay upfront for his time share week.

I have no problem to pay and the owner should be paid for my use of his week but, it feels uncomfortable to send a check to someone who I don't know. What if he will not keep his word?

What if he does not even own the week? He good vanish as soon as he cash my check....

Please advise how to deal with this situation because I would like to rent his week from him but will not want to cick myself if I lost over $1K.

Regards,