I [own a good week at a ski resort], but I am not going to be able to use it.
I am not currently a member of II, or any other exchange company. I have considered posting on the Tug listings and Redweek. It is a great week, but I have never tried to rent. Looking for any words of wisdom from those who have tried different avenues.
Thanks!
We only infrequently rent out any of our weeks, but have no difficulty doing so when circumstances require it. A few general observations and opinions follow, although I know nothing at all about your particular CA resort.
1. Bite the bullet and pay for a (carefully prepared) rental ad on RedWeek. The fact that
only paid RedWeek members can respond to RedWeek ads at all virtually eliminates scammers, spammers and insincere tire kickers, none of whom will "pay to play". You can advertise for free on Craigslist, but IMO you often get exactly what you pay for there. TUG members can place free ads in the TUG Marketplace, but I have frankly had very little success with TUG rental ads (none at all, in fact). Also, place the RedWeek rental ad long in advance. After all, RW allows the listing to be posted for a full six months, if necessary.
2. Use a good rental contract --- and spell out
everything in clear and specific detail, including occupancy limits (yes, infants count), dates and times of check-in and check-out, clear payment / cancellation / refund policy, no pets, no sub-lease,
credit card presented at check-in in same name as contract signatory, minimum age of signatory / tenants (particularly if your week might attract college Spring Break party animals --- a demographic I always avoid like the plague (I specify minimum age of 25 in my rental contract, but YMMV). Btw, some people naively choose to believe that email exchanges, content or addenda are somehow an acceptable or enforceable substitute for a mutually signed, hard copy contract document; I personally do
not share that viewpoint.
3. When you get a sincere response from someone who wants to proceed, invite the prospective tenant to contact the resort directly to verify your legitimacy. While no responsible resort will
disclose any owner information, they will at least certainly
verify owner information already possessed by the inquiring party. You might want to have some phone conversation with a prospective nervous tenant to alleviate any concerns they might have and / or if they just want to make a human connection to complete the rental.
4. RedWeek offers "full service" for listings, but I would avoid the complication (and additional expense) that using it entails. A rep unfamiliar with the resort who cannot answer specific questions posed by a prospective tenant about the resort, proximity of the resort to ski lifts, elevators, distance to / from parking, etc. is not really "helping" you. If you end up having to answer those questions yourself anyhow, then why involve (or pay) a third party "middleman" at all in the first place? I'd also steer clear of nervous would-be tenants who want to use RedWeek's "escrow service" for rentals; its' utilization means that you won't receive payment until
after the rental is completed. You may feel differently, but I personally find that arrangement to be completely unacceptable.
5. Do your homework to establish a fair rental figure. You obviously have to beat the resort's own "rack rates" to be competitive, but you also obviously want to at least cover your maintenance fees (...and then some, hopefully).
I hope some of this helps. Don't be intimidated about renting out a desirable week, just be smart and careful and attentive to details as you do so. Good luck.
