How much to pay for a rental?

It seems to me that most TUGGERS are buying and using their weeks. Are some of you buying lots of weeks specifically to rent out? What vacation club do you think is best to build a rental inventory and why?

What is a good price to pay?

How do you measure a great rental week? I am looking for a week where (rental margin (rent - MF's) - advertising cost) / cost to purchase is a high percentage return. And, I am looking a week that rents quickly.

My resorts(around 20 total weeks):
Marriott Canyon Villas - Platinum
Marriott Grande Ocean - Gold Ocean Front
Marriott Grande Vista - 3BR Platinum
Marriott Oceana Palms - Platinum

Hyatt Coconut Plantation - Platinum and Diamond
Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch - Platinum

Someone is going to point out that the right time to figure this out might have been before I bought all these weeks. It seems like I only had four weeks, then a crazy buying binge, then timeshare chaos!

Does anyone find it makes sense to buy high quality weeks and then sell them?

I am specifically looking for input from the multi week owner/renter.

Thanks and happy trails

What vacation club do you think is best to build a rental inventory and why?

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First a warning... do not buy Bluegreen Vacation Club points to use for rentals. They are cracking down on rentals and making some mega-point owners very unhappy. I own a small number of points... purchased for my own use.

Are some of you buying lots of weeks specifically to rent out?

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I only buy what I would want to use. But since I couldn't talk myself out of snatching up some of those "good deals," I own more than I can use... at least until I retire. So some of what I own gets rented every other year or so.

I own too many Wyndham points. At one point I owned the perfect amount for my family vacations, but now the kids have their own lives and don't travel with me as often. So I recently started renting out Wyndham reservations. Mostly to family/friends.

What is a good price to pay?

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If I were to buy something just to rent, I wouldn't pay more than I could get for rent in 2 years (or less). Just my thoughts... not from experience.

How do you measure a great rental week?

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It must be something people want... something that's not "available on every corner." I wouldn't buy anything in Orlando to rent... not even a holiday week.

I want to be a beach bum. So I own a few east coast summer beach weeks. I've never had problems renting them for a profit.

Does anyone find it makes sense to buy high quality weeks and then sell them?

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While I don't buy "high quality"... all but one of my fixed weeks gets RCI gold or silver ratings. Even the week that doesn't have an RCI award rating (week 31 in PCB, FL) rents for a few hundred dollars over maintenance fees. I never rent for top dollar, because I just want to get it rented and not worry about it. I don't consider my rentals a source of income. If it pays the maintenance fees and covers fees for some of my personal travels, I'm happy.

Thanks for your response

Juanita,

Thanks for the structure and very detailed response. I also try to buy only what I would use, just have way too many weeks.

I am focused on warm weather vacations and own mostly places to visit for winter sunshine. I only bought the 3br Grande Vista in Orlando because I thought 3br would be less overbuilt. Marriott actually took 3 contracts at Grande Vista from me with ROFR around $7,000.

SunandFun83 said:

It seems to me that most TUGGERS are buying and using their weeks. Are some of you buying lots of weeks specifically to rent out? What vacation club do you think is best to build a rental inventory and why?

What is a good price to pay?

How do you measure a great rental week? I am looking for a week where (rental margin (rent - MF's) - advertising cost) / cost to purchase is a high percentage return. And, I am looking a week that rents quickly.

My resorts(around 20 total weeks):
Marriott Canyon Villas - Platinum
Marriott Grande Ocean - Gold Ocean Front
Marriott Grande Vista - 3BR Platinum
Marriott Oceana Palms - Platinum

Hyatt Coconut Plantation - Platinum and Diamond
Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch - Platinum

Someone is going to point out that the right time to figure this out might have been before I bought all these weeks. It seems like I only had four weeks, then a crazy buying binge, then timeshare chaos!

Does anyone find it makes sense to buy high quality weeks and then sell them?

I am specifically looking for input from the multi week owner/renter.

Thanks and happy trails

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I havent figured out how to make any money using the high priced stuff you mention. the amortized purchase price plus mf plus other costs adds up to too high a number for me to overcome with rent. There is a guy here on tug that has proved me wrong however. He seems to do just fine working at the high end

I own a ton of Wyndham points that cost me next to nothing and I do ok as long as I can reserve high demand, low supply weeks and weekends. Prices have gone up and I just added a bunch more points that cost me about a years mf (mf about $5.50/1000 points-I paid about $5000 per million) Its going to take me a year or two to recover my purchase price

Wyndham works well as a rental vehicle if you are a Platinum VIP (the discounts really help)

FreeIn2010 said:

First a warning... do not buy Bluegreen Vacation Club points to use for rentals. They are cracking down on rentals and making some mega-point owners very unhappy.

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I'm curious, how are they cracking down? Does Bluegreen have a VIP program or similar?

ace2000 said:

I'm curious, how are they cracking down? Does Bluegreen have a VIP program or similar?

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I read on the Bluegreen owners yahoo group that a few owners who have rentals listed on Craigslist have received "cease and desist" letters . Apparently it's in the rule book that rentals are a no-no... nevermind that it's promoted by sales as a way to offset maintenance fees when they want you to buy more points.

They have also put limits on the number of reservations an account can have per region.

Bluegreen has put a limit on the number of open reservations you can have at one time. Thats not the number at one resort for one week, its the total number of reservations in your account

I believe the number is 10.

Actually it's per "region"....and they redefined their regions with this new rule.

If you have to ask you are probably in over your head. There is no real answer. I make what I do work and that is all that matters to me. I have not bought a timeshare in over 5 years and have no interest in buying more.

am1 said:

If you have to ask you are probably in over your head. ......

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am1 --- I too just looked at OP's request and thought along the exact same lines ....


OP - you can spend YEARS trying to figure this out AND you still have to pay those MFs - with or without your rental income. Save yourself a lot of time and money and LOOK HARD at dumping (Bargain Deals) anything YOU won't make the MFs (or didn't make the MFs via renting in 2014) -- check Redweek ads and TUG Marketplace & other rental sites for ones who had not rented.

I get offered FREE TIMESHARES often. They are FREE for a reason. Almost all of them I politely decline to take on.

Good advice. I was PM'd by OP before this thread began. I shared my experience.

You're welcome, SunandFun83. You might want to re-read it. I believe there's some good advice and experience shared that is relevant even though I don't have deal in Marriotts and Hyatts.

When you don't even know what to charge for rent or whether or not you got a good deal on your purchases; then, it's time to do some major damage control. Sage advice on TUG; it's easy to buy timeshares, but the same cannot be said for selling them.

am1 said:

If you have to ask you are probably in over your head. There is no real answer. I make what I do work and that is all that matters to me. I have not bought a timeshare in over 5 years and have no interest in buying more.

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That is the situation. Note "timeshare chaos".

vacationhopeful said:

am1 --- I too just looked at OP's request and thought along the exact same lines ....


OP - you can spend YEARS trying to figure this out AND you still have to pay those MFs - with or without your rental income. Save yourself a lot of time and money and LOOK HARD at dumping (Bargain Deals) anything YOU won't make the MFs (or didn't make the MFs via renting in 2014) -- check Redweek ads and TUG Marketplace & other rental sites for ones who had not rented.

I get offered FREE TIMESHARES often. They are FREE for a reason. Almost all of them I politely decline to take on.

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These aren't free timeshares or Bargain Deals. Very high-end timeshares with big-money to purchase ($7000-$9000) and high maintenance fees to pay, which are right around the corner.

"Someone is going to point out that the right time to figure this out might have been before I bought all these weeks. It seems like I only had four weeks, then a crazy buying binge, then timeshare chaos!"

I would take some of the advice given. Yes, hindsight is 20/20. You can't go back and change things; you have to figure out now how to get out of this mess without timeshare chaos turning into financial meltdown.

Good luck to you.

Renting involves a lot more pieces than most people realize:

-Restrictive/changing resort rules
-Advertising effectiveness, time, and costs
-Liability
-Strong rental terms
-Payment method
-Tons of emails - 95% don't produce a rental
-Difficult renters
-Possible disputes/forced refunds
-Scammers

Renting timeshares is not for the faint of heart. There have been a number of people who came to TUG, jumped into the rental market, and failed...

My favorite - phone calls from scammers, spammers, and people who just want someone to talk to....

There are definitely easier ways to make money than renting out timeshares. You need volume to make real money and volume starts to become a problem for just an individual.

What they said!

DeniseM said:

Renting involves a lot more pieces than most people realize:

-Restrictive/changing resort rules
-Advertising effectiveness, time, and costs
-Liability
-Strong rental terms
-Payment method
-Tons of emails - 90% don't produce a rental
-Difficult renters
-Possible disputes/forced refunds
-Scammers

Renting timeshares is not for the faint of heart. There have been a number of people who came to TUG, jumped into the rental market, and failed...

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Very good list, Denise.

Saintsfanfl said:

You need volume to make real money and volume starts to become a problem for just an individual.

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I wanted to take my little timeshare business to the next level, and found out this is so true. It was fun for several years and profitable as a side business. However, this past year presented new problems and headaches that I previously hadn't experienced in past years. I don't believe those were isolated situations. Going forward, I know I should anticipate these things happening and have to decide if it's really worth it anymore.

Glad to hear from Ron

ronparise said:

I just added a bunch more points that cost me about a years mf (mf about $5.50/1000 points-I paid about $5000 per million) Its going to take me a year or two to recover my purchase price

Wyndham works well as a rental vehicle if you are a Platinum VIP (the discounts really help)

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I have seen some posts from RonParise and I know him as the Wyndham guy, specifically New Orleans. He has a clear strategy to buy bargain Wyndham points and take advantage of the VIP discount.

I have enjoyed staying at Marriott's and Hyatt's and started out by buying what I would use myself. That is why I own sun and fun vacation destinations. My advantage is the 13 month Marriott reservation system. I reserved the whole month of March in Phoenix followed by five Easter weeks at three resorts.


My weeks will take 5-8 years for rental profit to cover purchase cost. E.G. Marriott Canyon Villas: rents for $2,300 with MF $1,200. Total cost with closing $6,400. It takes around 6 years to cover purchase. I was looking at this as 17% rate of return. The logic fails if future rentals collapse or the future value of weeks is around half my purchase price.