Can't rent my Week?

I purchased a week in hawaii this year and ended up with a 2010 week that we can't use. I put it up for rent for less than our maintenance fee ($1450). It's been advertised for months, and I've gotten like 2 inquiries, basically wanting to change the reservation, but there's no availability to do that.

My question is: Am I asking too much? I think I have the lowest rental asking price out on TUG for my week. The whole reason we purchased it is because we love it, and couldn't rent it for $1800 or less when I checked last year. Now I can't rent it for $1450? Did I reserve for the wrong time of the year?

A member has their week advertised for rent for $3,000 and said, "priced to go fast". Uh?

What am I doing wrong?

Hawaii Girl,

Where are you listing your week? If I understood you correctly, I think you are listing it on TUG. Are you listing it anywhere else? I haven't really tried to market a rental, but from reading other's posts on the board, you might want to consider listing it either at Redweek, or myresortnetwork.com. TUG is the BEST place for asking questions and learning about timesharing, but most of the traffic here is owners who may already have more affordable options for getting to Hawaii.

learnalot said:

Hawaii Girl,

Where are you listing your week? If I understood you correctly, I think you are listing it on TUG. Are you listing it anywhere else? I haven't really tried to market a rental, but from reading other's posts on the board, you might want to consider listing it either at Redweek, or myresortnetwork.com. TUG is the BEST place for asking questions and learning about timesharing, but most of the traffic here is owners who may already have more affordable options for getting to Hawaii.

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Yes, you are correct, I am referring to my TUG classified ad. I have also on occasoin tried Craig's List and at work, but that's it. I looked into Vacationsonly.com, but they wanted like a 20% fee. TUG is the place that I looked when I was a potential renter last year - but I couldn't find anything less than around $1800.

At this point, I probably should've paid the 20% fee and just asked higher rent, but now I am running up against the 60 day deadline to deposit it into Interval International.

Thanks for your response.

do more

HawaiiGirl said:

I purchased a week in hawaii this year and ended up with a 2010 week that we can't use. I put it up for rent for less than our maintenance fee ($1450). It's been advertised for months, and I've gotten like 2 inquiries, basically wanting to change the reservation, but there's no availability to do that.

My question is: Am I asking too much? I think I have the lowest rental asking price out on TUG for my week. The whole reason we purchased it is because we love it, and couldn't rent it for $1800 or less when I checked last year. Now I can't rent it for $1450? Did I reserve for the wrong time of the year?

A member has their week advertised for rent for $3,000 and said, "priced to go fast". Uh?

What am I doing wrong?

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If the offer iis out there and no one takes it then yes, you are asking too much for what the market says its worth. What you pay in maintenance means nothing to a renter - they have a budget to travel and what part is available for rent is finite. You meet their price or they look elsewhere.

Lower the price and you'll find a taker. Also expand your exposure to increase the chance of your current offer finding a willing taker. You can't over expose the offer but you can fall way short of needed exposure.

HawaiiGirl said:

Yes, you are correct, I am referring to my TUG classified ad. I have also on occasoin tried Craig's List and at work, but that's it. I looked into Vacationsonly.com, but they wanted like a 20% fee. TUG is the place that I looked when I was a potential renter last year - but I couldn't find anything less than around $1800.

At this point, I probably should've paid the 20% fee and just asked higher rent, but now I am running up against the 60 day deadline to deposit it into Interval International.

Thanks for your response.

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Hi again,

Well, if you deposit to II this time, you might check out Redweek or Myresortnetwork for next time. I don't think either take a percentage of your rental. I think you just pay a flat fee for listing the ad. You can see their terms on their websites. You should probably get a decent trade out of it at least if you give it to II. Good luck.

In this economy you really have to market your timeshare. The market is flooded with rentals, so advertising on one website really isn't enough.

I personally use these cheap or free websites to post my Ads:

TUG Timeshare Marketplace - http://tug2.com/timesharemarketplace/
1 year Membership - $15
Ads - free up to 25

www.craigslist.org (free)

www.redweek.com
Membership - $14.99 for 12 months
Timeshare Rental Ads - $24.99/ea for 6 Months
Timeshare Resale Ads - $59.99/ea for 12 Months

www.myresortnetwork.com
Membership - free
Timeshare Rental Ads - $19.95 ($24.95 - floating weeks)
Timeshare Resale Ads - $34.95

There is also a list of resale websites at the top of the Buying, Selling, Renting, board that you may want to take a look at.

Many people don't like Craigslist, because you get a lot of scammers who respond, but they are painfully obvious, and I just ignore them. Another tool I use to eliminate the scammers is that I only accept payment by Paypal which requires a verified bank account or credit card to be registered. I just rented my Hawaii timeshare for full asking price on Craigs list. On Craigslist, you need to create a Craigslist Acct., create 2 different Ads with different titles and wording, and rotate them every 3 days. You don't have to rewrite the Ads - if you create an Acct. they will be saved in your Acct. and you can just report them.

Having a nice Ad, and lots of traffic is essential!

*Let me just add that I rented my own Maui 2 bdm. for $3,500 in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Great - thanks for all the tips. I should've asked sooner.

It is tough to decide whether to deposit or rent but we have found that Craig's Listers often rent in the last week or two - maybe a tad earlier for Hawaii - and you should list your ad in CL for Hawaii not your home state. You can deposit in II as late as two weeks out - but no later. That will get you an impaired week but that is just as good in FlexChange with II. So I would redouble your rental efforts. Also look at ebay - while you may not want to rent on ebay, see how professional their ads are - and you may be able to download and repaste some photos of your resort or Hawaii from ebay for your CL ad. Remember, you are trying to entice someone to go on vacation and at your resort - so emphasize those fun aspects of your timeshare, not just that you can't go and need to pay maintenance fees - that tactic is a downer for an ad - remember, you are now in the travel business! Funtime

Copying pictures that are on eBay is not allowed.

Most resorts if not all do not allow owners to use the resorts pictures eithr for personal gain (renting out/selling a timeshare). These pictures are copyrighted. May be different for owner controlled timeshares.

Suggesting someone do something illegal is not good advice at all.

If you really want pictures of your resort you are best to take your own pictures of it the next time you are there. Then you would be able to use those pictures to try to rent your unit in the future without issue.

I have found that last minute Hawaii is very hard to rent. My experience is in 3 and 4 bedroom units so it could be different for smaller ones.

It is easy to find pictures that are not copyrighted, on the internet.

Besides listing on multiple sites, a must in my experience, become a bit of a salesperson yourself. Print out an attractive, colorful, informative (yes even on glossy paper) "brochure" and whenever the topic even remotely comes up have it at the ready for friends & family & their friends & family. Offer someone you know a fee if they bring you a successful rental customer (your natural born salesperson friends). People do like to rent from someone they know.

DeniseM said:

It is easy to find pictures that are not copyrighted, on the internet.

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Would you be able to let us know where to look?

I am under the impression that the default for works (pictures) is they are copyrighted unless you have consent from the original owner of the work. One does not have to note on the picture that it is copyrighted for it to be copyrighted.

There are exceptions to this (fair use) but renting out timeshares is not one of them.

I've had about 90% success renting out on Redweek.
You can see what's currently listed for rent on Redweek at your and similar properties, and price your listing accordingly.

Redweek will display your asking price on a per night basis. So one price you might consider (if it's not out of line with the competition) is $1,393 for the week, which will display as $199/night.

If you're successful, Redweek and Paypal fees will reduce your net by about $75.

HawaiiGirl said:

Yes, you are correct, I am referring to my TUG classified ad. I have also on occasoin tried Craig's List and at work, but that's it. I looked into Vacationsonly.com, but they wanted like a 20% fee. TUG is the place that I looked when I was a potential renter last year - but I couldn't find anything less than around $1800.

At this point, I probably should've paid the 20% fee and just asked higher rent, but now I am running up against the 60 day deadline to deposit it into Interval International.

Thanks for your response.

Click to expand...

Craigs List is a good option. I try to put into large cities like Chicago, New York, etc where the population, money and desire to escape the city exist. When it comes to Tug, I haven't had much luck as Tuggers generally expect to get something for a $1 and demand thousands when renting their inventory.

Good places are MyResortNetwork, Redweek, VRBO. Their is a sticky list in this forum listing places to use for advertising.

If I've found your ad correctly, I believe that your week might be a hard one to rent as many families with schoolchildren have tests, concerts, etc. that the child must be part of before they can travel in that timeframe.

This is JMHO on the given week, because your price is very reasonable for this mostly sold-out resort. As others have said, you might get more bites as the time grows nearer, especially on Craigslist or other sites.

You might find someone in your area who is dying to get out of the potentially bad winter that is rumoured to be ours in the NW this year as the time draws nearer. That timeframe would have reasonable airfare compared to a week later.

brennumtimesharer said:

When it comes to Tug, I haven't had much luck as Tuggers generally expect to get something for a $1 and demand thousands when renting their inventory.

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brennumtimesharer said:

When it comes to Tug, I haven't had much luck as Tuggers generally expect to get something for a $1 and demand thousands when renting their inventory.

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I don't understand this either. Do you mean to say that I, as a Tugger, expect to be able to pay $1 to rent someone else's timeshare? That's ridiculous!

We've never rented our timeshares, I would only demand what the market seems to deem is reasonable. Certainly not thousands of dollars.

In my experience the quickest way to sell or rent out your timeshare is the same way that you had originally purchased it, through a presentation that is focused on generating results. If by chance you cant create the same situation again to resale your timeshare in the resale market or you cant find a reliable company that can handle the showcasing marketing selling and all the paperwork for you than the best way to sell your week quick is try to advertise the most rock bottom price that you are willing to accept and market your ad on ebay craigslist and other such platforms that are able to provide high viewership