Newbie Question - My units are not renting! Why?

Hi all. We've only had timeshares a few short months. I currently have a couple of different units up for rent, and have not had the first nibble yet. Can anyone offer thoughts on why? (Market flooded? Price too high? Ads poorly placed? TUG is not an especially good place to post rentals? etc.)

The two we have posted are both 4 day weekends. One is for Wyndham Nashville in early November and the other is for Wyndham's Governor's Green in Williamsburg, also in early November.

Any help would be appreciated!

Cooperboy

I am not a renter, but I think it is the week you are trying to rent. I would not expect early November to be an easy week to rent. Thanksgiving week/weekend perhaps, but not early November. While they are weekends it is not peak season in any way.

Hi and welcome to TUG:

1. You need to post Ads in more places: I use TUG, Craigslist, and Redweek for all Ads.

2. Early November is very off-season for travel, because the kids are in school - school holidays rent the best.

3. Williamsburg & Nashville have more supply than demand, so you will have to price your timeshares lower than the competition - have you researched the Comps?

I have my best luck renting for special events and holidays. Examples would be Thanksgiving, presidents day at ski resorts, Halloween in New Orleans, Bike Week in Daytona , Christmas in Orlando. Other good rentals would be Winter on the S Fl beaches, or summer weeks on the mid Atlantic or Oregon beaches

High demand times at big demand locations

Unfortunately your reservations don't measure up

You also can find out if there are any special events that week and then try to find someone who is interested in that event. Is there a car show, a gymnastics meet, a golf tournament, a home school event? Even though people coming for these kind of events are often given special prices at a local hotel, you may still be able to beat the prices or given that you are renting out something with more space you might find someone who would rather stay with a full kitchen than a hotel.

You definitely to advertise more places than just here unless you have a very high season week at a very low price.

Cooperboy said:

Hi all. We've only had timeshares a few short months. I currently have a couple of different units up for rent, and have not had the first nibble yet. Can anyone offer thoughts on why? (Market flooded? Price too high? Ads poorly placed? TUG is not an especially good place to post rentals? etc.)

The two we have posted are both 4 day weekends. One is for Wyndham Nashville in early November and the other is for Wyndham's Governor's Green in Williamsburg, also in early November.

Any help would be appreciated!

Cooperboy

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It's simple supply and demand. You're offering a rental period that is low season so demand is very low. Also I know for sure Williamsburg is over developed so there is a ton of supply there.

Echoing here but if you are asking if your price is too high then it probably is. Places like Orlando and Williamsburg are not going to rent for more than fees during the offseason. Somewhere between 1/4 to 3/4 would be the norm. It is not unusual to see last minute deals for a small fraction of the fees. The huge peak season demand drives the flood of oversupply during the offseason.

If you want to unload it expand your advertising and lower your price. In order to get a bite you need to be one of the lowest priced listing.

On top of what others have said another problem I see is "4 day weekends."

You will have to find someone willing to rent at your price for those exact 4 days. Week end trips during the school year for me would be Fri and Sat night.

Cooperboy said:

The two we have posted are both 4 day weekends. One is for Wyndham Nashville in early November and the other is for Wyndham's Governor's Green in Williamsburg, also in early November.

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To add to all the comments - Columbus and/or Veteran's Day are minor holidays and not everyone gets time off. My kids (in Northern Virginia) are in school on Veteran's Day.

Just to add my own experience with renting, I have the most inquiries very close to the rental dates. It seems a lot of people are last-minute travelers. Not me. I would like to be, but I am not able to be spontaneous like that.

A lot of success comes from location, location, location, but timing is also a big factor at some locations. Nashville is a good location in the summer and during Grand Ole Opry events such as during an award ceremonies. Williamsburg is also a good summer destination. I've sent families to Williamsburg in the summer because of its historical significant and the theme park. You need to target an audience and match then to a location. Families, bikers, racecar fans just to name a few.

I set up an website to market my rentals and I also use Craigslist. I include my website to my Craigslist posts. Even an online digital business card added to your Craigslist post with additional info on it is beneficial. Message or email me if want more info on digital business cards.

Cooperboy said:

Hi all. We've only had timeshares a few short months. I currently have a couple of different units up for rent, and have not had the first nibble yet. Can anyone offer thoughts on why? (Market flooded? Price too high? Ads poorly placed? TUG is not an especially good place to post rentals? etc.)

The two we have posted are both 4 day weekends. One is for Wyndham Nashville in early November and the other is for Wyndham's Governor's Green in Williamsburg, also in early November.

Any help would be appreciated!

Cooperboy

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In addition to what everyone else has said ...

If you intend to be serious about renting timeshares you need to run it like a business. That means having an understanding of how your marketplace operates, and being sure that it clear that you are a business and not a casual informal rentee. If you can accomplish that, you can begin to obtain a higher price for your rentals, because given the choice between an established business with a track record and presence, and a casual owner with a listing on some web site, people will prefer the established business.

People above have given much advice in this regard. The only thing I would like to add, from my time when I was semi-actively renting, is that to get your operation started you will likely need to offer some bargain deals initially so that you can build clientele and credibility in the marketplace. Those initial clients are likely to stay with you if you subsequently bump your promo rates back up, because at that point to them you have become a known and reliable entity. And if they jump ship on you because you raised your rates to where they need to be, then you don't want them as business regulars anyway (and moreover the cheapskate clients are also the clients who are the most difficult to deal with).

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When you're in the real estate business, it's all about "Location! Location!! Location!!!" When your renting timeshares change that to "Location and week! Location and week!! Location and week!!!"

To be successful you need the right location and the right week.

If you are going to offer a rental over Veteran's Day, you should try Branson. Branson has the largest Veteran's Day celebration in the country. Because of this, all three Wyndhams are booked for that whole week.

Like Steve said, Location and week!

If it makes you feel better, I have about 25 active reservations between now and the end of the year. Most are on the beach (Myrtle Beach, Daytona, or Pompano Beach) except for Week 51 in Williamsburg and Week 52 in New Orleans.

I've cut prices to my break even point after rebooking and grabbing upgrades where I could. Nobody's beating down my door either. The underlying points all expire the end of December so I'm semi-desperate.

I'm a small-time operator. There are several people on TUG who could whip some really scary numbers on us.

These are vacation condos and most families go on vacation in the summer months when school is out with some exceptions. Consider marketing Florida, Arizona, Texas, etc., to snowbirds during the winter months and families when school is out. Special events are also a money maker...

Wyndham Nashville is right next to the Opryland Hotel which has a huge Christmas celebration with decorations, lights, ice slides, and performances by the Rockettes as well as other Christmas shows. Also next door to the Opry Mills mall. There will be an uptick in demand after opening dates for the Christmas Extravaganza.

Thanks from Newbie

I appreciate the many replies to my Newbie question. Many stated that I chose bad weekends for my rentals. Because many experienced people said this, I suspect it is true. There was method to the madness, so comment if you can on the error of my ways....I originally called the Wyndham service that will rent the units for you. I told them my points and asked what they needed. They specifically said the Nashville and the Governor's Green resorts on the weekends I have listed. So it appeared very much as if they had demand for those places and dates. After reading TUG, I reasoned that I could use the same places/dates, but do the renting myself and save the commission.

I will be trying lower price and more advertising. I did not mention this before, but I also have several Craig's List ads also, both for my home city and for the cities where the resorts are. What other services or ad places would you recommend? I have also looked at Redweek and one other.

Again thanks for the input.

One other Newbie item

One other thing I'll throw out. I do have a week in late July of 2014 at Long Warf in Newport RI that I'll be putting up for rent. I suspect that is a much better hit on the location and week combination. For something that far into the future, should I start advertising now, or wait until time gets closer? Anyone have any other advise or experience in renting at that resort in the summer? I also have a week of my own that I plan to use with my family at that same resort in late June/early July. We are looking forward to our first stay there.

It is never to early to advertise - you have nothing to gain by waiting.

Before you list it, you need to look at the Comps, so you can price it realistically - which is probably slightly below the Avg. for the exact same week/resort/unit.

We list all our rentals on our website and hyperlink our website to our Craigslist posts. When someone looks at my Craigslist post and click on the link to my website they see everything we have to offer. I've rented Washington DC, Hawaii and Florida vacations to families looking at my Glacier Canyon rentals on Craigslist.

I don't pay to advertise - what I'm doing is working for me. It works so well I'm out of points for 2013, and I started with several million. All I have left for 2013 are points I tied up for our personal travels this fall.

Do you know how to build a website? If not feel free to contact me. You can contact me through one of my websites - call or email me.

I hope you didn't purchase with the intention of rental profit..

These are not great target reservations.

To move these you'd likely have to price very aggressively. Without VIP benefits you'll likely lose money. Nashville can be a great resort for rental demand, but it normally follows local event scheduling very closely. Williamsburg is a difficult target regardless, simply due to the flooded market of available timeshares.

If you have VIP benefits and discounts, Wyndham rentals can pay for your m. fees every year and put a little profit in your pocket- but you have to be willing to put in the time and effort to make it your business and priority.

I stay busy year round, but that comes with more than 15 yrs experience understanding what destinations to target at which times of the year. Plus, my agents are online from 7am to 11pm every day performing searches and trying to acquire targeted stays. I also spend thousands every month on advertising to bring in new renters. Succesful rentals are a very difficult endeavor for newcomers to the market.

For newbies, the focus should always be on your own personal usage and enjoyment.. That is normally the only way you'll get any value from your timeshare.

Cooperboy said:

Hi all. We've only had timeshares a few short months. I currently have a couple of different units up for rent, and have not had the first nibble yet. Can anyone offer thoughts on why? (Market flooded? Price too high? Ads poorly placed? TUG is not an especially good place to post rentals? etc.)

The two we have posted are both 4 day weekends. One is for Wyndham Nashville in early November and the other is for Wyndham's Governor's Green in Williamsburg, also in early November.

Any help would be appreciated!

Cooperboy

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Cooperboy said:

One other thing I'll throw out. I do have a week in late July of 2014 at Long Warf in Newport RI that I'll be putting up for rent. I suspect that is a much better hit on the location and week combination. For something that far into the future, should I start advertising now, or wait until time gets closer? Anyone have any other advise or experience in renting at that resort in the summer? I also have a week of my own that I plan to use with my family at that same resort in late June/early July. We are looking forward to our first stay there.

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Since it’s rather difficult for non-owners of Newport Wyndham resorts to make week-long summer reservations you’d think that it would be easy to rent out a prime summer week. However, what we’ve found is that not many people realize how nice Newport, RI is as a vacation destination. We were there this summer and again last week but when we tell friends were going to Newport they ask what’s the big attraction – most are totally unaware of what Newport has to offer. So Newport doesn’t have the universally recognized draw that places like Orlando has. Even though the Wyndham Newport resorts are difficult to reserve during the summer we’ve found that its not so much due to demand but rather due to the fact that many of the prime summer weeks are still held as fixed weeks by owners and therefore not available to those of us using Wyndham points. Those owners either use the units themselves, rent them out, or much to our surprise let them sit vacant (possibly some have been deposited in RCI but not taken by anyone). On every trip we’ve made to Long Wharf and the Inn at Long Wharf its been obvious that the units are not all occupied due to the availability of parking spaces. This year the front desk confirmed that not all units were occupied and let us have a second parking pass which we much appreciated. I must say the hospitality at Long Wharf is exceptional and the lack of a Wyndham sales office at the Wharf makes for a very pleasant stay but this may not be enough to make for an easy rental. Good luck!

IMHO. You shoulfd be able to rent a prime summer weak at Longwharf fairly easily. Newport is very very busy in the summer AND there are many summer events (music and other) that drive even more demand.

I would advertise on redweek and price at about $2000 for the week

DeniseM said:

It is never to early to advertise - you have nothing to gain by waiting.

Before you list it, you need to look at the Comps, so you can price it realistically - which is probably slightly below the Avg. for the exact same week/resort/unit.

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When looking at comps it isn't just a matter of price. You need to realistically ask yourself what would make someone who knows nothing about you pick your rental over one of those comps.

When no one knows who you are, your only differentiator is price. If one of the comps is a newbie renter such as you, you only need to be a bit cheaper. But if the comp is someone who looks as if they do this regularly and has a track record, your price differential is going to have to be greater.

Really, the Wyndham rental group?

That might be a canned line of BS. They will rent anything that someone calls up to rent... give them any reservation, their contract says they MAY rent NONE (no dates) or as few as 1 night -- but they will NOT tell you unless they send you a check - minus all the fees and commissions they get AFTER the dates of YOUR reservation.

So, you book a reservation using $400 worth of points and they rent it for $99 for 1 night. You could get a check minus the 40% commission minus the credit card fee minus a housekeeping charge, etc... say $49 ...

PS Once any time is booked on your 4 night reservation, that reservation is USED. Empty nights are NOT available as that Reservation Number is taken.

NOTE: Extra Holiday's made MORE money than you, lost no money and had no (limited) risk or expenses.