Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Vacation Timeshares and Rentals Insider Secrets

By Willie Bird


If you have vacation timeshares and rentals, there are certain to be times when you find yourself unable to use them when you had planned. Things have a way of coming up at the worst times, or you may simply find yourself a little short on cash when considering that vacation. Even if your lodging is already paid for, there are a lot of other expenses involved in vacations. Here are a few secrets that will help you turn your assets into a regular stream of income.

When you're unable to use your timeshare when you had wanted to, what can you do with your timeshare week? You could of course do nothing; but this means you'll just lose out. However, since you paid for that timeshare, there's no reason you shouldn't get what you can for it.

One option that you have is renting it out to someone else. You can generally make some pretty good money, or at least enough to cover what you paid for it. So how exactly do you go about doing this?

Since you own vacation timeshares and rentals, you probably only go there once a year at the most. This means you're probably not familiar with the area and might not know where to start. Don't worry, though. Renting a timeshare is easier than you think.

The first thing you must figure out is how much to rent your timeshare for. You don't want to undervalue your week, but you don't want to price yourself out of the market either. One of the easiest ways to figure out what your week is worth is to call the resort. Make them believe that you're someone who wants to rent one of their available timeshares and see what price they give you.

You can also ask with the resort or timeshare company to see if they already offer a timeshare rental program. The resort stands to gain by maintaining high occupancy, since this lets them make more money selling food drinks and activities; so they might have a rental program prepared. Find out what they will offer you for renting out your timeshare. If the deal they offer seems unfair, you can go ahead and rent it out yourself.

If you decide to do it yourself, you may have to accept a little less than what the resort would charge; after all, they have an advertising budget and an established client base to draw upon. Your budget is more limited and you may have to take what you can find.

Once you get someone that wants to rent your timeshare, you have to make sure everything is straight on the paperwork end. You need to get a good renter's agreement that spells out everything in writing. You want every possible scenario in writing. Sometimes it's the only recourse you have against a bad renter.

When accepting payment, Paypal is a great tool to use. This way it gives the buyer some sense of security. It makes them feel like they're not mailing money to a nameless P.O. Box somewhere and potentially losing their money. Paypal handles all the receipts and proof of purchase documents. This eliminates a lot of headaches for you.

You'll also want to get your money upfront. This shouldn't be much of an issue with most renters. If it is, you might just want to try and find another renter. With these tips renting your timeshare should be easy.

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