Anyone Make Money Renting out Timeshares?

[vhoffman]

We've sat through many a timeshare pitch to get the freebies, but never bought any (showed them ). But I've been looking at the secondary market for ts for quite some time. Seems they go for pennies on the dollar. I've seen some as low as $3000, in Orlando! I was wondering about buying ts to rent out for a positive cash flow, of course!

Well, its just an idea, has anyone actually done so? What has been your experiences? Seems to me that a ts purchased at the right price in a desirable area could be rented out for a good cash flow. Of course, one needs to tread carefully, that's why I'm just considering! Any advice appreciated!

 

[MrsPete]

I think I'd be wary of the ones that can be purchased for as little as $3000. They're bound to be either off-season or older properties, and either of those things would hurt your rental prospects. I'd want to see the property in person before I'd shell out any money.

 

[PiRSquared]

I bought a resale in Orlando for $2500. It is a Gold Crowne and it trades well. We use it every other year for our Disney trip. We have never tried to rent it, but $3000 in the Orlando doesn't mean it is a bad resort. Be careful, though, because there are some that aren't that nice. Any Gold Crowne should be fine. I wouldn't buy one to rent out myself. Not sure if you could cover everything. Our yearly fee is usually around $600 which is great for a week, but this year it is going up by $50 or so. Not sure if you could rent it for that when people have complete houses for rent for that.

 

[welovedisneyx4]

I'll sell you my Westgate Condo for a bargin!!! Ours is at the Villas, a 2 bedroom unit, 1 mile from DW and very nice (5 star w/ II), I would seriously consider selling it for $3000.00 (maybe even less), so you can get good properties for that amount of $.

We have rented ours out to cover the maintainance costs as well as to use the $ towards other trips. We got sucked into buying one on our honeymoon, (they used the rental part as a selling tool).

Some years we have luck w/ renting it and other times we don't. We got screwed (hope I can say that) this year when we reserved a week for DH's co-worker and then they backed out. Luckily, they had covered the exchange fee (and there is no way I would have given that back), but they still owed us the 500.00 or 600.00 more we were charging for the rent. We have decided from now on we will get at least 1/2 down as a non-refundable deposit.

 

[ziggy14]

If you buy a timeshare that trades with II you may get very lucky and exchange it for a week at one of the DVC resorts. II has a program where if you travel within 59 days the exchanges are not based on trading power. I don't want to sound negative but I don't think you would be able to pull a DVC resort with a weak trader.

Mayby someone else can explaine this a litter better.

 

[salmoneous]

I think you should post this question over on the DVC boards - they'll give you tons of "helpful" advice Note - that's a joke, you probably don't want to post a question on a DVC board about renting timeshares for profit as it's a touchy subject with some.

Call me a skeptic, but if a timeshare could be rented out for positive cash flow over maintenance costs they wouldn't sell for cheap.

 

[magiroux]

If you were able to make any extra income, I would doubt it would be very much.

If you were to purchase a top rated week (easily rented) you will pay much more than $3000, IMO. Also, if you were to buy in a top quality Gold Crown resort your yearly fees will also be much more than an average resort. Your profit, if any, would be very small...again, JMHO.

Also, you need to contend with all the on-line auction sites that rent out dirt cheap weeks in overbuilt Orlando. Lots of competition to contend with. Personally, I would tend to go with a reputable on-line site (such as Skyauction) as opposed to renting the same exact thing from a stranger on-line.

Now, if you were looking to do them same thing in a different part of the country that is less overbuilt therfor more demand vs. supply, you might fair better.

 

[canwegosoon]

I rent my home in Cape Cod (not a timeshare, but I wanted to give you my experience) and the only way I come even close is because of the tax deduction. I rent it for 850 a week there are 10 weeks in the "season". I am lucky if I rent 6- this year I rented 4 weeks. Then plus all the extra exp.: cleaner, utilities, cable, phone, landscaping, water etc. On top of that my mortage is 1300 a month inc taxes/insurance. Sometimes it feels like a noose.

The Timeshare, if you not already have a 2nd home (or business-if you are strictly going to rent) should be eligible for a tax deduction, but it will be very very small. Then add to the costs of your timeshare, your maitenance costs, plus actual other costs, and everything else...I would say no, if you are strictly planning on using it as a rental. But if it was something you would enjoy and use, or trade to use else where(with occasional renting)...I would say then look at the numbers.

 

[vhoffman]

just an idea......................I'm quite familiar with the headaches involved with rental properties. We were upside down on a mortgage on our first home (owed more than we could sell it for), so we rented it for about 4 years. Finally we were able to sell it for just enough to cover the mortgage, and we paid the commission. We brought about $6000 to closing, and felt it was a great investment just to get that monkey off our backs! We even rented it for less than our expenses, because that was all the market would bear, and something was better than nothing!

Well, I just got the idea of buying timeshares as investment because there's not the maintaince hassle. However, the cash flow probably wouldn't be positive. Having been on the other side, renting a timeshare for a vacation, I've seen many being rented for dirt cheap thereby forcing the price of comprables way down. Oh, well, just an idea........

 

[MrsPete]

I rent my home in Cape Cod (not a timeshare, but I wanted to give you my experience) and the only way I come even close is because of the tax deduction. I rent it for 850 a week there are 10 weeks in the "season". I am lucky if I rent 6- this year I rented 4 weeks. Then plus all the extra exp.: cleaner, utilities, cable, phone, landscaping, water etc. On top of that my mortage is 1300 a month inc taxes/insurance. Sometimes it feels like a noose.

I do believe that you could "break even" by renting it on the years you don't want to use it -- but that's a far cry from making money.