First time renting advice

[dx4100]

We are looking to rent points for the first time. We want to stay at resort A for 1 week and resort B for the next week during the summer. (details left out so I don't break rules)

Having never done this before I was wondering how likely I am to be successful at securing what I want at the 11 month mark ?

I am planning on using a broker rather than renting via a forum just for the added protections against fraud. Would anyone recommend one broker over another?

I was looking at a few of the most popular websites but I have no clue if one has more on offer than another.

Looking at submitting a request 12 months out ready for the 11 month window.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The key at the 11 month mark is both what you want, and the availability of an owner with points to work with you. Via brokers, it's rare to be booking at exactly 11 months. Even if you submit 12 months out, owners aren't waking up to book at 7:59 when working with brokers, and brokers send out lists of what's available to book and owners pick and choose - it really isn't first come, first served.

Do not expect to get AKV Value, AKV Club, or BWV Standard as a renter, especially working with brokers.

 

[RoseGold]

Depends on "what you want" is. The most popular rooms are incredibly difficult to book. Usually that's the cheapest, but also includes some rare, high point rooms like club level or BLT 1BR or VGF1 studios. If you want something reasonable, like Poly or AK savanna view, then the problem will be getting that amount of points from one owner. A week is a long time, and that's a lot of points.

There are a lot of brokers and a lot of horror stories all around. You have to decide what you are comfortable with. Honestly, this is the kind of request a broker might just not be able to fill, because it's so many points. and it's not like you are going to know this until after the 11 month mark.

 

[dx4100]

Thanks for this. Useful to know.

So your recommendation would be to look at finding someone on a forum rather than a broker 11 months out ?

 

[RoseGold]

Thanks for this. Useful to know.

So your recommendation would be to look at finding someone on a forum rather than a broker 11 months out ?

Hard to say. There's no way to know if the broker (1) has the points or (2) is willing to do the 11 month thing for you. Lots of people just don't rent points that far out.

If you need that kind of service, you may be able to get it on the boards. But, renting from an individual obviously carries risk. You have to decide if that is worth it to you.

 

[dx4100]

I follow...

So if you want to rent DVC its a better expectation to pick up smaller stays (say 3 to 5 days) closer to date you want to travel ?

 

[RoseGold]

You talk to a broker and see what they can do. Maybe they can only fill this at AK and you want BW.

If you want a room that can be booked at 7 months, and there are many, this becomes a lot easier for the broker, because they generally have a lot of SAP.

There's a big difference between wanting a unicorn BC studio or a Poly studio, hundreds of those. We don't know what you are trying to book or if your expectations are reasonable.

 

[wnielsen1]

I will add that summer is generally the easiest time to book, with a few exceptions that were mentioned earlier in the thread.

 

[drusba]

You should assume that your two two one-week requests will require renting from two different members even if you go through a broker. Without knowing type of rooms, resorts and at least the approximate time periods you want, the best anyone can say is that your probability of getting what you want through a broker ranges anywhere from highly unlikely to highly probable depending on what you want. Example, if what you want is a BWV boardwalk view studio for the first week of Dec and a BLT standard view studio for the second week of Dec, then most of us could conclude your chances are next to zero. On the other hand, if what you want is an SSR studio for third week of July and a Kidani studio for fourth week of July, then many of us may conclude your chances are probably close to 100%, whether going through a broker or trying to went directly online from owners.

Another example, you do mention summer but you do not say when or what. If what you want is time in July after July 6, you would be seeking a reservation for one of the lowest DVC demand times of the year, giving you a better chance than other times. But even so BWV standard view studios and 2BRs, BLT standard view studios and 2BRs, AKV value and club level rooms, and CCV studios would likely be hard to get, while studios at SSR, OKW, AKV Kidani, and Poly would have a high probability since those are likely to still be available even at 7-months out and thus there will be plenty of time to find someone willing to rent.

 

[Best Aunt]

Are you trying to book something which you think must be done exactly 11 months out? As PP said, you're not likely to get an extremely hard to book reservation through an agency.

On the other hand, if you are just trying to book as far out as possible so that you are more likely to get what you want, then it might work through an agency. Maybe there will be an owner with points to rent out, maybe not. If it's more than 7 months out, it has to be booked by an owner who has that particular resort as the home resort on their contract(s); that narrows the pool of potential owners who will give you what you want.

The number of points required for the reservation varies depending on time of year, resort, and size of unit. If what you want requires a lot of points, then you're looking for "Owner with X as home resort, who has more than n points, and who wants to rent out their points." So you're narrowing it even further. Some owners will rent out their points, but they don't have a massive amount of points.

Some owners only rent out their points some of the time. At 11 months out, I might not know if I want to use the points myself. Maybe at 9 months out I might know. Maybe at 7 months out I might know.

 

[RoseGold]

Are you trying to book something which you think must be done exactly 11 months out? As PP said, you're not likely to get an extremely hard to book reservation through an agency.

Well, you are likely to get them. But they're sold as confirmed reservations at much higher rates. And they're not booked for a whole week.

 

[nw6675]

We have rented often and have used David's, the Rental Store, and three different board members. My preference now are long standing board members first. Then David's with the Rental Store last.

We've had the best luck securing through a board member. For example a 1BR VGF for late Nov/early Dec at 11 months. If I use an agency 99% of the time I choose a confirmed reservation because they can't get my longer 1 or 2 br requests.

 

[dx4100]

I would like to thank you all for your replies. They have all been very useful and have given me the answers I was looking for. Thanks.

Sorry about my post being a little vague. I did a more detailed post but it violated some of the rules so I had to repost it in a more generic, less descriptive manner. Mentioning dates / resorts looks more like a request so I had to reword it.