First timer, advice needed!!

[Lumpyloo]

Hi!
I am looking into renting a unit at *** for next summer. One of the listings that I responded to advertised availability for any week, anytime. The owner replied almost instantly saying that she had availability for the 2 weeks I was requesting.

My question is, is it possible for an owner to confirm availability without requesting the dates from DVC or is this likely to be a scam? Is it possible to own a unit year round (have no idea how these things work, so apologies if that's a silly question!?!?)

The reason for my concern is that when I have rented in the past from owners advertising anytime availability, they had to confirm the dates with marriott before entering into the rental agreement with me.

Thanks in advance for any info you can give me :0)

 

[vicki_c]

Only possible if it is 11 months out. Nothing can be booked prior to that. And the owner must be a *** owner to book there at 11 months out.

Sounds suspicious to me unless both of those items are true.

 

[starry_solo]

the owner can also book online via DVC's website (although I've heard that it has its issues) so perhaps she checked on the website for availability?

 

[Lumpyloo]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply to me. So I guess the owner could be genuine and checked availability online...... Although the dates I enquired about were 12 months in advance which possibly makes it more suspicious if availability is only usually 11 months in advance. Thanks for your help.

 

[Chuck S]

DVC Members can only book at 11 months out, whether online or via phone, and ONLY for their home resort. The website will NOT show any availability prior to that, and no reservations can be made prior to the 11 month mark. If the person owns at a different resort, they can book at 7 months or less, giving owners a 4 month exclusive window at their home resort.

While it is extremely likely that what you wish will be available at 11 months, there is absolutely no way to confirm it before then.

 

[Lumpyloo]

Thank you for confirming that Chuck. I think it would suggest that it possibly is a scam as she said in her response that she had checked her availability calendar and those dates were still available, but if no availability calendar is available at this point (12 months in advance) then she is not being honest with me.
Thank you so much for your help everyone- you have stopped me from potentially making a very costly mistake!!

 

[DougEMG]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply to me. So I guess the owner could be genuine and checked availability online...... Although the dates I enquired about were 12 months in advance which possibly makes it more suspicious if availability is only usually 11 months in advance. Thanks for your help.

Bookings can only be made a maximum of 11 months in advance. So no one can make a booking 12 months in advance. The best that they can do is check right at the 11 month mark for you and make the booking them.

Some people have asked me for reservations for F&W for 2013 so they are on a waiting list currently and come 11 months out I will try and make their booking. But I can't promise them anything at this point since their 11 month window hasn't opened yet.

 

[Deb & Bill]

It might have been an RCI member trying to unload an RCI stay as well. If she asked you to pay $$95 when you arrived, run far away. Not permitted by RCI.

 

[Lumpyloo]

Thanks, definitely even more confirmation that I do not send any money to this woman!! It just proves the point that if it looks too good to be true, it is!!!!
So I'll wait another month, which will be 11 months ahead of my arrival date and start the search again!! Thanks again, really appreciate all your help.

 

[DMKEDM]

Unless your dates include New Year's Eve, or AKL concierge (where availability is so limited that even calling right when MS opens carries risk that you won't get what you want), or something that in demand relative to availability, chances are near 100% that there will be availability for dates that are 12 months out--NO ONE can book earlier than 11 months out, so everything is still available 12 months out.

Now, I'm not saying that your person is not a scam artist...especially if she said she checked and confirmed availability! But bottom line is that explaining DVC's booking rules to non-DVC people gets very confusing very quickly...I can see someone just saying 'dates are available' when the dates are a year away...they ARE...because NO ONE can book any earlier than 11 months from the date the vacation starts...

Now, if it had gone further, she would have had to say "I can't book til next month" and you two could have worked out your money arrangements from that...but "dates are available 12 months out" is in fact likely a true, if short-hand, statement--

 

[Lumpyloo]

Thank you for taking the time to respond DMKEDM. I don't know what to think..... I suppose that as long as I proceed with caution, perhaps I shouldn't write her off just yet.

I may get back in touch with her and ask more questions and discuss payment methods. I have read about the escrow method of payment and think that, given my suspicions, I would ask if it would be possible to make the payment using this method, should I decide to go ahead and book. I realise there is a fee for this but I am more than happy to cover the full fee for my peace of mind.

If after that, I still have suspicions, I will trust my gut and walk away. Who knew holidays could be so stressful?!?

Thanks again for your response.

 

[Missyrose]

Thank you for taking the time to respond DMKEDM. I don't know what to think..... I suppose that as long as I proceed with caution, perhaps I shouldn't write her off just yet.

I may get back in touch with her and ask more questions and discuss payment methods. I have read about the escrow method of payment and think that, given my suspicions, I would ask if it would be possible to make the payment using this method, should I decide to go ahead and book. I realise there is a fee for this but I am more than happy to cover the full fee for my peace of mind.

If after that, I still have suspicions, I will trust my gut and walk away. Who knew holidays could be so stressful?!?

Thanks again for your response.

If you want to go the escrow route, you may want to look into using one of the brokers. The broker will keep the money until the reservation is complete then the owner gets paid.

Most individuals who are renting will expect to be paid in full when they make the reservation (especially reservations made in the home-resort priority window).

 

[Chuck S]

I agree, rather than go with an independent escrow, I'd use a broker, like David's (our Rent/Trade Board advertiser). And for a first time renter, it is probably good to go through a broker, as there is much trust involved in an individual rental. Once people are more comfortable with how DVC rentals work, then they are more comfortable with individual rentals.

 

[ELMC]

I'm confused. Is this person you are speaking with about renting even a DVC owner? Because it sounds like you might be dealing with someone who is trying to trade into a week at a DVC resort and then rent it out.

 

[Lumpyloo]

I'm confused. Is this person you are speaking with about renting even a DVC owner? Because it sounds like you might be dealing with someone who is trying to trade into a week at a DVC resort and then rent it out.

Hi ELMC,

As far as I'm aware they are a DVC owner, but I'm not sure. They advertised weeks at a specific DVC resort and I responded about that specific resort. I have seen several listings advertising weeks at this specific resort so I assumed that they were all owners at that resort. Is this not the case? Sorry for the questions but I am totally unfamiliar with DVC rentals.

Thank you to everyone else for your advice regarding the escrow system, sounds like it's definitely the best way to go if I do go ahead with a rental.

 

[disneynutz]

I suggest that you sign on to the DIS and check out the DVC Rent/Trade board. There is a lot of good info in the stickies at the top of the page.

Bill

 

[Lumpyloo]

I suggest that you sign on to the DIS and check out the DVC Rent/Trade board. There is a lot of good info in the stickies at the top of the page.

Bill

Excellent, I'll do that. New to the site so just finding my way around :0)
Thanks for the point in the right direction!! :0)

 

[ELMC]

Hi ELMC,

As far as I'm aware they are a DVC owner, but I'm not sure. They advertised weeks at a specific DVC resort and I responded about that specific resort. I have seen several listings advertising weeks at this specific resort so I assumed that they were all owners at that resort. Is this not the case? Sorry for the questions but I am totally unfamiliar with DVC rentals.

Thank you to everyone else for your advice regarding the escrow system, sounds like it's definitely the best way to go if I do go ahead with a rental.

Ok, so I'm not saying that this person is a scammer and I'm not saying that they're safe to do business with. But here are the two things that make me a little uneasy. First off, typically DVC owners do not rent out weeks. They rent out points that are used to book the specific dates that a renter wants to travel. Secondly, it sounds like they are advertising availability beyond the 11 month window without stating that they won't be able to make a reservation before that time.

As far as how the DVC rental process works, I would read this sticky from right here on the DIS:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2647748

To sum it up, DVC owners that want to rent out extra points will place an ad on the rent/trade board. People looking to rent points will make inquiries about available dates and resorts. Then the owner will make the reservation for the renter and the renter will pay the owner a dollar amount based on the number of points used and the amount they are charging per point.

The same thing happens with a point rental broker (such as Daddio) except the owner and the renter never communicate with each other. The broker acts as an intermediary for both information and payment. For the most part renting from people here on the DIS is a safe bet. But there is an element of risk involved and using a point rental broker can mitigate this risk. The downside (if you can call it that) is that using a point broker can cost $2-3 more per point. It's all about your comfort level and you should do whatever makes you feel the best.

I hope you find this information helpful. Back to your situation, if you feel uneasy about it, then you would be wise to trust your judgement. Where did you see these listings advertised?

 

[Sammie]

I have seen listings similar to this on VRBO, they basically say they have all weeks available which is impossible to state until they have actually checked that specific week either online or by calling member services.

 

[Lumpyloo]

I hope you find this information helpful. Back to your situation, if you feel uneasy about it, then you would be wise to trust your judgement. Where did you see these listings advertised?

Thank you so much for your information, it really has been invaluable. I am now convinced that it is a scam. I found the listing on vacationtimesharerentals. I just did a google search for holiday rentals at the particular resort I was looking for and this site popped up with several listings.

However, having looked at the trade/rent forum on here (didn't realise this existed until a few minutes ago!) it seems a lot safer to arrange a rental this way. Also the prices advertised on the other website are significantly lower (ridiculously low in hindsight!!) which also makes me dubious as I don't see why they would be advertising such low rates if they were genuine owners given the prices they could be achieving for rentals.

Thank you again!!

Disneynutz- you are right, lots of useful info on the stickys!! Thanks!!

Sammie- I think the listings you are referring to are exactly the kind I have responded to. Incidentally, I sent away 4 private messageS to owners enquiring about my dates and all came back to me saying yes, they had those available!?!? Which I now realise is completely impossible. I think I have perhaps stumbled upon a less- reputable sight and should just stick to here!!!!