How difficult is it to rent out your points?

[toniosmom]

Just "wonder"ing -- How easy is it REALLY to rent out your points???

Anyone with any horror stories?

 

[Deb & Bill]

It probably much easier to make a reservation for a friend or family member than to make one for a complete stranger.

 

[CarolMN]

Most horror stories happen because one or both parties have no idea what they are doing and/or failed to clearly communicate ahead of time the consequences of a cancellation or change request.

I do not recommend a member rent points until he or she thoroughly understands how DVC works. At a minimum, the owner should understand banking, borrowing, the various cancellation deadlines and holding account restrictions, as well as how DVC works with regard to Magical Express and the Dining Plans.

Owners need to have a clear cancellation/change policy and should make sure their customer understands it. A clear written agreement is a good way to do that. Owners should also be prepared to give the customer their personal contact info and to send time answering questions.

IMO, a knowledgeable owner has less risk than his/her customer, since the owner controls the reservation until check in and can cancel it at any time. That said, the owner is responsible for the customer's use and Disney may choose to hold the owner accountable if the unit is damaged or fails to pay the room charges. (A small risk, but still there, nevertheless).

 

[toniosmom]

I agree with you wholeheartedly that both sides must be knowledgeable about how points work.

However, I guess my question should be worded -- how easy is it to FIND SOMEONE who WANTS to rent your points. I'm not so much concerned about the process as I am in the possibility of finding a qualified renter.

FYI, I do not plan to rent my points on a regular basis. But, I am planning to do a cruise in 2011 and after reading a lot of posts on this board, I am starting to think that renting my points and paying cash for the cruise might be the way to go.

 

[jekjones1558]

Most horror stories happen because one or both parties have no idea what they are doing and/or failed to clearly communicate ahead of time the consequences of a cancellation or change request.

I do not recommend a member rent points until he or she thoroughly understands how DVC works. At a minimum, the owner should understand banking, borrowing, the various cancellation deadlines and holding account restrictions, as well as how DVC works with regard to Magical Express and the Dining Plans.

Owners need to have a clear cancellation/change policy and should make sure their customer understands it. A clear written agreement is a good way to do that. Owners should also be prepared to give the customer their personal contact info and to send time answering questions.

IMO, a knowledgeable owner has less risk than his/her customer, since the owner controls the reservation until check in and can cancel it at any time. That said, the owner is responsible for the customer's use and Disney may choose to hold the owner accountable if the unit is damaged or fails to pay the room charges. (A small risk, but still there, nevertheless).

This is a great summary, Carol, and should be in a sticky somewhere.

 

[CarolMN]

This is a great summary, Carol, and should be in a sticky somewhere.

Thanks, Jean.

I agree with you wholeheartedly that both sides must be knowledgeable about how points work.

However, I guess my question should be worded -- how easy is it to FIND SOMEONE who WANTS to rent your points. I'm not so much concerned about the process as I am in the possibility of finding a qualified renter.

FYI, I do not plan to rent my points on a regular basis. But, I am planning to do a cruise in 2011 and after reading a lot of posts on this board, I am starting to think that renting my points and paying cash for the cruise might be the way to go.

IMO, finding a renter is the hardest part of the whole deal, especially in the current environment. Probably best to start with family, friends, co-workers or neighbors - maybe place an ad in a local community paper or church bulletin.

Based on my recent observations monitoring the DIS Rent/Trade Board, there are a lot of points out there available for rent. Not too many requests for reservations and many of those are either asking for sold out times/resorts or only want to pay $8 per point. Feel free to read some of the threads there for yourself.

It can be very difficult to compete with Disney when they are offering "free" dining and other significant discounts.

My impression is that those who successfully get $11 & up per point either have established repeat customers or they don't use the DIS to find renters.

All that said, many members do rent points successfully and report few or no problems finding people who want to rent their points. It will be interesting to see what others say about their recent renting experiences.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

I am currently renting points and I will tell you what I have noticed; my points are for 2010, so I am in the 11-8 month booking timeframe. Theoretically, one should be able to ask on the upper end of the rental price range during this time period. From 7 mos. on, points are points, and that presents a whole other renting scenario. Ok, so back to my renting issues. My competition are those that are renting at very discounted rates due to developer points, distressed points, those who have bought recent SSR/OKW, or other resorts at rock bottom prices and are now turning them around to rent, and spec. renters. While this is going on, it will be incredibily hard to get a fair and reasonable price. Again as Carol said, unless you have repeat customers, all the rental screening people are doing is looking at who will sell them the cheapest points, and for the most part, don't care where they stay. Luckily, if I don't sell, I can bank. And I don't forsee that I will have to rent too much in the near future. It does happen from time to time, so my advice is to be patient.

 

[Brian Noble]

I guess my question should be worded -- how easy is it to FIND SOMEONE who WANTS to rent your points.

In large part, this depends on your asking price. If you are at or near the bottom of the range, it's pretty easy. If you are higher than average, you have to be offering something other than "just points"---a high-demand resort at the 11-month window, etc.

 

[JLitfin]

I just rented my DVC points for the same reason, we decided to take a cruise and decided to turn our DVC points into cash. I own BCV points and started looking for a renter at the 11 month period asking $11 a point didn't have any problem renting. Now on the other hand we purchased at BLT and were given some developer points which we couldn't use, it took a lot longer to rent those points, I was asking $9 a point in order to rent them since I wasn't getting any bites. So I think it depends on where you own and renting early is very important, start looking for a renter at 11 - 12 months out. Good Luck!!

 

[Eyore4Ever149]

I have rented to 2 seperate parties.

I posted a for rent ad here on the DIS and on TourGuideMike

I had someone nice here who sent me a contract to use when I posted and asked.
I was very clear in my ad on what I wanted for points, my deposit policy, etc.

I got a LOT of PMs asking me to check if dates were available, I own at OKW and it seemed EVERYONE wanted me to ask for BCV or BWV-
at first I didnt mind, but I lost count of how many phone calls I made to DVC.
Then there was the issue of they would get me to check, the dates would be available and then they would change their mind and not go thru with it.
Both my renters came from TGM in the end and both were terrific.
They were both happy to stay at OKW and it worked out great.
I did have a lot of people who wanted free dining AND renting DVC. I came up with a canned email on info for renters.
Be aware that it takes almost 10 minutes to check on availability. Check ALL the resorts for the dates they want and possibly other rooms- if they ask for a studio- check 1 bd rooms too.

Recently I tried to rent points- but I had a small amount (65) and didnt get any hits at all.

I also would suggest asking your first renters if they will offer a reference after their stay is complete.

 

[Inkmahm]

I have rented to 2 seperate parties.

I posted a for rent ad here on the DIS and on TourGuideMike

I had someone nice here who sent me a contract to use when I posted and asked.
I was very clear in my ad on what I wanted for points, my deposit policy, etc.

I got a LOT of PMs asking me to check if dates were available, I own at OKW and it seemed EVERYONE wanted me to ask for BCV or BWV-
at first I didnt mind, but I lost count of how many phone calls I made to DVC.
Then there was the issue of they would get me to check, the dates would be available and then they would change their mind and not go thru with it.
Both my renters came from TGM in the end and both were terrific.
They were both happy to stay at OKW and it worked out great.
I did have a lot of people who wanted free dining AND renting DVC. I came up with a canned email on info for renters.
Be aware that it takes almost 10 minutes to check on availability. Check ALL the resorts for the dates they want and possibly other rooms- if they ask for a studio- check 1 bd rooms too.

Recently I tried to rent points- but I had a small amount (65) and didnt get any hits at all.

I also would suggest asking your first renters if they will offer a reference after their stay is complete.

What you described is why I find it easier to NOT rent to non-DVC members and instead transfer points to fellow members who need them. I check the rent/trade board for someone looking for the points that I have and then contact them. Takes one phone call to MS to do the transfer and I'm done.

I do the same in reverse if I find I am short points and need to get more for a large family reunion. It is easy to find points on the rent/trade board as long as you start looking far in advance so that you have time to find something close to what you want.