How tough is it to rent out points?

[Fargoman2]

I can envision scenarios where we will not always be able to efficiently exhaust all of our points for a Use Year on certain occasions. I.e. there are likely to be times when we have a few "extra" points we might have to eat unused if we don't unload them.

How tough/complicated is it to rent out those points before they expire--or can you?

 

[irazabul]

I've rented points for three years before I owned. There seems to be plenty of those available.

Then, I bought 2 years ago and got a bunch of banked points that I rented out. There seemed to be plenty of potential interested renters.

Its a bit of a hassle, since you pretty much are a travel agent, finding availability, being the middle person between DVC and renter, formalizing contracts, collecting money, etc. All in all tho, if you only had to do it once every few years, its not too bad.

 

[bangzoom6877]

I can envision scenarios where we will not always be able to efficiently exhaust all of our points for a Use Year on certain occasions. I.e. there are likely to be times when we have a few "extra" points we might have to eat unused if we don't unload them.

How tough/complicated is it to rent out those points before they expire--or can you?

We have considered this as well, and did not like the idea of having to eat even a few points. But we figured out that between the ability to bank and borrow, we would not have to eat any points. In fact, in playing with some different scenarios based on points at BWV (where we are buying a resale), sometimes we figured we may just stay 11 nights instead of 10 and treat ourselves to the extra night. I would certainly rather enjoy another night of vacation than eat points!!

That said, we have also considered the possibility of renting out occasionally. And I do mean only occasionally, IF we had to. We know this option does exist. We may have to use it, maybe once or twice over the life of being DVC owners. But all in all, we are buying with plans to enjoy our points at our home DVC resort which is why we chose BWV. It is the right location for us between everything to do there and the ability to walk to 2 theme parks, and it is a beautiful resort we could see ourselves returning to over and over again. That's it, period. And only buying the amount of points we know we need for our family vacation habits.

 

[dianeschlicht]

In 11 years, we have not had to "eat" points. The banking and borrowing scenario works well for us. Maybe you need to look closely at your expected usage andbuy more exactly the number of points you think you will want. For example, if you know yo want to stay in a 2 bedroom Savanna View at AKV the first week of December, you can look at the charts and see that reservation takes 270 points. Then if you want to do that EVERY year, you buy that number of points. If you want to do that every other year, you buy half that number of points (or as close to half as you can come). Then by banking and borrowing, you will have the "right" number of points.

Of course, all of this is hypothetical, since we all know that once you become a member one trip every other year just isn't enough! That's when you can choose to do some adding on if you wish.

 

[chris1gill]

For more than a few years we had extra points to rent out (we had several contracts), however our vacation plans have changed, I got tired of renting year in and out and finally sold the contracts that were extra... Nothing against DVC but we just weren't using it adequately and renting it year after year was a bit of a bother.

 

[tjkraz]

The problem I see is that I don't know how much of a market exists for "few "extra" points." Most renters seem to be folks who are looking for multi-day vacations. Five nights in a Studio will set you back at least 50-70 points most of the year. Are you looking to rent that many, or are we talking 10-20 points? If the latter, you could have difficulties finding a buyer.

I'm sure there are members who need to add a few extra points at times so it won't be impossible...just more difficult renting a small number.

Carefully consider how many to buy. As other said, most owners use the banking and borrowing rules to help adjust for inconsistent usage from one year to the next.

 

[jerseygal]

Can I "rent" the other 30? The other option would be by the eighth month of the contract, I would have to decide to "bank" the 30, correct?

Thank you kindly............

 

[tjkraz]

Can I "rent" the other 30? The other option would be by the eighth month of the contract, I would have to decide to "bank" the 30, correct?

Thank you kindly............

You can try but again I think the biggest hurdle will be finding a taker. You couldn't get more than 2-3 nights in a Studio with 30 points. I'm not sure how many non-member point renters are looking to book a trip of 3 nights or less.

Most members in that position would simply bank the points. That gives you 230 to use the next year. With those extra points you can stay during a higher-priced season, get a higher-priced room class, add a day to your trip or you could just bank more points into the NEXT year.

 

[Blahnde]

In your example, while I would definitely suggest banking the 30 points if you are still able to do so AND you think you will use them, I have had several rentals for smaller point amounts. I have rented as few as 11 points on 4 separate occasions. True, most posters want 5+ days, but there are plenty that only need/want a day or two. Some people need to add to an existing reservation and are short; some just want a night or two before or after a cruise; some just want to try DVC villas at a discount; some are local and just want an inexpensive way to have a short, but nice, getaway.

And while most of the above posts have talked about planning and banking/borrowing, to answer your actual question, renting is not that difficult. My greatest piece of advice is to educate yourself about the DVC program so that you know what you can and cannot do for a renter. So many problems between owners and renters seem to stem from promises made that cannot be kept. I feel the burden is on the owner to understand what they are renting and to control the transaction. Additionally, I suggest that you read the stickies at the top of the Rent/Trade board so you better understand things like contracts, payment terms, and know this board's (and any other board's) policies regarding post content.

Do not be afraid of renting, but do try to be respectful of the process!

Blahnde