learning a lesson about renting out points

[dairyou]

Hi,

I'm learning that renting out our points is quite a pain!

Having to call MS so many times a day to find out the people say they want your points and then don't. Wondering if you should rent points to someone who said they are interested and declining someone who is interested to have the first person bow out...

Any encouraging words? I think this is the last time for us!

Deb

 

[CarolMN]

I've always thought renting points to strangers is much more difficult/time consuming than one might assume from reading these boards.

Have read that owners frequently run into people who are mainly interested in having them check availability. Some owners say they first send potential renters their terms and they only check for availability after terms have been agreed upon. Maybe that helps to filter out those who are not really serious or are just looking for a really great bargain.

Good luck - hope everything works out for you.

 

[Muushka]

I feel your pain. I have only rented out points 3 times (probably 175 points in total). I had a fourth person try to rent them, but it did not work out. Strangely, the 3 successful people were not DVC members! The one DVC member who I did not rent to turned out to be the most difficult to work with.

The 3 successful people were very well informed of the process (they did their homework) and had exact dates and room type and property all selected before they attemted renting. All were a pleasure to work with. I remember after the pain DVC person, that I thought I would only do a transfer the next time! But then came along a very nice person! And another great experience. I hope it goes well for you.

 

[DIZNYFAN]

What I do is have the potential renter contact me and let me know how many points they will need and where they want to stay. I tell them my cost per point and if they are fine with it I tell them I have a contract I send it to them and let them read it over if they agree with the contract and the cost per point I proceed if not no extra time is wasted.

 

[DIZNYFAN]

What I do is have the potential renter contact me and let me know how many points they will need and where they want to stay. I tell them my cost per point and if they are fine with it I tell them I have a contract I send it to them and let them read it over if they agree with the contract and the cost per point I proceed if not no extra time is wasted.

 

[DIZNYFAN]

Damn double post sorry everyone

 

[bobbiwoz]

I haven't rented our points, so don't have firsthand knowledge, but I do know that once you establish a relationship with people it will be easier to do it. For many years, I tutored math privately, and there were things that were just a pain in the neck, like when I show up and the student isn't home and someone forgot to call me. However, things like that were less likely to happen the longer I knew the people, and is was from long term clients that most of my new good clients came.

So, I think that if you are successful, the experience and contacts that you do make can be rewarding. So many people post that they do rent, that I'm hoping you are just coming through a bad spell. I think CarolMN's idea about having the ground rules agreed upon would help.

Pixie dust!

Bobbi

PS. It's "funny" about the double posting. When I do word games on the community board, sometimes I try to do another word on a different thread and the computer comes up with "Can't post less than a minute apart." So, I wonder how double posts happen.

 

[wtpclc]

My original intent was to rent out points if we had extra (seeing as I'm easing my DH into this, we likely will). After reading some post about people who donate their points to charity, I think I've found a better way, for us at least.

I'm not an account, nor do I play one on TV, but people have posted that you get a receipt for rack rates for the points if you donate to Make-a-Wish (?). When figuring out the tax refund for that, it looks like you would come out ahead. Maybe you would not make money, like you do renting, but it seems like MUCH less hassle for a good cause. Not to mention, not having to report income to the IRS and pay taxes on that.

Not for everyone, but if renting is too much of a hassle, you may want to consider it.

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by wtpclc
I'm not an account, nor do I play one on TV, but people have posted that you get a receipt for rack rates for the points if you donate to Make-a-Wish (?). When figuring out the tax refund for that, it looks like you would come out ahead. Maybe you would not make money, like you do renting, but it seems like MUCH less hassle for a good cause. Not to mention, not having to report income to the IRS and pay taxes on that.

There have been recent posts (from people much more knowledgable in this area than I am) that timeshare donations to to charity are only tax-deductible if you donate your entire year's point allocation. Donating just a few leftover points from any given year does not qualify you for a tax deduction.

 

[ronw]

here have been recent posts (from people much more knowledgable in this area than I am) that timeshare donations to to charity are only tax-deductible if you donate your entire year's point allocation.

Doesn't sound quite right. Kind of like saying you can't make a tax-deductible cash donation unless you donate all your cash. It might make sense that you have to donate enough points for a whole night's stay but your whole allotment? But then, the tax code can be very strange and convoluted - common sense rarely comes into play.

 

[tjkraz]

Here's the thread I referred to:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=577452&highlight=+donate++charity++tax

Proceed at your own risk.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

I have rented out points a few times and have been frustrated on a number of occasions by those who play one person off of another or are looking to make an amazing deal at $7.00 per point. But for the most part I have met some very nice people who think the same about Disney as my family and me. It is some work though and anyone who did it without a lot of work was very lucky.

I try to read the posts of the people who want to rent from me. That way I get a good feel for what they are like before I rent to them.

HBC

 

[dairyou]

Thank you everyone for their encouraging words.. I knew you guys would understand.

I finally had one person buy 60 of my 148 points. I'm just delighted.

I will definately take everything you all said and apply to the next 88 points up for grabs

Thanks Again Everyone!

Deb

 

[Dean]

Fisrt, donating points is not tax deductible unless you donate the actual deed/ownership. When I do rent I just refuse to contact MS until everything else is set. When omeone that is just checking, I will give them a qualified answer with prices and likely availability. I refuse to call MS until I'm ready to make the reservations. Anything else is not fair to me or MS.