Renting 101

[TAS]

I HOPE I'M AT THE RIGHT BOARD. I NEED HELP IN A FEW DETAILS BEFORE I JUMP INTO THE RENTING ARENA. CRUELLADIVILLE...WHERE ARE YOU? I'VE READ YOUR POSTINGS...YOU'RE A RENTING GURU FOR ME!

OK....I HAVE 400 POINTS AT HOME RESORT SARATOGA (SSR FOR YOU SAAVIER THAN ME POSTERS). MY LISTING YEAR IS APRIL TO MARCH.

I LOOKED ON THE RENTING BOARD AND IT SEEMS TO ME THAT WHEN I LIST MY POINTS PEOPLE WILL CONTACT ME AND I TRY TO GET THERE RESERVATIONS FOR THEM. IS THAT CORRECT. MY QUESTION IS THAT IF YOU'VE DEALT WITH MEMBER SERVICE ENOUGH YOU KNOW THAT IT CAN CHANGE ON A DIME.... ALL THESE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE RESERVING. A ROOM CAN BE AVAIL ONE MINUTE AND GONE THE NEXT. SO I CALL MEMBER SERVICES AND TAKE THE RES??? THEN CONTACT THE INQUIRING PERSON AND GET DOWN PAYMENT? IF I DON'T GET DOWNPAYMENT WITHIN SAY....48 HOURS...THEN CANCEL RES?????

I SET UP PAYPAL SO I FEEL IT'S A BIT SAFER FOR THE RENTER TO FEEL LIKE THEY CAN DO BUSINESS WITH ME.

SHOULD I BE PIECEMEALING OUT MY POINTS AS I CAN? OF COURSE I'D PREFER TO DO FEWER RESERVATIONS SO SHOULD I ONLY SELL OFF A MINIMUM AMOUNT AT A TIME?

THANKS TO ANY OR ALL OF YOU TAKING YOUR TIME TO WALK ME THROUGH THIS. I'M ABOUT 4 YEARS INTO DVC AND STILL LEARNING. I'VE BANKED, I'VE DONE INTERVAL INTERNATIONAL ETC....BUT EVERY YEAR WHEN IT'S TIME TO DEAL WITH MY POINTS AGAIN I'M A NEWBIE ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

I WOULD LOVE ANY AND ALL ADVICE YOU HAVE PRIOR TO ME LISING MY POINTS. SHOULD I PUT THEM AVAILABLE AS SOON AS I CAN? DON'T WANT THEM TOO SOON.

I'VE READ THE RENTING PRIMERS AND TRIED TO SELF EDUCATE....BUT I FEEL LIKE I NEED SOME BASICS. IT LOOKS LIKE I'LL BE ANSWERING ALOT OF REQUESTS TO SET UP OTHERS RESERVATIONS AND I FEEL A BIG OBLIGATION TO DO IT RIGHT. ALSO, WITH 400 POINTS I DON'T WANT TO SET UP 20 RESSIES FOR 20 POINTS EACH.

OK....THANKS AGAIN! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!

 

[CarolMN]

I HOPE I'M AT THE RIGHT BOARD. I NEED HELP IN A FEW DETAILS BEFORE I JUMP INTO THE RENTING ARENA. CRUELLADIVILLE...WHERE ARE YOU? I'VE READ YOUR POSTINGS...YOU'RE A RENTING GURU FOR ME!

OK....I HAVE 400 POINTS AT HOME RESORT SARATOGA (SSR FOR YOU SAAVIER THAN ME POSTERS). MY LISTING YEAR IS APRIL TO MARCH.

I LOOKED ON THE RENTING BOARD AND IT SEEMS TO ME THAT WHEN I LIST MY POINTS PEOPLE WILL CONTACT ME AND I TRY TO GET THERE RESERVATIONS FOR THEM. IS THAT CORRECT.

Yes. You will actually be renting a reservation.

MY QUESTION IS THAT IF YOU'VE DEALT WITH MEMBER SERVICE ENOUGH YOU KNOW THAT IT CAN CHANGE ON A DIME.... ALL THESE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE RESERVING. A ROOM CAN BE AVAIL ONE MINUTE AND GONE THE NEXT. SO I CALL MEMBER SERVICES AND TAKE THE RES??? THEN CONTACT THE INQUIRING PERSON AND GET DOWN PAYMENT? IF I DON'T GET DOWNPAYMENT WITHIN SAY....48 HOURS...THEN CANCEL RES?????

That will work - it's really up to you. If you do it that way, you may end up calling MS lots of times and making and cancelling lots of reservations. The more experienced owners will not call MS until their renter has agreed to their terms - most have some type of contract/agreement that they send to the renter to be sure both sides understand what will happen. Some will not call for the reservation until they have a deposit in hand. There are some "high maintenance" people out there who will shop around, cancel on you and mostly use you to check availability. If you have a deposit and a "no refunds" policy, your chances of dealing with one of them will be less.

I SET UP PAYPAL SO I FEEL IT'S A BIT SAFER FOR THE RENTER TO FEEL LIKE THEY CAN DO BUSINESS WITH ME.

SHOULD I BE PIECEMEALING OUT MY POINTS AS I CAN? OF COURSE I'D PREFER TO DO FEWER RESERVATIONS SO SHOULD I ONLY SELL OFF A MINIMUM AMOUNT AT A TIME?

That's really up to you - how much time and effort do you want to put into the process? Obviously, the fewer reservations, the less the time and effort required.

The easiest thing to do is to find another DVC member who is looking for points. You can agree on a price and then just transfer your points to that member's account. After you have an agreement, one call to MS and you're done. But you can only transfer current use year points. Banked and Borrowed points cannot be transferred in that way - you have to make a reservation with those and rent the reservation.

THANKS TO ANY OR ALL OF YOU TAKING YOUR TIME TO WALK ME THROUGH THIS. I'M ABOUT 4 YEARS INTO DVC AND STILL LEARNING. I'VE BANKED, I'VE DONE INTERVAL INTERNATIONAL ETC....BUT EVERY YEAR WHEN IT'S TIME TO DEAL WITH MY POINTS AGAIN I'M A NEWBIE ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

I WOULD LOVE ANY AND ALL ADVICE YOU HAVE PRIOR TO ME LISING MY POINTS. SHOULD I PUT THEM AVAILABLE AS SOON AS I CAN? DON'T WANT THEM TOO SOON.

It's better to rent early in your use year - if something goes wrong, you (or the renter) will have longer to find a solution. Again, most owners consider renting non-refundable. People who want the ability to cancel without penalties (or limited penalties) should go through CRO/WDWTC.

I'VE READ THE RENTING PRIMERS AND TRIED TO SELF EDUCATE....BUT I FEEL LIKE I NEED SOME BASICS. IT LOOKS LIKE I'LL BE ANSWERING ALOT OF REQUESTS TO SET UP OTHERS RESERVATIONS AND I FEEL A BIG OBLIGATION TO DO IT RIGHT. ALSO, WITH 400 POINTS I DON'T WANT TO SET UP 20 RESSIES FOR 20 POINTS EACH.

OK....THANKS AGAIN! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!

Hope I helped some.

Above is my opinion - others may have different opinions. FWIW, I've not yet had to rent out any points - we only have enough for our own needs. From reading the forums all these years, most renting problems arise when one or both parties are inexperienced and/or not very knowledgeable about DVC reservation rules and policies. Good for you for trying to make sure you know what you need to know.