Thoughts on Renting Out Points

[airjay75]

Ok, someone tell me I'm looking at this wrong or give me some thoughts or suggestions. I'm a new DVC owner - after my next resale contract closes, I'm going to have a really nice amount of points (950). I'm using all of them next year and probably even borrowing some. For my October 2026 UY, I'd like to rent some points (probably close to 500 of them) to fund a Disney Cruise for my family. Of course, exchanging directly through Disney is easy, but not a very good deal. That has led me to do a lot of thinking about the best way to rent out my points. I've looked a lot at and dvcrentalstore.com and dvcrequest.com and a few others, but mostly those two. I've thought a lot if I want to try to rent them out on my own, how I'd draft the contract, what my payment and cancellation policies would be, and where I might post my points for rent. And, of course, I've joined plenty of Facebook groups where you start to see how a lot of people list their points/reservations for rent.

I keep coming back to the same conclusion - the quickest, easiest, and most profitable way to rent out the points is to book confirmed reservations that cost as little points as possible (resort view studios if you can get them). If you can get them in December, that's probably the most profitable time - a month where the DVC savings is at a maximum and there is lots of demand. Then either list those for rent somewhere myself or, if I want to make things a bit easier (and probably get a little less money), go to dvcrentalstore.com, and list them where you can request you get paid $20/point (haven't been able to figure out how much dvcrequest.com will let you list confirmed reservations for).

I don't really like this - I'd rather be able to make custom reservations for people at their request. Feels like it is better for the renter and better for the system overall - why should I be trying to take up all sorts of December availability for rooms I'd probably never book myself? But, the most you can get going through the two major brokers is $18/point for custom request reservations. And, by the time a custom request comes through for a December reservation, the rooms are probably gone. Sure, I can list the points and do the legwork to rent them out myself, but that will likely take a lot more time and effort, but maybe I'm overestimating that and/or underestimating how easy it is to book cheaper rooms at a time like December. But, it almost seems like the way this ecosystem currently works, it encourages you to book up the cheaper rooms and rent them out as confirmed reservations.

Welcome any thoughts from other owners on how they approach renting their points. Feel free to tell me I'm wrong or why renting them out on my own isn't really that much more difficult. I'd also really be interested in how people who have rented out on their own have approached payment and/or cancellation policies. I keep going back and forth on whether I'd require all payment up front or something like 50% up front and 50% due 60 days before the reservation. If someone needs to cancel, I think giving them the ability to rebook using the same amount points for another time in your UY (if there is availability) seems like it would be a good thing to offer too.

 

[pzw90]

Consider canceling current resale contract, free up that cash and not have to worry about renting out points?

 

[airjay75]

Consider canceling current resale contract, free up that cash and not have to worry about renting out points?

Well, that wouldn’t be any fun . But, I take your point, and it’s not a bad one. I do want the points to actually use them over the long-term.

 

[Brian Noble]

the quickest, easiest, and most profitable way to rent out the points is to book confirmed reservations that cost as little points as possible

I don't really like this - I'd rather be able to make custom reservations for people at their request. Feels like it is better for the renter and better for the system overall

I think both of these observations are true. So, you'll have to decide how you want to navigate this.

I do think @pwz90 has a point, though I don't think you need to cancel the contract. Instead: Just because the name "Disney" is on the side of the ship, that doesn't mean you need to use DVC points to pay for a cruise. Use the points, and go one the cruise. If that's not something you can do right now, no problem! The cruises are always going to be there, and you might be just as happy getting to know and explore the various possible DVC stays.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Once I realized I had enough points (not close to your number) I was going to have to rent regularly, and Disney was starting to frown on that more, I decided I would downsize. Buying a first direct contract instead, and I think it’s going to be very close to a wash with out of pocket costs after sale of my other contracts.

Is this a one off where you will have so many extra points? Or do you anticipate renting more frequently? I think renting can be an ok prospect for owners occasionally. But it’s fraught with risk and not a great long term plan, plus it isn’t especially lucrative compared to the risk level.

If you have too many points overall, don’t complete this recent purchase, as mentioned above.

 

[pzw90]

Well, that wouldn’t be any fun . But, I take your point, and it’s not a bad one. I do want the points to actually use them over the long-term.

Just giving you another option to look at.

Contracts will always come up for sale, deals will always be there if you are patient.

Just seems like you are trying to make your life more difficult than it needs to be. What if you can’t rent them for what you need? Do you really want to make all the for rent posts and chase dead ends? Want to chase people for payment? Still need to pay dues and taxes, so your 500 point rental nets you $10 a point.

Plus the general negative view on confirmed rentals. You are actively planning to do it instead of something coming and you can’t use a current reservation. Sounds like commercial activity, and I can a point you at a long and locked thread.

 

[airjay75]

I am comfortable with the amount of points I’m buying. I am not planning to regularly or frequently rent them out (and I’ve paid a fair amount of attention to the commercial renting threads).

I have lots of other future plans for using them and regular renting is not a part of that plan. I do think it is a nice benefit of the current DVC market for owners to occasionally rent their points, and I was thinking about this even before my current pending purchase. Really, my mind has gone this way simply because of the poor exchange rate on Disney cruises direct through Disney.

But, I do take the point that I could easily wait to buy the resale points and put that cash to work differently in the meantime. It’s not bad advice. I’m not likely to take it at the moment , but I appreciate the perspective.

 

[airjay75]

I think both of these observations are true. So, you'll have to decide how you want to navigate this.

And I think this is really the core of what I’m trying to get my head around with my opening post and interested in hearing from others on how they have navigated this. If nothing else, appreciate the confirmation that I think I’m understanding the core issues/questions here.

 

[Brian Noble]

interested in hearing from others on how they have navigated this

Fair. Here's how I think of it.

The reason I bought points was to use them to take vacations at DVC resorts. That's what I plan to do with them. That's not my only vacation each year. They cover one "big" annual get-out-of-winter trip in the late winter/early spring, plus maybe a long weekend here and there.

I also expect to take one or two other non-trivial vacations each year. Those will use other timeshare assets and/or I will pay cash for something. For example, this year I took three trips that lasted a week or more: my WDW get-out-of-winter trip, a week in Club Wyndham Park City, UT in late June (booked directly), and a week in Club Wyndham San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter in early August (booked as an RCI exchange). I'm also grabbing a Food & Wine/MNSSHP long weekend next month. Next year, I will get-out-of-winter, am planning a two-week trip to Hawaii (one week at Hilton's Grand Waikikian via RCI, the other TBD), and maybe a late Spring/very early Summer week at SSR or OKW using an Interval exchange.

So, the first thing I'd say is: I would not plan to rent points out to pay for some other vacation. I would only rent points out if for some reason I could not figure out how to use them all before they expire. I've rented a few timeshare assets here and there years ago---using non-DVC owernships---and decided it was too much sugare for a dime.

But, if I were in a position where I had to rent out some points---as in, I could not use them and had no one I could give a stay to---I would book a confirmed reservation and post it on one of the broker sites without thinking twice about it. It is the best combination of a good return with a minimum of effort.