Thoughts on Renting Out Points

[Sandisw]

There may be a better thread to post this on...or not...but as a newbie I have some questions which VGCGroupie briefly touched on on a different thread when I was in the process of closing my first contract (resale).

So first, what is spec renting? What I am gathering is that members are making reservations that they don't intend to use during popular times of the year...or have I got that wrong?

Secondly, once I get my membership number and can actually log into my account, there is going to be 19 points from 2024 that have to be used by end of February 2026. Honestly, if a bit of begging would get MS to bank them for me as a one time courtesy, that would be my first choice. Obviously time is running out to find any availability for 1-2 nights to book then "rent" it out so I thought maybe finding another member who could use them and then do a "trade" would be better but I am still in the learning stages of how any of that even works.

I have just enough points to alternate between 7 night and 10 night trips each year and that is exactly what I plan on doing....which is why keeping those 19 points for myself would be my first choice but I don't think that is very likely.

If someone knows of a more appropriate thread to direct me to, please feel free. I have read the required reading posts but am still full of questions.

Spec renting is booking a room first and offering it for rent.

It can be also seen as renting a confirmed reservation.

Sometimes, people grab hard to get rooms and offer for rent because they can get a higher rental rate.

Sometimes though, a confirmed reservation could be offered because the owners planned to use it and had to change plans.

It’s the ones that owners book for the sole purpose of renting from the start that frustrate some owners.

Those 2024 points have already been banked so they can’t be banked again. There is no exception for that situation.

In this case, because you are running out of time, you may need to book something and offer it as a confirmed reservation because it is going to be a one night stay.

 

[#1Disfann]

Yes, spec renting is basically reserving a room with your DVC points for which you have no intent on staying but plan to rent out. It is done frequently with December reservations and other high demand times of year, and probably most often with resort view studios because those tend to be the easiest rooms to rent out (because they're the cheapest).

I imagine you're out of luck on banking those 19 points. You could rent them - although, to successfully rent them, you may end up needing to borrow from the next UY. Assuming you close 45 days before Feb. 1st, you could transfer them into Interval International and then you'd have 2 years to use them there. Of course, at the end of the day, if you assume dues on those points were about $9, we're only talking about $170 or so worth of dues, so I wouldn't stress about things too much one way or the other.

If I were you, I might sign up for an owner account on dvcrentalstore.com and you can monitor the rental requests - the payout would only end up being $13 or $14 per point there, but if you're not going to use them, might as well IMO.

Thanks for the info. My deed was recorded in early September so I should hopefully be getting my member email within the week. As much as I would also like, I would use them myself before they expire but I was just there last month so I definitely won't be using them and like most of us, don't want them to go to total waste. I will check out the DVC rental store.

 

[#1Disfann]

Spec renting is booking a room first and offering it for rent.

It can be also seen as renting a confirmed reservation.

Sometimes, people grab hard to get rooms and offer for rent because they can get a higher rental rate.

Sometimes though, a confirmed reservation could be offered because the owners planned to use it and had to change plans.

It’s the ones that owners book for the sole purpose of renting from the start that frustrate some owners.

Those 2024 points have already been banked so they can’t be banked again. There is no exception for that situation.

In this case, because you are running out of time, you may need to book something and offer it as a confirmed reservation because it is going to be a one night stay.

Thanks for the info!

 

[sndral]

…Obviously time is running out to find any availability for 1-2 nights to book then "rent" it out so I thought maybe finding another member who could use them and then do a "trade" would be better but I am still in the learning stages of how any of that even works.
…

FYI, a ‘trade’ would be hard to accomplish because you only get one transfer in or out a year - so if you transferred your 19 points to another member that would count as your one transfer & DVC would not allow you to transfer the other member’s points into your membership.

 

[toesmom]

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.

It sounds like you have done your research, keeping in mind Disney policy likely being enforced about using points for personal use. I have extra point this year which I will try to offer as transfer to another member, have you considered points transfer rather than rental?

 

[airjay75]

It sounds like you have done your research, keeping in mind Disney policy likely being enforced about using points for personal use. I have extra point this year which I will try to offer as transfer to another member, have you considered points transfer rather than rental?

Thanks. I've given passing thought to it. I know that, notwithstanding the rules about transfers for money, people do it on these boards and through at least one broker of which I'm aware (and Facebook too). I guess, because it is much more clearly a violation of the terms of our ownership than spec renting, I've tended to not give serious thought to it. That said, in my mind, spec renting arguably hurts other members more than transferring points to another member for them to simply use (assuming they aren't going to take them and do commercial renting themselves).

Maybe I'll give it some more thought.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Thanks. I've given passing thought to it. I know that, notwithstanding the rules about transfers for money, people do it on these boards and through at least one broker of which I'm aware (and Facebook too). I guess, because it is much more clearly a violation of the terms of our ownership than spec renting, I've tended to not give serious thought to it. That said, in my mind, spec renting arguably hurts other members more than transferring points to another member for them to simply use (assuming they aren't going to take them and do commercial renting themselves).

Maybe I'll give it some more thought.

Yeah I am not comfortable with transfers for money since they explicitly state in the POS no transfers for money. I know there is a legal reason for them being explicit about it that makes people okay with doing it, but not me.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Thanks. I've given passing thought to it. I know that, notwithstanding the rules about transfers for money, people do it on these boards and through at least one broker of which I'm aware (and Facebook too). I guess, because it is much more clearly a violation of the terms of our ownership than spec renting, I've tended to not give serious thought to it. That said, in my mind, spec renting arguably hurts other members more than transferring points to another member for them to simply use (assuming they aren't going to take them and do commercial renting themselves).

Maybe I'll give it some more thought.

If another member has a reservation that has been made outside of the 7-11m window then they can get expiring transferred in points and swap them out for current use year points that could potentially get banked.

I personally see zero harm to the membership by transferring points. I think of them like OTUPs. I have had points transferred to me and I have transferred points to others. Everyone just has to keep in mind that you only get one in/out per year (whether internal or external).

As an aside, I have discovered how much MMB BOGO OTHPs can be valuable since they can be used at restricted resorts like VDH.

 

[Girlstar30]

Yeah I am not comfortable with transfers for money since they explicitly state in the POS no transfers for money. I know there is a legal reason for them being explicit about it that makes people okay with doing it, but not me.

So your not allowed to transfer and get paid, isn't that the same as renting?

 

[VGCgroupie]

So your not allowed to transfer and get paid, isn't that the same as renting?

The POS specifically states points cannot be transferred for money and when you do the transfer they also make you say that you aren't getting paid for them.

 

[Girlstar30]

The POS specifically states points cannot be transferred for money and when you do the transfer they also make you say that you aren't getting paid for them.

Wow I had no idea, never transferred to anyone before but good to know!

 

[AstroBlasters]

The POS specifically states points cannot be transferred for money and when you do the transfer they also make you say that you aren't getting paid for them.

This is why it’s great to have friends on DIS that you can barter with.

 

[airjay75]

The POS specifically states points cannot be transferred for money and when you do the transfer they also make you say that you aren't getting paid for them.

I did not know they explicitly have you confirm you’re not getting paid. I realize we all have our own moral lines to draw with this stuff, but I am personally less comfortable with an outright lie than I am with renting in lines with what I think is a legally defensible interpretation of “personal use.” I certainly would have a line there too - don’t know exactly where that is yet, but there certainly is a line where you’ve crossed into commercial renting.

 

[Girlstar30]

I did not know they explicitly have you confirm you’re not getting paid. I realize we all have our own moral lines to draw with this stuff, but I am personally less comfortable with an outright lie than I am with renting in lines with what I think is a legally defensible interpretation of “personal use.” I certainly would have a line there too - don’t know exactly where that is yet, but there certainly is a line where you’ve crossed into commercial renting.

For me, my worry would be if I am actually renting with the sole purpose of making money and not because I love Disney and want to go with my friends and family the majority of the time.

I know i bought for the right reasons and I will only rent when we want to mix our vacation with disney cruises, UO or international trips which will be more rare so im in this for the right reasons.

Another reason would be unexpected hardship/health reasons, but if that was a long term thing I would just sell. I also have plenty of family/friends that would pay to use our points cash.

I think with that the transfer rule shows that if they could get away with it under FL law, they would not allow us to rent for cash altogether.

But they would lose business like that because I would pause on buying if there was no flexibility to go on other vacations. Im sure I would still buy, but I would not have three contracts, maybe just one because we still have interest in going other places .

 

[VGCgroupie]

For me, my worry would be if I am actually renting with the sole purpose of making money and not because I love Disney and want to go with my friends and family the majority of the time.

I know i bought for the right reasons and I will only rent when we want to mix our vacation with disney cruises, UO or international trips which will be more rare so im in this for the right reasons.

Another reason would be unexpected hardship/health reasons, but if that was a long term thing I would just sell. I also have plenty of family/friends that would pay to use our points cash.

I think with that the transfer rule shows that if they could get away with it under FL law, they would not allow us to rent for cash altogether.

But they would lose business like that because I would pause on buying if there was no flexibility to go on other vacations. Im sure I would still buy, but I would not have three contracts, maybe just one because we still have interest in going other places .

The transfer for money clause is there because they have to make a legal claim that you wont make any money on owning the timeshare. Thats why people feel comfortable still doing it for money. For me not worth the risk since there is no grey area like with "personal use"

 

[#1Disfann]

The POS specifically states points cannot be transferred for money and when you do the transfer they also make you say that you aren't getting paid for them.

Glad I asked my question! I am obviously still learning and I am 99% a rule follower in everything. I am not out any money on the 19 from 2024 so they can just expire as far as I am concerned. I just have been reading all this talk of renting and trading, etc. but it sounds like more trouble than it is worth to me at this point.

 

[Girlstar30]

The transfer for money clause is there because they have to make a legal claim that you wont make any money on owning the timeshare. Thats why people feel comfortable still doing it for money. For me not worth the risk since there is no grey area like with "personal use"

I will say i prefer clearly stated rules more than "we'll leave it up to you, but if we dont like it watch out" lol

 

[AstroBlasters]

Glad I asked my question! I am obviously still learning and I am 99% a rule follower in everything. I am not out any money on the 19 from 2024 so they can just expire as far as I am concerned. I just have been reading all this talk of renting and trading, etc. but it sounds like more trouble than it is worth to me at this point.

There is at 50/50 chance they will bank them for you…

 

[Brian Noble]

IMO any spec rental is done out of greed

I agree with you 100%. And, as noted earlier, I expect to never rent points. I bought them to use them, every last one.

But if I am in a position where I have to rent them, I want the best return I can get without doing too much work. There's really only one way to do that in the current DVC ecosystem.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I agree with you 100%. And, as noted earlier, I expect to never rent points. I bought them to use them, every last one.

But if I am in a position where I have to rent them, I want the best return I can get without doing too much work. There's really only one way to do that in the current DVC ecosystem.

I’m a free market capitalist …. I get it… I just feel that if I can rent points on DIS for $20pp when needed then I am still getting a good return on the points without causing harm to others via spec renting.

As I said, I have seen the negative impact at Boardwalk view studios and Grand Californian studios….

Get rid of the FB spec renting groups where people are obviously acting in a commercial fashion…. they know who they are….