can you make $ at ts

[dw24 Member Find all posts View Profile Close dw24]

just wondering if you can really make a little $ renting your ts

[eal Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eal]

I break even - the costs of all my timeshares are covered by the rental of some of them, leaving me with "free" vacations at the timeshares where we travel to.

But I work REALLY hard to keep it all going, and it is only worthwhile because it is a fun hobby.

It is not a way to keep a roof over your head and feed your kids...

[dw24 Member Find all posts View Profile Close dw24]

how many ts do you have to rent to "break even" and get your vacations for free? How many weeks do you vacation?

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

Naturally, it depends on precisely what you own, what you rent, and how savvy you are at marketing, etc.

Here is some meta-advice: take your time, and read read read. It's easy to buy a timeshare, and hard to sell them.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Yes, you can make money renting timeshares out. But, you have to have a very rentable property, an avenue for advertising that rental and the ability to do so at several hundred dollars over the timeshare's annual fees. The problems can vary and often one or 2 low demand (or disaster)-no rental years can hurt.

[johnmfaeth Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close johnmfaeth]

Been there, done that in a big way...your time will pay more per hour if you flip the burger when the bell rings are McDonalds.

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

I think you must be a pro. You need to enjoy it as a hobby, not a job. If you don't work it, it won't work for you. I would say most people do not " make " money.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

If you know what you are doing, you can make a bit of money. In most cases, you won't make enough money to justify the return on invested capital. That is, if you know the market you can find situations where your net rental proceeds will exceed your annual fees. You might even "net" $400 or $500 for four or five hours work, which seems like it might be pretty good.

But ownerships that allow those types of "returns" will be valuable and desirable units, i.e., you could easily have $10,000 or more tied up in purchase price even at resale prices. Even at current interest rates, I would expect a 10% return on money for this type of operation viewing it solely as a business. So factor in a return on capital - and return on capital is an essential requirement to consider before deciding if you are truly making money - and it's pretty rare to make money renting timeshares.

That said, the more you approach it as a business, the easier it is to rent profitably. Approaching it as a business means having available a larger number of weeks to rent, building a website and maintaining visibility, developing a client list and getting referral and repeat business, and taking care of your renters. As you do those things to make it a business, you can charge more because your clients will know they are dealing with a reputable on-going business, not a uncertain unknown owner who has a one-time rental. Of course, as you do that, you are also greatly increasing the amount of time you put into your business, so your net in $/hr worked still might not be very much.

********

I have one ownership that I split into two pieces and rent almost every year. I can usually rent one of the splits for the amount of my fees, leaving the other part of the split to use for almost nothing or to rent as well giving me close to breakeven on the ownership with cost of capital included.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

....I would say most people do not " make " money.

I agree. Most often, you rent out time, you take in enough to pay the maint. fees. Sometime you come out a little ahead of that, sometimes you fall short. This year, I have not rented my Myrtle Beach Bike Week, so I have not hit my goal.

[regatta333 Member Find all posts View Profile Close regatta333]

I break even - the costs of all my timeshares are covered by the rental of some of them, leaving me with "free" vacations at the timeshares where we travel to.

Ditto for me for last year, and hopefully this year as well (I am halfway there).
As far as making money, it would be difficult to do as there are many people out there who are willing to rent for little more than their maintenance fees. I advertise online and work with a rental agent who charges a 10% commission if they find me a renter.

I set a fair market price and try to stick to it and not start cutting the price as it gets closer to check-in. Most people make their hotel reservations 30-60 days out, and I have gotten many inquiries within days of check-in, but it seems like most renters panic and start dropping the price as the check-in date approaches. Unless you pick your weeks and location carefully, these are the people you will be competing against.

[JudyS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JudyS]

I think there are several people on this board who make some real money renting out timeshares. However, what they all have in common is that they have found a system to specialize in that generates rentable weeks at a low cost, and really know the ins-and-outs of that system. They also put serious time into it.

So, my answer is that yes, it can be done, but it isn't easy.

[KevinRS Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close KevinRS]

I do pretty well

I agree with the poster that said you have to enjoy doing it, and do it mostly for fun, and not for a job..... I currently own about 42 weeks, this year about 6 weeks went un-rented, but I still came out with enough to pay all my expenses, a couple ski trips and more, but I am CONSTANTLY working at it, I have a 50+ hour per week"REAL" job, and I bet I put 30-40 hours a week in this... but I really do enjoy it...... I specialize in ski weeks (hence the skiweekguy name on my site).

You would be amazed how many I rent with less than a week to go.... I will let them go unused before I go too low in price....

I hope it stays fun, I'd hate to try and sell all these......

[x3skier Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close x3skier]

I get enough to cover my out of pocket expenses but not enough to cover a return for the original purchase expenses. Making money in any kind of real estate is a chancy business these days.

Cheers

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

You would be amazed how many I rent with less than a week to go.... I will let them go unused before I go too low in price....

I hope it stays fun, I'd hate to try and sell all these......

Yes, it is so much easier to buy than to sell a timeshare. Selling a whole bunch to suddenly get out of the biz, you could really end up with most of those timeshares for another couple of years before you could ever sell them, even for a bargain price.

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

One you CAN do is make someone else money ( The Developer ) if you don't know what you are doing.