# How difficult are rentals? [Winner's Circle, Del Mar]



## Rhiannon35 (Aug 31, 2016)

I am completely new to the timeshare world, but my husband and I have just spent a couple of nights at a fabulous one in Del Mar, Calif., and are seriously considering buying in for one week per year. Everything is a plus to us (location by racetrack, beach, great restaurants, etc.; week available during summer racing season, price is right) except one thing: We live in the Midwest and would have to fly and rent a car each time we go. 
That in itself isn't a huge deal, but I can see us every 4-5 years wanting to spend our summer vacation somewhere else, and I'm not sure we want to bother with exchanges. So my question: how difficult is it to rent out a timeshare in a great location at a desirable time of year? If it's a "no problem" thing, well that would seal the deal for us. 

should add we are not looking to make $ on rental weeks, just cover our costs. 
Thanks for any and all help!


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## DeniseM (Aug 31, 2016)

Can't advise on renting in this area, but don't buy from the developer, you can buy on the re-sale market for little or nothing.


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## TUGBrian (Aug 31, 2016)

Welcome to TUG!

You can find a number of advice articles to help you get started on your timeshare journey right here:  http://advice.tug2.net


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## presley (Aug 31, 2016)

If you have a fixed week during summer racing season, you will be able to rent it out. Exchanging that week would also give you very high exchange priority. Is it Wave Crest or Villa L'auberge? If it is Winner's Circle (which is actually in Solana Beach), it won't be in as high demand, but it is right across the street from the racetrack.


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## Rhiannon35 (Aug 31, 2016)

Presley, it is Winner's Circle. I realize it's not as luxe as the other two you mentioned, which is what worries me about renting it out. On the other hand, it's ideal for people like us who want to spend a week at the track. Just not sure what the demand will be. Like I said, we probably would want to do something else every few years.


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## DeniseM (Aug 31, 2016)

Rental rates for Winner's Circle from redweek.com (major timeshare rental website)

But notice that there are multiple listing, *but only one rental* - although these listings only go back to July 8th - I don't know when race season is.

 	DATES	NTS	PRICE	UNIT	BE/BASLEEPS	 
*07/08/16–07/15/16	7	$850 ($121/night)	None	1  1.5	4 RENTED!
*
09/06/16–09/09/16	3	$375 ($125/night)	Varies	1  1.5	4

09/16/16–09/23/16 NEW!	7	$400 ($57/night)	Varies	1  2	4	

09/23/16–09/30/16	7	$1,225 ($175/night)	Pool	2  2	6	

10/14/16–10/21/16	7	$1,050 ($150/night)	Pool	2  2	6	

12/23/16–12/30/16	7	$1,260 ($180/night)	Pool	2  2	6	
 
01/20/17–01/27/17	7	$1,100 ($157/night)	Pool	2  2	6


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## Rhiannon35 (Aug 31, 2016)

Thank you so much, Denise, for looking that up for me.
Interestingly the 2016 racing season started 7/15 and runs until 9/5 and I see there are no rentals available during that time. I'm thinking this either means people don't rent out their units during the season (Del Mar is a premiere track with a very short season, a big deal to racing fans like me); or they use other methods of doing so. Or both.
I know Winners Circle will help you rent out via their website, Expedia, etc. (that's how I got my room for 2 nights a couple weeks ago), at a high commission. But nonetheless, it is an option. Thank you again!


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 1, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> Can't advise on renting in this area, but don't buy from the developer, you can buy on the re-sale market for little or nothing.



There is no developer at Winners Circle. The resort is entirely sold, and firmly in control by the owners.  With at least one long-time board member who is also a veteran TUGger. The resort itself operates a resale program, consisting of foreclosed inventory.  Units are also available on the general market. 

Your best rental option might be to put the week into the resorts rental inventory that year.  They will rent the week (using rack rates), deduct a reasonable percentage to cover their costs (I don't remember how much that percentage is, but if you call I'm sure they'll tell you), and send you the difference.  Since resort rack rates will be higher than what you can likely get on your own, you will probably come out money ahead.  

The resort doesn't guarantee rental, but if you have a race season week there shouldn't be any problem with it renting.  

You can access the rental paperwork form at the WC resort webpage - it's in the owners area, but you don't need to log in to access the forms.


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## bogey21 (Sep 1, 2016)

Owning during racing season is the key

George


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## CatLovers (Sep 1, 2016)

We own a high summer week (usually 4th of July) at this resort and with the notable exception of this year, we don't have any trouble renting it out.  We don't make a lot of money on the rental, we recover our MFs and a little more.  We rent it out ourselves, not through the resort's program.  I'm not sure why it didn't rent out this year (perhaps the economy?), but because it is a desirable summer coastal California week, it was snapped up by an independent exchange company right away, even though I gave it up only in the spring.  I'm not sure how this would translate for a race week, but it's one data point to consider.

P.S. *T_R_Oglodyte* is correct, this resort is fully sold, a developer hasn't been involved for years.  The only resales and rentals that come up are from owners.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 1, 2016)

Of all of the timeshares I have ever owned, Winners Circle has been by far the best financial investment.  I bought in 1999 for less than $1000, and could probably get back more than I paid for it.  

The maintenance fees are reasonable.  Any exchange company will take my week, and when I used it for weeks trading in RCI I routinely was able to trade up to two bedroom units and could access almost of the RCI weeks inventory.  In SFX I always got 3-for-1 offers.  

The resort is in good shape financially, with a unit renovation program completed within the last couple of years.


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## JudyS (Sep 1, 2016)

I use to own a fixed week 27 and week 28 there. (Still own the week 27; just sold the week 28.) They generally rent without too much problem. You should list your week early, because finding a renter for a small resort takes more time than finding a renter for a well-known resort.


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 2, 2016)

CatLovers said:


> We own a high summer week (usually 4th of July) at this resort and with the notable exception of this year, we don't have any trouble renting it out.  We don't make a lot of money on the rental, we recover our MFs and a little more.  We rent it out ourselves, not through the resort's program.  I'm not sure why it didn't rent out this year (perhaps the economy?), but because it is a desirable summer coastal California week, it was snapped up by an independent exchange company right away, even though I gave it up only in the spring.  I'm not sure how this would translate for a race week, but it's one data point to consider.
> 
> P.S. *T_R_Oglodyte* is correct, this resort is fully sold, a developer hasn't been involved for years.  The only resales and rentals that come up are from owners.



Excuse my "beginner" question, but when you say it was "snapped up" by an exchange company, what do you mean exactly? Is this different than using such a company to trade your week?


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 2, 2016)

Wanted to thank everyone for the advice/insight! We are now happy owners (or will be as soon as the paperwork goes through) of a week in July at the resort. 
It is a foreclosure we purchased, directly through the resort. I was tipped off by another owner I met in the gym, after mentioning how much we liked it there. He told me they were going for a steal, and after looking into it, I think he's right.
Well, I'm sure I'll have more questions in the near future, but for now we are happy to have landed a week during racing season.


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 2, 2016)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Of all of the timeshares I have ever owned, Winners Circle has been by far the best financial investment.  I bought in 1999 for less than $1000, and could probably get back more than I paid for it.
> 
> The maintenance fees are reasonable.  Any exchange company will take my week, and when I used it for weeks trading in RCI I routinely was able to trade up to two bedroom units and could access almost of the RCI weeks inventory.  In SFX I always got 3-for-1 offers.
> 
> The resort is in good shape financially, with a unit renovation program completed within the last couple of years.



T_R_Oglodyte, I already asked a similar question, but what do you mean by an exchange company will take your week? Does this mean they rent out your week without you having to trade it? OR with an exchange company do you always have to  "trade" your week for one at another resort?


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## DeniseM (Sep 2, 2016)

With exchange companies, you deposit your week and trade your week for another one. They don't rent timeshares for owners.

It sound like the resort rentals may be a good option - I'd look into that.

Questions I'd ask:

If you give your week to them to rent, is it irrevocable?

What happens if they don't rent it?

Can they just rent part of it (leaving the other days a loss)?

How much is their list price?

How much is their commission?

Can they lower the list price without asking you?


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 2, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> With exchange companies, you deposit your week and trade your week for another one. They don't rent timeshares for owners.
> 
> It sound like the resort rentals may be a good option - I'd look into that.
> 
> ...



All these questions are addressed in the rentals FAQ on the owners page, mentioned previously, except for the commission rate.  As mentioned above, you would need to call to get that info.


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## DeniseM (Sep 2, 2016)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> All these questions are addressed in the rentals FAQ on the owners page, mentioned previously, except for the commission rate.  As mentioned above, you would need to call to get that info.



Do you have to be an owner to access the owner's page?  If not, please post a link.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 2, 2016)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> [snip]
> _You can access the rental paperwork form at the WC resort webpage - it's in the owners area, but you don't need to log in to access the forms_.





DeniseM said:


> Do you have to be an owner to access the owner's page?  If not, please post a link.



When I posted about the rental paperwork being on the owners page, I knew that might be a concern. So I made sure to mention that a login isn't needed to access the rental docs.


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## DeniseM (Sep 2, 2016)

Thank you - where can we find the page?


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 2, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> Thank you - where can we find the page?



www.winnerscircleresort.com  (surprise! surprise!)


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## HudsHut (Sep 2, 2016)

"snapped up"  by an exchange company means

The exchange company happily accepted it into their inventory, even though it was a somewhat late deposit, because they knew it would be taken as an exchange very quickly. The exchange company may have already had a request for that geographic area during that timeframe, so they knew that the Winners Circle deposit would generate quick revenue.

Usually exchange companies want weeks deposited as early as possible to give them the maximum time to execute a trade.

In return, CatLovers later selected a week for themselves from the Exchange company's inventory.


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 6, 2016)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> All these questions are addressed in the rentals FAQ on the owners page, mentioned previously, except for the commission rate.  As mentioned above, you would need to call to get that info.



Thanks, Denise. I'd already asked them most of these questions, but there are a couple I didn't think of. So far, their policies seem very "owner friendly" on all fronts. This site has been a great resource for us, so thank you!


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 6, 2016)

hudshut said:


> "snapped up"  by an exchange company means
> 
> The exchange company happily accepted it into their inventory, even though it was a somewhat late deposit, because they knew it would be taken as an exchange very quickly. The exchange company may have already had a request for that geographic area during that timeframe, so they knew that the Winners Circle deposit would generate quick revenue.
> 
> ...



excellent explanation, and good to know the resort was accepted readily by the exchange company. Thank you!


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## CatLovers (Sep 6, 2016)

hudshut said:


> "snapped up"  by an exchange company means
> 
> The exchange company happily accepted it into their inventory, even though it was a somewhat late deposit, because they knew it would be taken as an exchange very quickly. The exchange company may have already had a request for that geographic area during that timeframe, so they knew that the Winners Circle deposit would generate quick revenue.
> 
> ...



Thank you, exactly what I meant.  Sorry, just checking TUG after a few days away.


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 10, 2016)

CatLovers said:


> Thank you, exactly what I meant.  Sorry, just checking TUG after a few days away.



CatLovers, I've read WCR has pretty good trading power. I'm wondering if you were able to get a good exchange for your week? I looked up an RCI points chart, and I think my week would be worth about 49,000 points or thereabouts. Again, I'm new to all of this, so really interested in any insight.


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## tschwa2 (Sep 10, 2016)

Unless the week has already been converted to RCI points you will get tpu (trading power units) a different kind of RCI currency that ranges from 2-60.  you can't look up the power unless you already have a weeks account.  I looked up july 2018 and a 2 br gets 45 tpu;s and a 1 br gets 40 tpu's.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 10, 2016)

Rhiannon35 said:


> CatLovers, I've read WCR has pretty good trading power. I'm wondering if you were able to get a good exchange for your week? I looked up an RCI points chart, and I think my week would be worth about 49,000 points or thereabouts. Again, I'm new to all of this, so really interested in any insight.



When I did use my WC week for trading in RCI, it was always in the weeks system.  It was a great trader in Weeks.  It wasn't elite, so there was some top end stuff I couldn't grab.  But unlike the elite weeks, I could score a lot of very nice resorts that RCI filtered out from the top weeks for not being equal.

I used a WC week in some of the trade power tests that were done years ago on TUG.  I don't now if the threads with the trade power tests are still available.


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 10, 2016)

tschwa2 said:


> Unless the week has already been converted to RCI points you will get tpu (trading power units) a different kind of RCI currency that ranges from 2-60.  you can't look up the power unless you already have a weeks account.  I looked up july 2018 and a 2 br gets 45 tpu;s and a 1 br gets 40 tpu's.



Thank you for looking that up. I take it 40 TPUs is pretty good.


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 10, 2016)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> When I did use my WC week for trading in RCI, it was always in the weeks system.  It was a great trader in Weeks.  It wasn't elite, so there was some top end stuff I couldn't grab.  But unlike the elite weeks, I could score a lot of very nice resorts that RCI filtered out from the top weeks for not being equal.
> 
> I used a WC week in some of the trade power tests that were done years ago on TUG.  I don't now if the threads with the trade power tests are still available.



So how do you know if your resort is in the weeks or TPU system? Just by getting a membership and checking? 
I was able to get a PDF on RCI points off another TUG page, and WCR was listed as having points, so I'm a bit confused now as to if a resort is either weeks points or TPU, or can be both. Thanks again for the help!


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## presley (Sep 10, 2016)

Rhiannon35 said:


> So how do you know if your resort is in the weeks or TPU system? Just by getting a membership and checking?
> I was able to get a PDF on RCI points off another TUG page, and WCR was listed as having points, so I'm a bit confused now as to if a resort is either weeks points or TPU, or can be both. Thanks again for the help!


If a resort is in points, it used to be in weeks and can be either or both. You will know 100% when your ownership is complete because RCI points takes a special extra fee to set up. You'd get points and not your week, but would have the ability to ask for your week instead a year ahead of time. I think the reseller would have told you if it was a points membership as you specifically bought for the fixed week. 

40TPs is a good trade value. You can also pay to combine 2 years of points and have even higher trading power if you want, but then you'd be giving up your week for 2 consecutive years. 

This resort would also trade well in the small exchange companies like SFX, DAE and Platinum. Depending on where you want to go and when, one of those may be a good choice for you.


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 10, 2016)

presley said:


> If a resort is in points, it used to be in weeks and can be either or both. You will know 100% when your ownership is complete because RCI points takes a special extra fee to set up. You'd get points and not your week, but would have the ability to ask for your week instead a year ahead of time. I think the reseller would have told you if it was a points membership as you specifically bought for the fixed week.
> 
> 40TPs is a good trade value. You can also pay to combine 2 years of points and have even higher trading power if you want, but then you'd be giving up your week for 2 consecutive years.
> 
> This resort would also trade well in the small exchange companies like SFX, DAE and Platinum. Depending on where you want to go and when, one of those may be a good choice for you.



I actually bought directly from the resort (it was a foreclosure), and they advised me to use their parent company's trading site, not RCI,as  it would cost me a membership fee in addition to the exchange fee. But RCI seems to have way more resorts, so I'm just trying to figure out how it would work if I go that route. 
Thanks for the tip on small exchange companies -- will check it out!


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## DeniseM (Sep 10, 2016)

Rhiannon35 said:


> I actually bought directly from the resort (it was a foreclosure),



Did you compare prices, before you bought from the resort?


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 10, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> Did you compare prices, before you bought from the resort?


Foreclosure prices at WC are priced pretty close to market.  The biggest cost difference is that foreclosures purchased through WC have to through a title company.  That adds cost, as compared with using someone such as Lisa Short or doing it yourself.  (On my purchase, I did the closing myself.)

_[incorrect info struck]_


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Sep 12, 2016)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Foreclosure prices at WC are priced pretty close to market.  The biggest cost difference is that foreclosures purchased through WC have to through a title company.  That adds cost, as compared with using someone such as Lisa Short or doing it yourself.  (On my purchase, I did the closing myself.)



Correction: Resort sales prices *include* closing costs.  Prices are $1000 for studio units, $1200 for one-bedroom units, and $1500 for two-bedroom units.  Right now they have seven units available (studio and one-bedroom) that are during race season.


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> Did you compare prices, before you bought from the resort?



Oh, yes, did a lot of comparisons, and buying direct from the resort was quite a bit cheaper than any resales I could find. Plus, as other post mentioned, closing costs were included. Plus we got the week we wanted in the part of the building we wanted. I was actually tipped off at what a good deal the foreclosures were from another owner I met in the gym. He told me it was less than 1/4 of what he paid, and from the resales I saw, that was about right. It was the way to go for us.


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## DeniseM (Sep 13, 2016)

That's great!  Good for you, for doing your homework!


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## Rhiannon35 (Sep 13, 2016)

DeniseM said:


> That's great!  Good for you, for doing your homework!



Thanks! The TUG site is a wonderful resource, bravo to all of you!


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## CatLovers (Sep 14, 2016)

Rhiannon35 said:


> CatLovers, I've read WCR has pretty good trading power. I'm wondering if you were able to get a good exchange for your week? I looked up an RCI points chart, and I think my week would be worth about 49,000 points or thereabouts. Again, I'm new to all of this, so really interested in any insight.



So I haven't exchanged used RCI for several years, but I can tell you that when I used to, the exchange power was stellar!  This year's week, I haven't used the exchange yet, and I probably won't start looking till early next year.  I deposited it into SFX inventory, so I suspect that I'll get something that I want.


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