Frustrated with my ads on Redweek. I am getting grouchier about cheapskates in my old age

[TravelTime]

As a renter and renter I try to be nice as possible when declining offers, I don’t want to offend a would be renter by being short or rude. Usually I’ll counter or just say at the price is firm. When renting units, I also low ball. That’s life. When I get a rude response I’ll move on and rather deal with someone who’s at least courteous in declining my offer. Granted, I don’t just throw a low number out. I usually offer something in line with or a bit lower than other listings. Come back at me with a rude decline and I’ll just move on to another renter or other resort. If I really need the reservation then I won’t be so hasty to make a garbage offer in the first place. It’s a business transaction. People want the lowest they can get for the unit.

Just out of curiosity, what is a garbage offer? How low is it? Is it MF? Or below MF?

 

[OldGuy]

Just out of curiosity, what is a garbage offer? How low is it? Is it MF? Or below MF?

Well, $300/week from RCI seems to be acceptable.

 

[OldGuy]

People make low-ball offers because people accept low-ball offers.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

[CPNY]

Just out of curiosity, what is a garbage offer? How low is it? Is it MF? Or below MF?

Depends on the listing. Renters don’t know what your maint fee is. But here is an example of a garbage offer. Similar listings going to say $1,500. I see a listing for $1,200. I wouldn’t offer 600. That’s a garbage offer.

 

[CPNY]

Now that I know people present low ball offers to landlords, I will be even more firm when I rent out units. In Silicon Valley, people don’t tend to low ball because we have a scarcity of resources. Often times, people bid over asking prices including rent and real estate. I think low balling occurs when supply exceeds demand. Then if someone prices above market, of course you would want to offer less. I rather enjoy the Silicon Valley style much better than the way things works in the rest of the country. You can move on because timeshares are a commodity. Even you said if you really need something, you won;t make a garbage offer. Again, if you really need something and it is not available elsewhere, you are more careful. In this case, demand exceeds supply since you can;t find it elsewhere very easily.

That great, but we aren’t talking about Silicon Valley and more often than not there is plenty of availability in the TS market. I guess the point I was making which may have been missed was, there is a way to be firm without being a $*#&.

 

[bizaro86]

Just out of curiosity, what is a garbage offer? How low is it? Is it MF? Or below MF?

My rule of thumb is anything accompanied by rudeness.

If someone offers me 50% off for something that was already aggressively priced I just politely decline, not a big deal, and say my prices are firm. The rude and aggressive behaviour you get from some when that happens is what I dont like.

 

[OldGuy]

I don't know why y'all keep batting stuff back and forth when I have already resolved it.

 

[VacationForever]

I thought it was easy to rent out weeks you can’t use. This is a surprise to me that weeks are going unrented.

Not sure if you meant to reply to me. There are lots of TS listings out there that go unrented. I have no issues with mine as in no way I would allow my listings to linger.

 

[TravelTime]

Not sure if you meant to reply to me. There are lots of TS listings out there that go unrented. I have no issues with mine as in no way I would allow my listings to linger.

How aggressively do you price yours? I have a few listings I want to rent out bc I can’t use them. How should I price them relative to MF? How soon should I list them? How long do I give it before making other plans for them?

 

[OldGuy]

How aggressively do you price yours? I have a few listings I want to rent out bc I can’t use them. How should I price them relative to MF? How soon should I list them? How long do I give it before making other plans for them?

Pricing relative to MF is only important to you.

Pricing relative to everyone else's pricing is what's important.

Been doing it for ten years or so.

I start at 6 months out, one for less than MF, since I know what it's worth, reduce it by $100 at 60 days out, another $100 at 30 days out (if those reductions are necessary), and settle for the $599 I always settle for.

Another one, one with some real market value, if I don't already have a taker, I offer for $700 because that's what I'd get if I gave it to the resort's owner rental program. They rent for $900-$1000, and MF is $513. But, what's important is what rentals are in the area in that timeframe.

For me, it's about saving money, slowing the bleeding, not making money. In doing so, we are about $4000 ahead, every year, forever.
- - - - -
Funny, I got back-to-back Siesta Key and a Sanibel January Snowbird weeks for a friend a few years back for something like $500 each. I see her all the time and not long ago she said something like, "I never realized what great deals those were."

So, the renter does not always know.

 

[Sandy VDH]

In my case $100 a night in HHV Lagoon Tower Hawaii in a 2 BR for a holiday is WAY WAY under market. My asking $200 a night was still in line with a hotel room. So they were really low balling IMHO.

 

[VacationForever]

How aggressively do you price yours? I have a few listings I want to rent out bc I can’t use them. How should I price them relative to MF? How soon should I list them? How long do I give it before making other plans for them?

You need to know how much demand is there for a particular timeshare and a particular week(s). Timeshare is a commodity and demand is highly dependent on the weeks that are reserved. Look at listings a year out, 6 months out, 3 months out and right to the check-in date. You will find that pricing of weeks that are close to check-in dates tends to be lower. Price yours competitvely but never try to match some extremely low outliers.

 

[OldGuy]

How many times has it been said that if you got into timesharing to make money (which 30 years ago I might understand), you made a mistake?

 

[VacationForever]

How many times has it been said that if you got into timesharing to make money (which 30 years ago I might understand), you made a mistake?

... unless you run a mid to high volume timeshare rental business.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

In my case $100 a night in HHV Lagoon Tower Hawaii in a 2 BR for a holiday is WAY WAY under market. My asking $200 a night was still in line with a hotel room. So they were really low balling IMHO.

Not sure what holiday week - but yeah they are trying to get a bargain. No reason for them not to try. I do it most of the time when I do a rental. I figure I don't have anything to lose.

That being said, I would take issue with using a $200 hotel room as your reference point. Your reference point should be condo rentals for comparable 2-bedroom units on AirBnB and VRBO. It's pretty easy to go those web sites and find pricing for similar units for your dates. You might even find that you are well below market $200/night, and when you get pushback you can invite the person to go to one of those sites and see if they can find a better price for an oceanfront, 2-br unit in Waikiki for those dates.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Redweek does work for renting timeshares for MF's, if you have something people can use. I rarely have these low offers for Peacock Suites. I rent for my cost, so I have rented as cheaply as $45/ night for weekdays, and I have to disclose the price + housekeeping and valet parking. Housekeeping is $80 for a one bedroom unit. I rent full weeks in one bedrooms for $750 in prime season.

I usually have no offers at all for Hono Koa, actually. Some people will ask for different dates, usually like a Tues-Tues.

I have considered listing Hono Koa with a local agent our friends use to rent their condo. They have a condo next door to Hono Koa, which is rented most of the year and is also oceanfront. We all know the low seasons for Maui, like fall and April-May. Whale season gets the most money for their 1 bed, 1 bath condo.

Not much activity on Redweek for an ordinary resort like Hono Koa. I rented Hono Koa once on Craig's List. I cannot advertise Peacock Suites on Craig's List because my ads get taken down by my competition. I should just do that to their ads, but I just will not stoop to their level like that.

I believe that a lot of the last-minute exchanges we see on Interval are weeks that people tried to rent but couldn't rent via Redweek or My Resort Network. I paid for an ad on My Resort Network and got one inquiry. Redweek gets 20-30 per year. I rent to about half of them. Many people want something last-minute, and I cannot do last minute.

This is the reason some people hate timeshare, because they cannot get what they want, any old time they want it. They get frustrated and pay these take-back companies a ridiculous amount of money, then we buy them cheaply. People are easily duped. I would say people are stupid, but that wouldn't be nice.

 

[OldGuy]

... unless you run a mid to high volume timeshare rental business.

What with all the rude people low-balling, and all, why would anyone want to do that?



But, now that I think about it, when it comes to renting timeshares, like farmers like to say, I will keep doing until all the money runs out.

 

[VacationForever]

What we all the rude people low-balling, and all, why would anyone want to do that?



But, now that I think about it, when it comes to renting timeshares, like farmers like to say, I will keep doing until all the money runs out.

OP runs a rental business as several of TUGers here do.

 

[OldGuy]

OP runs a rental business as several of TUGers here do.

Yup . . . and dealing with low-balling rude people.

 

[VacationForever]

Yup . . . and dealing with low-balling rude people.

Dealing with low-balling rude people is part and parcel of running a timeshare rental business.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Not sure what holiday week - but yeah they are trying to get a bargain. No reason for them not to try. I do it most of the time when I do a rental. I figure I don't have anything to lose.

OK so ask and if I refuse, give it up. Don't call and email repeatedly over a 6 month period, to give it to you for that $100 night rate, because "I always get it for that price" claim. I told him to get it from someone else. Problem was no one else had a 4th of July 2 BR oceanview for rent.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

OK so ask and if I refuse, give it up. Don't call and email repeatedly over a 6 month period, to give it to you for that $100 night rate, because "I always get it for that price" claim. I told me to get it from someone else. Problem was no one else had a 4th of July 2 BR oceanview for rent.

Understood - but also understand that I'm not contending about the rude and obnoxious low-baller. I'm simply suggesting that there may be other reference points for making price comparisons. But then, since HHV is also a hotel the room rate comparison is also still valid. When I rented units at Club Regina Los Cabos, I certainly referenced rates at the adjoining Westin even though those were hotel room and i was renting a condo.

I'm also making the point for others reading the thread who might not be renting at a hotel/timeshare combo resort.

For myself - one time when I was looking for space on Oahu, I spent zero time looking for hotels. But I did look for condos, and that search did turn up units at HHV, as well as neighboring properties -including Ilikai, which is where we wound up.

*****

Bunny trail anecdote re our stay at Ilikai. The day before we checked out from Ilikai, we were walking in front of HHV, and walking straight at us was DW's cousin and her husband. They were staying at HHV. Turned out that if we had been on lanais at the same time, we could have poked our heads over the railings and talked to each other face-to-face.

 

[JohnPaul]

Bunny trail anecdote re our stay at Ilikai. The day before we checked out from Ilikai, we were walking in front of HHV, and walking straight at us was DW's cousin and her husband. They were staying at HHV. Turned out that if we had been on lanais at the same time, we could have poked our heads over the railings and talked to each other face-to-face.

About 11 years ago after our stay at WM West Yellowstone I found out my cousins were there at the same time. I said we were in unit XXX - don't tell me you were across the hall. He said "Not across the hall - next door!"

 

[rickandcindy23]

I just listed Hono Koa on Airbnb. We will see how it goes. I had to list for a minimum of 5 nights, so that makes the nightly price high. I found the process of listing my ONE week rather difficult. It's just one week that I have each year to rent. Although, we are going in 2.5 weeks, so maybe I should add that week into the calendar and see if that week rents. I could grab something last-minute for our week. I think Rick would have a heart attack, if we didn't find another place. Our airfare is not refundable.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Steve and JohnPaul, those are amazing coincidences. Never had that happen.