Help with RAVC usage.

[CarolF]

A friend, here in Australia, has inherited Royal Aloha Vacation Club - Waikiki, 3 floating weeks x 1 br. She is having difficulty using all her weeks and I wondered if it is worth considering renting them out on occasion.

She is not only new to timeshare but also has very limited internet skills. She is unsure at this time whether she has the time or inclination to learn about timeshare and using the internet. I would like to be able to help her use her "gift" but I don't really know anything about RAVC or Hawaii or renting out apartments .

Some of the questions I thought of are:

What would be a realistic/fair price to ask for the week/s rent in a 1br?
Would it be better to book 3 consecutive weeks rather than 3 separate weeks?
Is there a peak period that is more desirable to renters, if so, which month/weeks should she request? She informed me that she visited in the high season and had to pay an extra $50 to do so. Would it be worthwhile paying the extra $50 to get high season weeks to rent out?

There are probably lots of other questions I should be asking so if you can help or provide further information it would be greatly appreciated.

I should also mention that she has banked her current weeks with RCI because she didn't know what to do with them. I am trying to provide her with other options for the future.

 

[Kauai Kid]

My experience with renting a time share has been dismal. Offered a two bedroom two bath condo on Molokai for $479 for the week--not even $70 a night. One reply and no interest after that.

Oh, I did get on a spam list because of it.

My cousin, a prince in Nigeria, says if I'll only send him $5,000 for the barrister costs I'll inherit over a million! What a deal. I told him to give the million to the needy children of Nigeria.

Sterling

 

[pharmgirl]

just rented 2 weeks in marriott hawaii on ebay very easy, rented for about $3000 more than the maintenance fees

 

[DeniseM]

RAVC on Oahu is rated 5.75 by Tuggers - only 2 resorts on Oahu are rated lower, so it is not going to rent for big bucks. TUG Reviews And I see RAVC weeks going for $100 on ebay.

She might be able to rent it for enough to cover her MF. However, renting involves some work and requires some computer skills, so I'm not sure it would be worth hanging onto just to rent it. Will she ever use it or exchange it? If not, it might be better for her to just get rid of it. She could put it on ebay for $1 and stipulate that the buyer pays closing costs or she could put it on the bargain basement board on TUG with the same stipulation. I see that a nonprofit has one for sale on ebay (see link above) so she might be able to donate it for a tax deduction. Or maybe she would want to keep 1 or 2 weeks for her own use, and get rid of the 3rd one?

 

[CarolF]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

She has managed to book some exchanges through RCI (via phone) this year. It sounds like RCI is giving her some accommodation certificates for her deposits so she is getting even more weeks to use. There is potential for her and her adult children to make good use of exchanging if she is able to become familiar with RAVC and timesharing. I think the problem is that she is not used to booking so far out and the thought of $2000AU MF plus exchange fees is a bit daunting at the moment. The renting idea was put forth as a way of getting some money for the MF.