How far in advance do people search for rentals?

[tartanwood]

How far in advance do people usually search for resort rentals near Puerto Vallarta in January?

We have a 1-bedroom unit reserved for 10 days in late January, 2026. We are debating the options of offering it for rent vs using it ourselves. We like to go in January, but since we will be taking our son's family to the resort over spring break in March, we could pass up our usual January visit if we do find a renter.

This our first time trying to rent anything, so we will welcome advice regarding the best time for listing a rental--when to post a listing and how long to wait before deciding to keep the reserved unit for ourselves?

If we do not find a renter, we would need to make flight reservations, so we don't want to delay the decision too long.

 

[byeloe]

I always post as soon as I know that I want to rent it out. You never know when someone will be looking for a rental. I have rented up to a year in advance.

 

[easyrider]

I you know that you are going to rent your unit, then try renting out as soon as you can. If it hasn't been rented within 4 months of the reservation you could place it an exchange. Some of the Mexican resorts allow you to cancel and then bank the week which is what we do with our Villa Group.

It kind of depends on what is being offered for rent. Many Mexican resorts require all inclusive which adds a significant cost to the trip. Some Mexican resorts have very high resort fee's to anyone other than the owner.

What resort are you working with ?

Bill

 

[TUGBrian]

im not sure a rental could ever be posted "too soon"

 

[tartanwood]

Villa del Palmar Flamingoes is our home resort and where we have scheduled 10 days in January, 2026.

I reserved this unit more than a year in advance because we usually have trouble getting anything during the later part of January. We picked a week that we could use ourselves if no one wanted to rent it from us.

Over the years, we have often banked our unused Villa points, but at the moment we have more points in the bank than we have been able to use. That is why we are exploring the rental option. This seemed to be a good year to try this since we get to go later in March. We will be taking family with us for the first time during spring break.

I guess my real question is less about posting "too soon", but rather "how late" to wait before cancelling a rental listing. If we end up using it ourselves, we would need time to make alternative arrangements, flights, etc. I don't know if people usually search early or if rentals typically happen last minute.

 

[easyrider]

Villa del Palmar Flamingoes is our home resort and where we have scheduled 10 days in January, 2026.

I reserved this unit more than a year in advance because we usually have trouble getting anything during the later part of January. We picked a week that we could use ourselves if no one wanted to rent it from us.

Over the years, we have often banked our unused Villa points, but at the moment we have more points in the bank than we have been able to use. That is why we are exploring the rental option. This seemed to be a good year to try this since we get to go later in March. We will be taking family with us for the first time during spring break.

I guess my real question is less about posting "too soon", but rather "how late" to wait before cancelling a rental listing. If we end up using it ourselves, we would need time to make alternative arrangements, flights, etc. I don't know if people usually search early or if rentals typically happen last minute.

Jan 10, 2026 would be easy to rent. Availability for Flamingos in the winter is non-existent at a year out. This should be an easy one to rent, imo.

Since you are VPA you have a decent cancellation window. The cancellation by date is on your reservation I think. If you are going to rent it you might want to get on it.

We enjoy taking family members and often need multiple units. We also enjoy going to Mexico in the Winter. For us, we end up using all of our time, both points and weeks because we like the resorts and there is no all inclusive required which is kind of rare for a Mexican exchange. I would bank them for later instead of renting it out because we like the January weather and the resort. Banking is free for VPA.

Bill

 

[tartanwood]

Easyrider,

Thanks for the thoughts about Flamingos that match our experience. We enjoy the resort and we have seldom had trouble finding space during the first week of January. Until now, however, we have never been able to get anything later in the month. This time we made our reservation as early as possible for 2026, and now we hope it is not already too late to start thinking about winter 2027.

For a while, we will probably continue to use or bank most of our points. As we get even older, however, we will have to figure out another way to make use of what we have as we are not sure our son wants to take it over. Rather than wait until we really can't travel anymore, we thought we should start exploring rental options with at least some of our points.

I know that some owners do this successfully, but so far the rental process seems a bit overwhelming--how to set a reasonable price, prepare an appropriate contract, place effective ads, accept payments, etc. I'm still not sure if we want to start learning the rental process this year or wait a little longer.

 

[easyrider]

Easyrider,

Thanks for the thoughts about Flamingos that match our experience. We enjoy the resort and we have seldom had trouble finding space during the first week of January. Until now, however, we have never been able to get anything later in the month. This time we made our reservation as early as possible for 2026, and now we hope it is not already too late to start thinking about winter 2027.

For a while, we will probably continue to use or bank most of our points. As we get even older, however, we will have to figure out another way to make use of what we have as we are not sure our son wants to take it over. Rather than wait until we really can't travel anymore, we thought we should start exploring rental options with at least some of our points.

I know that some owners do this successfully, but so far the rental process seems a bit overwhelming--how to set a reasonable price, prepare an appropriate contract, place effective ads, accept payments, etc. I'm still not sure if we want to start learning the rental process this year or wait a little longer.

The Villa del Palmar has Facebook buy, sell and rent groups where you could get an idea of what to ask for rent. I think Jan 10th is a pretty good week for Flamingos.

That's probably a good idea with the figuring out what to do with the timeshare when no one is able to go. You could borrow up to five years of points and get a penthouse for a couple of weeks. I like the penthouses at the Cabo VDP for a few reasons.

Our Mexico timeshares have been expiring and the newest one we picked up this spring on the tug give away timeshares expires in 2033 or so. I will likely be accelerating the use by borrowing points.

Bill