Just got an inquiry about my To Rent post. NOW WHAT?

[korndoc]

I am hoping to rent my TS for the first time. I responded to an email show of interest this morning and will have to complete the transaction this evening.

I advised the party we would accept a credit card (my wife has a business so she already has an account) for the amount + 10% refundable damage deposit.

I read the old 2008 sticky.

Any further advice?
any contract you prefer?

Thanks!
Jeff

 

[DeniseM]

I think it is unnessary to collect a damage deposit - most resorts require [all guests] to provide a credit card at check-in. Adding extra fees will discourage renters.

This is what I do:
-Email them your rental terms or send a contract.
-After they agree to the terms, ask for a $100 deposit.
-After they pay the deposit, immediately have the resort issue a new confirmation in the renter's name and send it to them.
-Provide contact info. so they can verify the reservation.
-Give the renter a reasonable amount of time to verify the reservation (like 48 hours.)
-Require the final payment in full at that point.
-No cancellations - no refunds.

 

[aliikai2]

Looks Good

We don't collect any damage deposits, the resorts take a credit card at check in that covers those things.

We collect 100% of the rental at booking, once paid we place the renter on the confirmation and forward it to them via email. We used to take a non-refundable down payment, but then had to chase some folks for the balance. And even though we had clearly explained that the down payment was nonrefundable, we had a few that tried to dispute it with their credit cards, paypal, etc. And a few won, So that is way we take the total at the onset.

We don't allow cancellations, we advise they buy a 3rd party trip insurance to cover the rental, plane tickets, prepaid car rental, medical etc.

Greg

I am hoping to rent my TS for the first time. I responded to an email show of interest this morning and will have to complete the transaction this evening.

I advised the party we would accept a credit card (my wife has a business so she already has an account) for the amount + 10% refundable damage deposit.

I read the old 2008 sticky.

Any further advice?
any contract you prefer?

Thanks!
Jeff

 

[DeniseM]

GMTA!

 

[aliikai2]

It took me a minute

Because I kept seeing GTM..:whoopie:

Greg

GMTA!

 

[rrlongwell]

... we advise they buy a 3rd party trip insurance to cover the rental, plane tickets, prepaid car rental, medical etc.

Any recommendations for reputable 3rd party trip insurance firms?

 

[aliikai2]

We have used Access america

for the past few years for all our trips. They saved us when Joyce ended up in the ER on a ventilator during our stay in Puerto Vallarta in 2010. We won't take a trip anymore without this type of insurance. For a renter I would have them check insuremytrip.com
Greg

Any recommendations for reputable 3rd party trip insurance firms?

 

[DeniseM]

AAA recommends www.accessamerica.com

In my rental terms, I state:
No cancellations - no refunds - travel insurance recommended.

One more tip - require that the name on the Paypal Acct., the name on the reservation name, and the person's ID, match. That way you can avoid stolen credit cards and other name switching scams.

 

[rapmarks]

I am debating trying to rent out a week I own. what is the best way to accept payment if you are only doing this once or twice.

 

[Ridewithme38]

I am debating trying to rent out a week I own. what is the best way to accept payment if you are only doing this once or twice.

I used Paypal, not the best but it sure is the easiest

 

[korndoc]

Thanks for the great answers
Anyone have a favorite rental agreement?
And, is just accepting a credit card a good way to go? (we have a terminal through my wife's business.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Timeshare Von]

Sample rental agreements may be found here (scroll down the page about halfway).

I'm of another opinion regarding security deposits, and require them on all rentals that I do other than to immediate family.

I have accepted personal checks from strangers here on TUG and had no issues. I would not want to incur the Paypal or credit card service fees, since I generally rent for the bare minimum to cover my MF's and related expenses (G/C, etc).

As for the question about travel insurance, the best resource I've found is via InsureMyTrip.com where you can get a variety of proposals that cover all sorts of the types of concerns someone may be concerned about mitigating risk/exposure.

 

[korndoc]

THANK YOU, EVERYONE

(Hope this works out. If you go through Craig's list and read all the scam warnings, you don't want to be a renter or rentee!!)

Jeff

 

[DeniseM]

The Paypal fee is only 2.9% - just add it to the rent when you calculate your price. Note - don't list it separately - renters don't like separate fees, just include it in the total listing price.

The Craigslist scammers are painfully obvious - they are easy to ignore.

 

[NWL]

The Paypal fee is only 2.9% - just add it to the rent when you calculate your price. Note - don't list it separately - renters don't like separate fees, just include it in the total listing price.

The Craigslist scammers are painfully obvious - they are easy to ignore.

It's 3.9% when getting payment from our Canadian neighbors. That's where my renters came from this year. I use your system when getting a deposit and have the renter pay it through PayPal, but I let them send a check for the balance. So far the checks have all cleared. But this year, since they all came from Canada, I bit the bullet and had them pay the balance through PayPal because mail is very slow between the U.S. and Canada (and I live only 8 miles from Canada!).

If I knew ahead of time they would be from Canada, I would up my price a bit to cover the fees, but I think doing so would scare away U.S renters. In the future I might try explaining the situation to them and ask that they cover the fee. I'll have to think about that one.

 

[DeniseM]

I've had that happen too - It's awkward to add the fee AFTER you have agreed to all the terms, and then find out they live in Canada. If you rent to Canadians a lot, you might want to automatically add 3.9% upfront, just to cover that.

 

[korndoc]

Likely scammers

I got these 2 responses to my ad in Craig's List. Very similar. I am assuming they are scammers - and likely the same person. What do you think?
Jeff

#1 - Received Wednesday, Feb 15:
Hello,
How are you doing today,i am here to know if i can use your place for 7 nights(MARCH 25-31),kindly get back to me if its available or any other the available week.And send me the total cost and deposit.

My reply: Sorry, I only have the timeshare for March 12-19

Received Thursday:
I am interested, I will be coming on this vacation with my Wife from
Whistler BC Canada,our trip will be sponsored by my wife employers in
the states and payment will be done by US certified check.please let
me have the following information so that the check can be sent to
you.

Name which you want to appear on the check:
Address (not P.O Box):
City:
State:
Zipcode:
Tel:
Total Amount

Hope to hear from you soon.If you have any agreement form to fill
out,we will do that on our arrival to your house because i don't want
to fill any form online so that my physical signature will appear,but
you can send it for my review and i will get it filled physically on
our arrival.below is our information

Best Regards
Mr& Mrs XXXX
(an address was given here)
Whistler BC Canada V0N1B0

Thank You

God Bless yo



#2-
Received Friday, Feb 17:
will like to know if you have march 24th to 26th available,kindly get back to me with the cost and availabilities.

My Response: nope, just March 12-19, Sorry

Received Saturday: I am interested in march 12th to 19th,I will be coming on this vacation with my wife from UK,our trip will be sponsored by my wife's employers in the states and payment will be done by US certified
check.please let me have the following information so that the check
can be sent to you.
Name which you want to appear on the check:
Address (not P.O Box):
City:
State:
Zipcode:
Tel:
Total Amount
Hope to hear from you soon.

DR YYYYY
(address listed)
London, W1A 1AE

 

[stevedmatt]

Korndoc,

Both are definite scams. I received the same emails (The first part before your response) to both of my Craigslist ads. Seems the same people want to rent both of my weeks in 2 different parts of the country. I don't even take the time to respond to Craigslist emails that request different dates then I am offering. Also, the poor English in these emails was a dead give away for me.

 

[chapjim]

Korndoc,

Both are definite scams. I received the same emails (The first part before your response) to both of my Craigslist ads. Seems the same people want to rent both of my weeks in 2 different parts of the country. I don't even take the time to respond to Craigslist emails that request different dates then I am offering. Also, the poor English in these emails was a dead give away for me.

Other tips: emails received within about 48 hours of posting or renewing listings, requesting dates different than the dates in the listing, emails from free email services (Yahoo, Gmail), user IDs of the form "namenumber," mismatched names in the from line and the email address, stock texts and phrases (an introductory "I am NAME.", "as for your price, we are okay with it," "we don't smoke, neither do we have pets," anything about paying with a certified check or coming from the UK with an employer paying for the trip.

Oh, yeah! "Can we come over and see your place?"

Just delete them. I honestly don't know what the scam is -- probably the bogus certified check.

 

[DeniseM]

Obvious scams - just click on the link embedded in the email to report them to Craigslist and then delete them.

 

[korndoc]

Thanks I will report them. Crazy that they start out requesting the wrong dates. Why start that way if a scam? Stupid Scammers!


On another note: Should I have renter's insurance to protect me from any injuries occurring during the rental week?

thanks,
Jeff

 

[NWL]

I've had that happen too - It's awkward to add the fee AFTER you have agreed to all the terms, and then find out they live in Canada. If you rent to Canadians a lot, you might want to automatically add 3.9% upfront, just to cover that.

This year was the exception. 2 out of 3 came from Canada. Prior years they all came from the "lower 48". If our local economy is any indication, there may very well be an uptick in our northern neighbors wanting to vacation "down south".

This really can be a full time job!

 

[rtf2017]

renter protection?

I think it is unnessary to collect a damage deposit - most resorts require [all guests] to provide a credit card at check-in. Adding extra fees will discourage renters.

This is what I do:
-Email them your rental terms or send a contract.
-After they agree to the terms, ask for a $100 deposit.
-After they pay the deposit, immediately have the resort issue a new confirmation in the renter's name and send it to them.
-Provide contact info. so they can verify the reservation.
-Give the renter a reasonable amount of time to verify the reservation (like 48 hours.)
-Require the final payment in full at that point.
-No cancellations - no refunds.

so denise, if i am a renter and u ask i pay 100% upfront what protection do i get that the rentor is not scamming? would it not be preferable to use a title company as redweek suggests and split the cost? Is cost the only issue then?

 

[DavidnRobin]

I get nothing but scams from Craigslist - I have never had a legit response. I just dealt with two - they immediately stop when I tell them I will use PayPal only.

 

[DeniseM]

Thanks I will report them. Crazy that they start out requesting the wrong dates. Why start that way if a scam? Stupid Scammers!


On another note: Should I have renter's insurance to protect me from any injuries occurring during the rental week?

thanks,
Jeff

The last I checked it was $60 per week - that's more than I want to pay, and it will be a deal killer if you ask the renter to pay it.