Rental Company Legit

[Darwin]

I was contacted by a company called Park City Vacation Rentals. They want to rent one of our weeks. Has anyone heard of this company? I did a search and did not find any info on TUG.
Darwin

 

[DeniseM]

There is a simple rule of thumb - If there is a large upfront fee - it's not a good deal. That means they make their money on the listing fee and they don't care if they rent your timeshare or not.

 

[Darwin]

No upfront fee.
1/2 now and the balance three months before checkin.
There commission is on top of our asking price.
So far they seem legit.

 

[DeniseM]

So what happens when the renter backs out 3 mos. before check in?

 

[MOXJO7282]

No upfront fee.
1/2 now and the balance three months before checkin.
There commission is on top of our asking price.
So far they seem legit.

Be advised they will look to send you a W-2 to report the "income"payment to you. That will force you to claim it on your taxes.

I told them I wanted to deal with their client directly and then I would send them their commission. They did that with me once and then insisted on the them sending me the money so I stopped working with them.

 

[MOXJO7282]

So what happens when the renter backs out 3 mos. before check in?

Do you always insist on full payment for your rental? I request as well and offer a full payment discount that many take but if someone really wants to pay me 70% now and balance due 90 days before checkin I'm OK with that because I'm confident I can re-rent any of my units at the 90 day mark to make myself whole.

If the renter does back out I make it clear in my terms they forfeit the deposit unless I can re-rent. I'll keep lowering the rate until someone takes my offer.

It happened to me once. About 5 yrs ago or so someone agreed to pay me $3400 for one of my Maui units and paid 70% deposit at the time. At 90 days she informed me she broke her wrist and can't make the trip. I relisted at 90 days at the same price point. There were no takers in the first week so I lowered by $100. Next week another $100, then a third week. At $3100 someoen rented it.

I took the 1st persons deposit subtracted the $300 and sent back the deposit. The person was shocked I sent back anything and I remained entirely whole receiving a total of $3400.

 

[DeniseM]

Do you always insist on full payment for your rental?

Yep - always...

 

[chapjim]

Do you always insist on full payment for your
rental?

Nope. I'm shockingly easy on terms and will probably stay that way until I get burned. I usually suggest about 1/3 of the rental to hold a reservation, with the balance about 55 days before check-in, after I've successfully rebooked the reservation. But, if they have something else that works better for them and they can explain it, I'll probably agree. More than once, I've received payment after the people got back home.

You want a deposit to get the renter involved in the transaction and to discourage them from continuing to look for a better deal.

I work with my customers. Among other things, it puts them at ease knowing they aren't so exposed financially and that I'm not overly anxious to get paid.

Like you, I offer a refund if I can re-rent for full price, after deducting any selling expenses, commissions, etc.

I have never had a cancellation for which I've issued a refund.

 

[MOXJO7282]

Nope. I'm shockingly easy on terms and will probably stay that way until I get burned. I usually suggest about 1/3 of the rental to hold a reservation, with the balance about 55 days before check-in, after I've successfully rebooked the reservation. But, if they have something else that works better for them and they can explain it, I'll probably agree. More than once, I've received payment after the people got back home.

You want a deposit to get the renter involved in the transaction and to discourage them from continuing to look for a better deal.

I work with my customers. Among other things, it puts them at ease knowing they aren't so exposed financially and that I'm not overly anxious to get paid.

Like you, I offer a refund if I can re-rent for full price, after deducting any selling expenses, commissions, etc.

I have never had a cancellation for which I've issued a refund.

I feel the same way because once I have at least a deposit I know the deal will go through or at worst I have leverage.

Howver the key for me is receiving all payments by 90 days. At 90 days I can re-rent any of my units so I really don't get concerned if someone bails on me.

I've actually accepted 6 monthly payments a few times when a few suggested they wanted to spread out the payments. My only request was to send me 6 post dated checks so I can just deposit and not chase them for.

I actually liked the money being spread out and really wouldn't mind that everytime to some degree if I get the post dated checks.