We rent to adults over 29 only and have strict house rules for renter.
If a college kid commits a crime, the parents do not get fined. Do not go to jail. The sins of the son are not the sins of the mother.
We will simply pass along these costs to the renters (and they go on a blacklist with our management company).
VRBO/Airbnb will become much more expensive in the future making timeshares much more attractive.
Vrbo already has, Airbnb will.
The model for internet business is to become the 800 lb gorilla that everyone uses by enticing owners with reasonable prices and giving the service away free to consumers. Eventually the get so large that owners can’t do without and they have monopoly pricing and jack up the fees.
Vrbo has done this, adding 10-15% to the cost of a rental. Many owners bolted, but there is no great alternative. Those that stayed had to eat some of the cost and try to pass some on. The result is the middleman prospers while the buyer and seller suffer.
Vrbo and Airbnb aren’t really in the same market. Airbnb did take some business from Vrbo due to flexibility and some low end rentals, but if you have a vacation rental, say, at the beach and rent by the week, I think you’d get about half the revenue as Vrbo.
All this makes timeshares a better alternative, even as a rental. Not everywhere and certainly not directly from the company, but as individual rentals I do not believe that Vrbo can compete on price in most markets where you have a substantial timeshare presence.
Where I rent you can get a 2br timeshare 4 stars for about what a 3-3.5 Star 2br rents for at Vrbo.