The biggest mistake an owner can make is not renting out their unused timeshare. Many people don’t know how to rent and instead of seeking a reputable, they let the unit sit. Timeshare rental can seem intimidating and we can understand why.

This service has gotten a bad rep in recent years. Shady companies have burned many families by taking their money and disappearing. Without knowing the red flags of a rental company, owners get screwed by working with these crooks. This narrative has made many owners afraid to rent out their units.

In turn, they let the unit sit out of fear. To most, an unused timeshare is better than enduring a rental process where you face financial risk. Sadly, unused timeshares are not the answer. A unit that is rented out consistently throughout the years will provide much more equity to an owner than one that has sat idle.

The catch is finding out how to do it in the right way. As the owner, you should always benefit the most. Finding a trustworthy rental company may seem hard, but it is very doable. Once you find one, the rental process will seem like a breeze.

The Lifecycle of a Timeshare

To understand why a family’s timeshare is going to waste, it’s important to first get a grasp of what the timeshare’s life cycle is like. To start, families hear about timeshares. Whether they were contacted over the phone or went to a presentation for it, they all hear about them in a way.

If you went to one of these sales presentations and left without signing away for a timeshare, you are among a minority. Most people sign their timeshare contract without knowing much about it. They have a bit of a “vacation high” after hearing about all the great perks a timeshare can bring you. The harsh truths of a timeshare come when you least expect them.

In the beginning, you may use your timeshare a few times and it’s great. You get to go to your favorite vacation spot repeatedly and it’s all bliss. Then, life happens. Your schedule gets cluttered. Your kids don’t enjoy the resort like they used to. You don’t have enough vacation days or cannot fit them into the schedule of the timeshare agencies. You cannot afford to visit this spot anymore. Whatever it is, it happens, and this is exactly why timeshares don’t work. They don’t offer any flexibility.

Once you hit this point, you have several options like trying to resell, exit, or give away your timeshare. The issue with these is that they require your time and energy. In these turning points of life, you cannot afford to give these two things so freely. Owners will spend some time trying to decide what to do, but after that, they need to deal with other things.

In the end, most decide to do nothing. They pay maintenance fees every year and wait out the time frame of their timeshare, whatever that may be. The timeshare remains sitting in its location, untouched until they are no longer the owner. What once sounded like a simple decision has now turned into a worst-case scenario. Owners are left to wonder where it all went wrong.

Used to Unused: How does it happen?

Where does it all go wrong? How can so many timeshare owners let their units go unused? Timeshares are unused for a variety of reasons. We typically see the common factor as a “lack of reality”. By that, we mean timeshares are a fantasy when they are presented to families. During timeshare presentations, sales reps market your timeshare as an investment. They tell you, you can make money off your unit later.

However, when later comes, they rarely offer any help on rental or resale. This leaves owners feeling hopeless about what to do with their timeshare. In the end, they do nothing and their timeshare gets wasted. Let’s look at some of the main reasons timeshares don’t get any use:

• Lack of vacation time

People often buy timeshares in the sweet spot of their lives. This sweet spot is a time when it seems like you will have no serious responsibilities restricting you from traveling. This is the time before starting a family, before moving, or in retirement. As time passes, life commitments change and so does your free time to travel. Using your timeshare is one of the last things on your mind, meaning it’s left to collect dust.

• The nature of a timeshare

No matter what your developer tells you, timeshares aren’t made to actually be used. They are a debt collector with more hidden traps than you expect. Timeshare contracts hold a lot of confusing legal jargon and binding terms. Their time restrictions get most owners. Some units are only available to be visited during a certain week of the year. How can you know you will be free for one week for the next ten years? You can’t.

• Financial situation changes

Even when owners think they are financially ready for ownership, they are wrong. Many owners are unaware of how expensive timeshare maintenance fees can be. Almost all maintenance fees increase each year. This financial commitment prevents owners from actually using their timeshare because they can no longer afford to vacation. If it’s not maintenance fees, it’s some other financial obligation. Life has a way of throwing curveballs at us, especially the financial ones. And when they come, they leave your unit empty.

• Inherited timeshares

This is not as common, but worth mentioning. When you buy a timeshare, some will have a perpetuity clause. These two words have the power to give your timeshare away to your loved ones when you pass. This means your timeshare and all of its fees will become their responsibility. Because they never bought it, it adds an unexpected debt to the lives of your loved ones. They did not plan to have to maintain it, so they cannot handle the upkeep. Because of a variety of secondary reasons, the unit is not used.

No matter what anyone tells you, a timeshare is not a financial investment. The reality of owning a timeshare is a lot of maintenance, responsibility, and financial commitment. Owners are not made aware of this and have to leave their units unused. It seems unlikely, but in reality, it’s very common.

Why do owners hesitate to rent out their unit? 

Without a doubt, we recommend renting out your unused timeshare. Hearing those words can scare owners. But why? Why are owners hesitant to rent out their unit?

The idea of it intimidates many owners because of horror stories they have heard. Sometimes people will jump the gun of rental without doing the proper research for it. This leaves them getting screwed over by a company. If they don’t work with a company and decide to do it themselves, this presents an entirely new situation. After the hassle of it all, owners will give up and just let the unit sit.

People perceive this as troublesome because you need to find renters who will pay on time, a general hassle if not done right. They also worry they won’t make enough money on it. They settle for a cheap price and are really at a loss because they spent their own money and time getting their unit rented out. These are valid fears, but when you work with the right company , you won’t run into any of these problems.

Turn your unused timeshare into cash NOW! 

Renting out your unused timeshare is your time to feel confident in your ownership. It can provide you with a lot of help during your ownership. For example, rental income can help pay off your mortgage. Unused timeshares are also constantly depreciating and this can lead to a lower selling price when it’s time to sell.

Timeshare Rental Pros hears your struggles and has designed a worry-free solution to timeshare rental. We know it works because we were in your exact spot years ago. When realizing we had no good options to rent out our timeshare, we created our own. When you work with us, you rent your unused timeshare points, not your property. This takes all the struggle out of dealing with the typical rental process.

Free 30-Minute Consultation

One of the most common reasons units go unused is because the owner doesn’t have enough points to use it or because using them does not work within their schedule. Not only does the unit sit, those points sit in an account unused as well. Some will expire and some will never be used; even though you had to pay up front for them.

When we rent your points, we pay you cash up front. You get to talk away with the financial freedom you didn’t have before. Regardless of our ability to book your points, you will get paid. And the best part? You will never pay us a single dollar.

Calling today will get you on the phone with one of our expert case evaluators within 24 hours. From here, we will show you how we can work for you. It’s time you got some use out of your unused timeshare with our rental process.

Free 30-Minute Consultation