Rent Timeshare

Gas prices just keep going up and up. Plan your summer vacation accordingly.

Our blog entry for May 1 was all about the rising price of gas. Well, a month has passed, and gas is even more expensive. For most people, the price of gas affects almost every part of the family budget—especially the family’s summer vacation plans. In fact, gas prices are such a big deal that Sell My Timeshare NOW issued a press release recommending that people use their timeshares to plan a vacation at a resort close to home to save on both drive time and gas. We used the website www.gasbuddy.com as part of our research on just how much the record-high gas prices were impacting leisure travel.

Two weeks later, I saw an online article that voiced a similar sentiment. Author Kim McGrigg, had written a piece called, “High Fuel Costs Might Change The Way Americans Vacation.” McGrigg’s article appeared in www.azfamily.com (Arizona Family) and is based on a National Retail Federation survey and Money Management International. She recommends that vacationers:

• • Create a budget.
• • Plan out their trip.
• • Drive sensibly.
• • Stay closer to home.

McGrigg’s idea is that people shouldn’t cancel their vacations; they just need to cut costs in new ways in order to balance out the rising cost of gas. For example, “look for alternatives to expensive hotel stays, such as timeshare properties, cabins, hostels or stay with family and friends.”

I am always surprised by the number of people who do not know that you don’t have to buy timeshare vacation property in order to enjoy most timeshare resorts. Sell My Timeshare NOW has an extensive inventory of fabulous timeshare vacation properties for rent by owner. When you rent timeshare, you deal directly with the timeshare owner. When timeshare owners are unable to use their timeshare, rather than it being a loss to them, they often advertise their timeshare units as rentals, usually at very competitive prices.

Buying timeshare is a great way to cut the costs of vacationing over a lifetime. But when buying timeshare isn’t the right thing to do at the moment, don’t miss out on the great deals and cost savings you can find in timeshare rentals.

With NASCAR enthusiasts now one of the fastest growing sports fan bases in the country, more timeshare owners see potential to use their timeshare vacation property themselves or rent it to other fans during the big races.

Who is staying in your Texas timeshare to watch NASCAR’s Samsung 500 on Sunday at the Texas Motor Speedway? Who is scheduled in your Arizona timeshare to see the Subway Fresh Fit 500 next week, or in your Alabama timeshare the week after that for the Aaron’s 499?

NASCAR is one of the fastest growing spectator sports in the US and their fans are some of the most loyal. But have you ever tried to get a hotel or motel room within a 150-mile radius of Talladega, Alabama on a race weekend? It can’t be done, and the same is true for accommodations in many of the cities that host NASCAR events.

So if you follow the races or know someone who does, don’t overlook timeshare rentals or timeshare exchanges for your lodging. While many big names in corporate America spend a lot of money to promote themselves to NASCAR fans, hotels (other than Holiday Inn) and timeshare companies have not been known for paying to advertise their logos on the uniforms and cars of NASCAR drivers. But I predict this may be changing. You see, women (already comprising some 40 percent of race fans) are the fastest growing segment of the NASCAR fan base. And while camping in the infield or the parking lot may have been acceptable when NASCAR was primarily a guy’s sport, as racing becomes more and more of a shared family pastime, look for hoteliers and timeshare companies to start paying attention to this expanding market.

Earlier this spring, Super 8 ® Motels, part of Wyndham Worldwide Resorts and timeshares, announced that they have signed an agreement with Petty Enterprises to become the official lodging partner and associate sponsor of the Number 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge that Bobby Labonte drives. You may have already noticed the Super 8 logo on Labonte’s car and his uniform this season.

To help you coordinate your timeshare vacation schedule with the upcoming NASCAR season, here is a list of the official events scheduled in 2007:

• April 15 2007 Samsung 500 Texas Motor Speedway
• April 21 2007 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Phoenix International Raceway
• April 29 2007 Aaron’s 499 Talladega Superspeedway
• May 05 2007 Crown Royal Presents Jim Stewart 400 Richmond Int. Raceway
• May 12 2007 Dodge Avenger 500 Darlington Raceway
• May 19 2007 Nextel All-Star Challenge Lowe’s Motor Speedway
• May 27 2007 Coca-Cola 600 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
• June 03 2007 Dover 400 Dover International Speedway
• June 10 2007 Pocono 500 Pocono Raceway
• June 17 2007 Citizens Bank 400 Michigan International Speedway
• June 24 2007 Toyota/SaveMart 350 Infineon Raceway
• July 01 2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300 New Hampshire International Speedway
• July 07 2007 Pepsi 400 Daytona International Speedway
• July 15 2007 USG Sheetrock 400 Chicagoland Speedway
• July 29 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• August 05 2007 Pennsylvania 500 Pocono Raceway
• August 12 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup at the Glen; Watkins Glen International
• August 19 2007 3M Performance 400 Michigan International Speedway
• August 25 2007 Sharpie 500 Bristol Motor Speedway
• September 02 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series 500 California Speedway
• September 08 2007 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Richmond International Raceway
• September 16 2007 Sylvania 300 New Hampshire International Speedway
• September 23 2007 Dover 400 Dover International Speedway
• September 30 2007 Kansas 400 Kansas Speedway
• October 07 2007 UAW-Ford 500 Talladega Superspeedway
• October 13 2007 Bank of America 500 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
• October 21 2007 Subway 500 Martinsville Speedway
• October 28 2007 Georgia 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway
• October 04 2007 Dickies 500 Texas Motor Speedway
• November 11 2007 Checker Auto Parts 500 Pennzoil Phoenix International Raceway
• November 18 2007 Ford 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway

Not able to use your timeshare every year? Consider renting your timeshare!

According to a 2003 survey*, 85% of timeshare owners are happy with their timeshare purchase. However, the same survey also indicates that 26% actually use their time.

Why this discrepancy?

It is likely that the average timeshare owner can’t find the time for a week-long vacation every year. A hectic work schedule or the complications of family life can play havoc with a timeshare owner’s vacation plans.

There is always the option of exchanging a timeshare for a more convenient week, but if you simply can’t get away, this often adds up to a different unused timeshare in a different location. We have heard stories from our clients who have had the same timeshare week for ten years or more and never had an opportunity to use it. A situation like this would seem less worrisome were it not for the (often) high initial price of the timeshare unit itself, coupled with maintenance fees and other non-recoverable expenses.

Many timeshare owners who aren’t using their timeshare look for ways to alleviate this financial burden. Often, we suggest that an owner rent his or her unused timeshare. The benefits of renting your timeshare are many. For instance, if the yearly fees owed on a timeshare property amount to $600.00, and the expense associated with advertising the timeshare for rent is $399.00, renting this property for $1000.00 covers the required expenses.

Timeshare weeks vary in value, depending on the particular week in question as well as the desirability of the resort. In order to adequately determine a timeshare’s value, one has to take these factors into account.

Subsequent rentals of this property (assuming that the asking price and the fees remain the same), can yield $400.00 profit for the timeshare owner. This makes more sense than simply paying for a timeshare one is never going to use.

Thinking of renting your timeshare? SellMyTimeshareNOW offers a free market value survey for your timeshare rental property.  This will enable you to price your timeshare competitively and still feel confident when you are renting your timeshare that you are getting your money’s worth.

*Source:
Ragatz Associates Resort Timesharing Worldwide and in the United States
2003 Edition Summary Report
Ragatz Associates Resort Timesharing in the United States
2003 Edition Summary Report 8/03