{"id":724,"date":"2011-07-29T19:15:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-29T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog-1199783855.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/29\/tips-on-renting-a-timeshare-webinar-recap-part-1\/"},"modified":"2011-07-29T19:15:00","modified_gmt":"2011-07-29T19:15:00","slug":"tips-on-renting-timeshare-webinar-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/29\/tips-on-renting-timeshare-webinar-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips on Renting a Timeshare: Webinar Recap (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Lisa Ann Schreier is the Timeshare Crusader, and writes the Timeshare Crusader Column in the RedWeek Newsletter. A webinar on timeshare rentals, hosted by RedWeek and featuring Lisa Ann, was held last month. Lisa Ann\u2019s purpose in presenting the webinar was \u201cto take a little bit of the fear away from \u201cnewbies\u201d about renting a timeshare<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The webinar booked up quickly and if you were one of the people who did not get to attend the webinar live, we are posting Lisa Ann\u2019s highlights in a 2-Part series.<\/p>\n

Tips on Renting a Timeshare:<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Listings.<\/b> You can find a lot of listings on RedWeek \u2013 and here\u2019s a helpful hint \u2013 shop around. In most geographical locations you\u2019re going to find a lot of listings, so see what\u2019s out there, do some research, find information about the resort online, such as the resort\u2019s own web site, Tripadvisor ratings, and be sure to read the reviews posted on RedWeek.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  2. Negotiate.<\/b> Once you find what you\u2019re looking for \u2013 don\u2019t be afraid to negotiate the price with the owner. We typically don\u2019t negotiate very often \u2013 not when we go to the grocery store, for example, so for some it can be a little scary. All the owner can say is no. Make a reasonable offer. Nothing bad will happen, and you might get a better deal. Especially if time is short, and the owner is well-motivated to rent.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  3. Verify.<\/b> Once you settle on a price, verify the resort and unit details. You want to make sure you\u2019re getting what you think you\u2019re getting. For example, if you are under the impression that it\u2019s an ocean front unit or has a pool view, be certain. Verify the number of bedrooms, etc. Verify with the owner, and with the resort itself.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  4. Sign a contract.<\/b> The safest thing to do at this stage is to go through an escrow service. RedWeek makes First American Title, one of the most reputable escrow businesses in the country, available for your use. Timeshare rental escrow<\/a> works this way: The owner or renter initiates the escrow. Both parties pay a $125 fee. The contract is sent out by the escrow company for both parties sign. At that time the renter pays either half or the full amount of the rent, and that money is held by the escrow service until after the renter\u2019s vacation stay. The escrow company will get confirmation from resort that the reservation is in your name (however, you should still call the resort yourself and verify).\n

    After the vacation stay, if the renter files no complaints the money is released to the owner. This keeps scammers from renting out non-existent timeshares. (A red flag is if the \u201cowner\u201d asks for money via wire service.) The security of escrow does a great service for both parties. After all, the owner doesn\u2019t know you, and you don\u2019t know owner.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  5. Confirm.<\/b> Confirm the reservation yourself by calling the resort directly. You need to make sure that they know you have the owner\u2019s permission to be staying there. Otherwise, since you are not the owner, the resort will have no record of your name. Send the contract to the resort by FAX. When you arrive at the resort for your vacation, make sure you have their confirmation and a copy of the your contract with the owner.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This might all sound to newbies like a little bit of work, but honestly ask yourself would you not do all of this if you went to a hotel? And the extra step of using the escrow service is simple and easy.<\/p>\n

    Tips on Renting a Timeshare: Webinar Recap (Part 2)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lisa Ann Schreier is the Timeshare Crusader, and writes the Timeshare Crusader Column in the RedWeek Newsletter. A webinar on timeshare rentals, hosted by RedWeek and featuring Lisa Ann, was held last month. Lisa Ann\u2019s purpose in presenting the webinar was \u201cto take a little bit of the fear away from \u201cnewbies\u201d about renting a…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog-origin.redweek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}