How a Single Timeshare Rental Pitch Sent David & Maggie on a Five Year Detour
TSR Content Team: David and Maggie, let’s start at the beginning. What do you remember most about that first day?
Maggie: Honestly? We were happy. We were on vacation in Mexico. The resort was stunning. The lobby alone made us feel like we were doing something right in life.
David: We had just flown in the day before. A little tired, but happy to be there and mostly relaxed. When they invited us to breakfast and a tour, it didn’t feel like pressure. It felt like part of the experience.
Maggie: The sales room was big — lots of couples, lots of energy. Everyone around us seemed excited. The sales people were charming and fun and looked very successful.
TSR: And when did rental income come into the picture?
David: That was the moment it shifted for us. We weren’t going to buy anything at all, but when they explained that we could use part of our weeks ourselves and rent out the rest… it seemed like a no brainer.
Maggie: They really positioned the timeshare to be more of an investment.
The Rental Pitch
TSR: What were you thinking when they showed you the numbers?
Maggie: Impressed. We were so impressed with the professionalism and the resort and it seemed like such a good opportunity.
David: They showed us how a $25,000 purchase could generate $4,000 or $5,000 a year in rental income. According to those numbers, we could pay off the investment in 5 years…that´s basically a 20% ROI. And after that, we could use one week ourselves and rent the other week to cover maintenance fees and maybe even flights.
Maggie: They positioned it so that we could basically use a week and rent a week and then break even on a free vacation per year. We weren´t worried about the maintenance fees, which were mandatory, because we could use the rent to cover those too.
David: The way they pitched it, we would have had to have been crazy not to do it.
The Commitment
TSR: So you moved forward?
David: Yes. We put $5,000 down that day and signed a promissory note for the other $20,000.
Maggie: We walked out feeling proud of ourselves…a little nervous, but also excited.
David: When we got home, we financed the rest and paid off the timeshare company. We contacted one of the rental companies the sales people had recommended and paid them another $2000 to list our weeks for rent.
The Waiting
TSR: What happened next?
Maggie: Waiting.
We kept checking our email. We called the rental company once per month for about a year. They were always kind. Always optimistic…it was always just a waiting game. We were on a list and everything would be okay.
David: We’d hear things like, “The market is strong.” Or, “We just need the right renter.” Or, “There’s a conference this month — availability is tight.”
Maggie: At first, we were patient. Then we started feeling anxious. Maintenance fees were due. We were in debt from the timeshare purchase itself. But the rental income wasn’t coming.
A Gentle Business Reality From TSR Editors
TSR Editors would like to interject at this point to explain what the timeshare rental pitch is and why renting timeshares seldom works and why it doesn´t produce the income that most timeshare owners are hoping for.
There a basically two reasons why renting timeshares don´t work as promised. Both reasons have to do with the timeshare business model itself.
1) Problem One: Not Enough Margin (or profitability in hotel weeks or nights)
For rental income to succeed long-term:
- The resort must maintain competitive market pricing with the resorts/hotels in their area. In order to cover their own costs (which are also tied to the destination, i.e. the average cost of labor, water, electricity, and even food is mostly the same per destination. This is why after a short time, many hotels end up with approximately the same cost in a specific destination. Similar costs for hotels/resorts results in similar nightly or weekly rates for the destination itself.
- The rental broker must earn a commission.
- The owner must earn enough to cover maintenance and generate profit.
In practice, there is very little margin left after market pricing.
2) Problem Two: Timeshare Resorts Need Qualified Prospects for their Presentations
Additionally, timeshare resorts naturally prioritize reservations for guests most likely to purchase in the future. The people staying in a timeshare resort are not just a random collection of travelers who wanted to all liked the look of the place. They are actually carefully filtered through a long marketing process with multiple travel companies who have advertised the rooms to prospects who already fit the demographic of those most likely to buy a timeshare (not just those who are most likely to want to be a guest in that hotel). Rental guests, while welcome, are not part of that sales strategy because they are too random from a sales and marketing perspective.
This doesn’t mean anyone was malicious. It means the business model was never designed primarily for owner profit. And that’s where expectations and reality begin to separate. In the end, it is very very difficult to rent timeshare weeks because timeshare developers simply do not want to let their rooms go to just any renter, when they could have a couple very likely to purchase their timeshare instead. And then also because there isn´t enough margin in the weekly rate to sufficiently pay all the parties involved in this type of transaction (hotel operator, rental broker or advertiser, and the timeshare owner).
The Upgrade Decision
TSR: Did the developer offer solutions when rental didn’t take off?
David: Yes. They told us we needed a stronger package to make our weeks more attractive to renters.
Maggie: VIP beach access. Spa perks. Premium status.
David: We had already invested so much. We didn’t want to admit it might not work. So we upgraded.
Maggie: At that point, it wasn’t excitement anymore. It was determination. We were trying to fix it.
The Emotional Shift
TSR: When did things really change for you emotionally?
Maggie: When we finally did rent a couple of weeks… and realized how much work it was. Renting a timeshare week involved coordinating reservations with the resort. Drafting authorization letters. Confirming dates. Following up constantly.
David: We made around $400 per week after hours of work.
Maggie: I remember sitting at the kitchen table and thinking, “This is not what we were promised.”
David: That was the moment the excitement turned into stress and we started to do some research.
The Realization
TSR: What did you discover when you started researching on your own?
David: That the rental model sounds good in theory. But the margin just isn’t there consistently enough to make it reliable.
Maggie: And maintenance fees don’t pause while you’re waiting for a renter.
David: We also realized we felt obligated to vacation at a place we didn’t even love anymore. The lack of a rental program sort-of soured the whole place for us. Also, we just aren´t timeshare people. We want to vacation in many different locations, we hardly go to the same place twice. It just didn´t work for us, even as a vacation program.
Choosing Freedom
TSR: How did you move forward?
Maggie: We decided we didn’t want to keep trying to make it work.
David: We contacted the resort and asked them to take back the contract, but they refused. We were not willing to pay maintenance fees for a program we didn´t enjoy and frankly, at that point we learned about the liability of owning a property in an area of the world prone to hurricanes. We found Timeshare Recyclers on the BBB and signed up for your program.
Maggie: The biggest feeling I remember is relief. Relief that we didn’t have to keep chasing rental income. Relief that we didn’t have to keep upgrading. Relief that we could travel simply again, exactly how we wanted to.
Today
TSR: What’s different now?
David: We vacation when we want to. No pressure to “use what we own.”
Maggie: No mandatory maintenance fees. No rental coordination. No hoping the math works out this year.
David: We pay for trips when we take them. That’s it.
Maggie: It feels lighter. More honest.
A Final Thought
TSR: If someone is considering buying a timeshare because of rental income, what would you tell them?
Maggie: I would say — take a breath and really think about it. Why would a hotel or resort give you a cut of their margin when they don´t have to?
David: And really ask whether you want to become part-time hotel managers on your vacations.
Maggie: Renting a timeshare is a great idea in theory, but it just doesn´t work in practice.
David: No it really doesn´t and for us timeshare math really doesn´t work very well unless there is a rental program attached…problem is that timeshare rent doesn´t work, which actually means timeshare itself doesn´t work.
If you would like more information about timeshare rental programs or how to get out of a timeshare, please schedule a consultation with one of our Exit Specialists (https://timesharerecyclers.com/appointment/) or give us a call at 1-888-287-4188.
