Once the selling price is agreed upon, the renter typically pays a minimum of twenty to fifty percent of the total rent to the owner, possibly through a service like PayPal or by establishing an escrow account. These two actions then formalize the rental agreement. After receiving either a partial or the full rental payment, the owner contacts the timeshare resort to reserve the unit under the renter’s name. If the timeshare is affiliated with an exchange company such as Interval International, the owner is usually required to provide a copy of the rental agreement to the corporation.

The renter then contacts the resort directly to confirm that the unit has been reserved in their name for the specified dates. Once the resort confirms the timeshare reservation, the renter will pay the remaining balance of the lease payment if they had previously made a partial payment. The renter’s check-in and checkout will then proceed according to the agreed-upon schedule. Ideally, the entire rental agreement will be clear, transparent, and easy to understand.

Keywords: Timeshare Ownership

Hundreds of thousands of Americans own timeshares and are generally satisfied with their purchase. They enjoy yearly vacations at top-notch resorts and condos and have the flexibility to trade points within their network for different locations or dates. However, timeshares can be expensive, with maintenance fees alone often averaging over $600 annually.

How to Stay in a Timeshare Without Ownership

Each week, thousands of timeshare accommodations go unoccupied. For various reasons, owners sometimes cannot take their scheduled vacation and will rent out their week to recover at least a portion of their investment. To find these opportunities, you can simply search for “timeshare rentals” online, and numerous websites are dedicated to connecting renters with owners looking to lease their time.

Once you find a property that interests you, you typically submit a “request” for a specific week or ask for a callback from the owner. Properties are usually listed by location rather than specific available dates, so you may need to contact several owners to see if one of them can accommodate the week you are looking for. This process can be relatively quick, or it might take several days to finalize the arrangements. If you are requesting a week that is not the “owned” week of that particular timeshare, the owner may need to go through an exchange process to see if your desired week is available. The week you request could potentially be more expensive than the owner’s allotted week, in which case the owner might need to purchase additional points to secure the chosen date or pay an extra fee, which you would then reimburse.