Are you saddled with a timeshare you can't afford? Well, perhaps you should think about placing your timeshare for rent to resolve some of your problems if you don't want to sell, or have been unable to do so.

Unfortunately, in the present climate, you will find a number of timeshare owners who will be in the same situation as you. Having purchased their timeshare some time ago when everything in the garden was great, incomes have taken a decline and prices have risen. This means some owners may not even be able to afford the flights to get to their timeshare, but are still faced with the maintenance and annual fees payable to the resort and perhaps, finance repayments as well. Not a pleasant situation.

So, how can you begin marketing your timeshare for rent and covering at least your regular payments? The great news is there are plenty of individuals who don't wish to buy their own timeshare but who will be trying to find a timeshare to rent in locations around the world, particularly for cheap timeshare rentals whenever they can find them.

You may of course make use of a specialist timeshare rental agency, but that is going to cut into any cash you make, so this would have to be balanced against the lack of much effort from you. Do your research on the company and be sure they're respectable before you have any involvement with them. If you go down this road, ensure you read the contract through diligently, or get a timeshare attorney to do this for you.

If you use an agency, they are going to assist with how you price your timeshare for rent. Although you will obviously like as much as possible, if you set the rate too high, no-one would be interested anyway and most people on a low budget will be seeking cheap timeshare rentals. A good place to begin on this is to ask your timeshare resort exactly what the going rate is. You could also ask friends and relations what they could be happy to pay (this may even bring you a few bookings and these people are more likely to take care of your property).

Do a web search for 'timeshare for rent' which should produce a list of websites that allow you to market your property. A lot of these websites charge you a fee to put you in touch with renters, but this is likely to be less than a specialist rental agency. Good sites provide you with some safety guidelines to stick to when dealing with potential renters as well as contract templates for renting out a timeshare. Look on the websites for membership of any voluntary organisations that set and monitor certain guidelines which should be followed, as this may offer you some degree of security. However, again, you should always take specialist legal counsel when drawing up a contract and handling payments.

Setting up a timeshare for rent isn't necessarily easy, but when you find you need to to help you actually keep it, then follow a few of the guidelines given here and make sure you keep yourself and your timeshare safe.