Problems if villa sold

[micheller33]

I am new to this forum and I am looking to rent a Villa for the first time in August 2008. I need to book in advance because this is a very busy time and I don't want to end up without a place to stay. My dilemma is that whilst securing a villa with a deposit and signing the contract, how would that protect me if the owner has to sell it because of financial difficulties? Would the new owner still honour the booking? If not how can I be sure that I would get my deposit back? These contracts that we sign are they really legally binding? I mean normally when you go on holiday you will always look for a travel company that is ABTA bonded to protect you.
Also do the management companies help in situations like this?

[pieman790]

Welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately you do not have any cover if the owner does decide to sell. I do know that if owners do sell they normally transfer the booking onto the new owners if the home is been used as a short term rental or look to other villa owners with similar type villas to take over the booking.
It does not happen very often and at this stage i would not worry too much about this happening.
As for the contract it is normally binding in a court of law subject to the terms and conditons within it.

[caroline]

Before you decide to book a villa read the T&C's thoroughly they should protect the villa owner AND the guest - Nobody has a crystal ball but we, like many other owners have it written into our T&C's that if fr any reason we have to cancel a reservation we refund all money that has been paid to us (except if we are cancelling a reservation because of non payment of the balance).

[TonyBlenk]

Hello & welcome to the forum.

If you take out Travel Insurance, which is highly recommended, you should be protected under this policy.

You will receive confirmation from the Villa owner that you have paid for the accommodation and if for any reason you have any problems you can claim against your insurance.

I really would not worry at all. If the owner does sell before you stay, I am certain that there will be at least 2 positive scenarious;
The new owner will take all responsibilty of bookings held or your booking will be offered to many other willing owners.

All Villa owners on OV are proud of our reputation and quality product - you will not find yourself without an excellent luxury Villa to enjoy.

Just think positive and look look forward to your trip. :)

[fiona]

Michelle welcome to the OV forum. You can rest assured that any owner on here if they sold their property would make every effort to either transfer the booking to the new owners or find you a comparable villa, ideally on the same community. Most of us have friends with similar villas. The owners of the OV sites expect us to behave professionally in our dealings with our guests.

The popular dates are often booked the year before, and occasionally people book a couple of years in advance.

[mizzy]

Hi Michelle

i have had this happen to me where the villa owner (advertising on OV) sold just after we paid our balance, we did get our holiday as the booking was passed over to the new owner but there was a few problems with the old owner taking away some of the extras such as the pool bbq and the playstation system and had disconnected the telephone line, the new owner did honour our booking but didn't wan't to give back our security deposit because we had paid it to the previous owner and the old owner said no she had it all passed over with the sale, we eventually got it back but not without a lot of hassle[msnsad]

with 9 weeks to our next trip we are now in the same position again and i must admit i am worried but trying not to get too stressed and hope for the best, the villa owner has offered reassurance and also offered us the chance to speak with fairly recent guests, i have no option but to go ahead or lose a substantial deposit which i cannnot afford to do so i am trusting this owner to provide me with the holiday villa i am expecting and to do everything he possibly can to not to let me down at the last minute

so with extremely good faith i am putting my trust in not just the villa owner but also in the management of this site who i'm sure will do everything to assist me should i not get the villa i have booked and paid for

will watch this topic with interest

Mizzy

[ShirleyD]

Hi Michelle, welcome to the forum and have fun choosing a home for your holiday. As others have said, owners on this site would do their best to protect your booking and pass it onto another similar priced villa or the new owner, so don't worry oo much about this. Before you book, you could ask the owner what they would do with your booking, if they decide to sell.

[micheller33]

Thanks very much for all your expert advice. I think I will take the plunge. Now all I have to do is sort through the minefield of villas available!

[mizzy]

i had to dash out for a little while but just wanted to add

that along with everything i have allready said, i still wouldn't hesitate booking another villa through OV and i would, and have recommended them to other people looking to visit florida[msnsmile]

Mizzy

[Ruth]

We sold our villa last June. I gave all our future guests a full refund so they could either rebook with the new owner or book a different villa if they preferred that option. There were some who decided to rebook elsewhere and I helped them find a comparable villa through the contacts I had:)I don't think it caused any of them any problems at all:)

[Fourdents]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by micheller33
Thanks very much for all your expert advice. I think I will take the plunge. Now all I have to do is sort through the minefield of villas available!
[/quote]

Minefield !!!! Michelle ?

Villa search is not that bad. It can be a very enjoyable few hours ! [laugh][laugh] I think the problem you will have Michelle is that you will be spoilt for choice

If you think of how many people book a villa through this site very sucessfully with no trouble and compare it against those who have had "sad" experiences you will find that "sad experiences are very, very few.

Hope you find "The villa of your dreams [msnsmile2]"

[mfairhurst]

I agree with the last person RUTH that is the best way as it is sometimes the guests holiday of a life time and we would do all we could if we were in a situation .
Some management companys will not let you rent when a property is up for sale .
Have a lovely holiday
MAUREEN
www.onlinefloridavillas.com/villas/1683.aspx

[TonyBlenk]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by micheller33
Thanks very much for all your expert advice. I think I will take the plunge. Now all I have to do is sort through the minefield of villas available!
[/quote]<div align="center"></div id="center">
Michelle,
Prepare your 'wish list' and settle down to a couple of hours with a glass of wine (plus chocolates if you must!) and enjoy sifting through the available Villas. [8D]

[Tessa Childs]

Make that 3 hours, champers and don't forget to look at Online Florida Villas as well as the others in this group of sites. You will find all the links at the bottom of the forum pages. I'm sure you will find it good fun, but there will be many lovely villas to choose from! I would suggest a relaxing bath and candles but you don't want to get the computer wet and if you have printed out the ones you like you will find that the paper gets soggy, but it will be a 'fun task' not a chore

[davidrodgie]

This happened to us in 2005, We booked through a company(not from this site), 2 weeks before we were going we got a phone call from them telling us the owners had sold the villa and the new owners were not going to be renting out[msnmad]. They told us they would find us somewhere else, which they did but we didnt have a choice as they were nearly all booked up. Very anoying when you have booked a year in advance, the villa they had for us was more expensive, which the company were really good about and did not charge us the extra [msnsmile]. As everything worked out we had a great holiday with my sister and her family.
Jeanette

[lorraine51]

When we bought our villa it had 28 weeks booked for the next year and we took them on with no hassles. WE all know lots of other owners to contact in this situation and I'm sure we would all do our best to keep things honest and fair.

[Ruth]

We did not sell our villa because of financial reasons but one piece of advice I would give is that owners who do not charge guests enough to stay there and who cannot afford to put lots of their own money into their villa are more likely to have to sell it. You are usually better booking a villa which is rented at the correct price for all that it offers, than booking a very cheap villa and run the higher risk of it not being available when you are due to stay in it. Also if you have paid a normal rate then there will be plenty of alternative villas in the same price range should you have to rebook. Any sensible owner refuses to take bookings at an uneconomical rate.

[ShirleyD]

That is a very good point Ruth, it is interesting that shirley and Jeanette both ended up with more expensive villas !

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

Ruth makes a very good point - if I was buying a resale villa that had bookings in place I'd not take the bookings if they were taken at bargain basement rates as I know I could easily get bookings to replace them at sensible rates. If the bookings were taken at reasonable rates then I'd have no hesitation taking them on from the previous owner.

The moral of the story being, if it looks too cheap then you may get away with it, but remember that owners charging really low rates are likely to be struggling financially and thus be the ones who are likely to try and sell up.

I'm not suggesting this is what has happened to anyone in this thread, just making a very valid point that non-owners may not realise otherwise.

[mizzy]

well i'm certain that i paid a reasonable rate for our villa booking, it was about average for the number of replies that we received, we did think about walking away when we found out it was up for sale and that would mean loosing most of our deposit instead we have kept communication honest and open and in return the villa owner has done his utmost to offer reassurance

in the end it all boils down to trust and whilst still a little wary i have always had nothing short of excellent help and advice from people on this site and should a problem occur i'm pretty certain the people on here will do their best to help and assist

i have worried a lot because of our past experience (again that villa was above average priced for the number of replies we received) but i can see your point as a villa owner John and where you are coming from

mizzy

[Cruella DeVilla]

Spot on Ruth.

[Jo]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Ruth
Any sensible owner refuses to take bookings at an uneconomical rate.
[/quote]

That's because we need to charge sensible prices to maintain the homes properly and equip them with all the extras that guest truly appreciate. To take a low income for the week would be a bad plan for owners as you would then have to cut corners. It's not that we are greedy.

Should a villa be sold before your holiday, professional owners will give you as much help as they can to find you somewhere suitable for your holiday. We work as a network of owners and with our management companies too, so it wouldn't be difficult to find a similar property of a similar standard - maybe even next door. Our contract would offer you a full refund should you wish to sort it out yourself.

If you have booked package holidays then it's quite possible you will get moved for your hotel of choice at the last minute, and if you book a villa as part of the package you get allocated one , and you don't get a choice at all - often not even the area.

There is a small chance a villa you book might get sold, but the ones charging normal rates are less likely to be sold for financial reasons. When you balance this with the choice you have and the direct contact you have with the owners to make sure it has everything you wish for, it is a very small downside.

Don't worry - just look forward to a fantastic holiday.

[micheller33]

I'm looking for a four bed villa to rent in August 2008 for 3 weeks within 5-10 mins drive to Disney. I've looked at loads of villas in the Emerald Island, Formosa Gardens and Windsor Hill, Palms resort among others. What do you think is a realistic price that I should be looking at? I have been given quotes at such different rates it's hard to now what is a realistic amount! I don't want to take the cheapest and certainly not the most expensive either.

[caroline]

There are many factors that will influence the price, location - does the villa back onto other villas or does it have a lovely view, is the pool south facing, facilities - does it have a games room, TV's in all bedrooms, computer with internet access, spa etc, is it beautiflly decorated or just a basic home???? the factors go on and on but I would suggest that as a minimum for a 'fully loaded' 4 bed 3 bath home for holiday season somewhere around £900+ per week for 2008 - if you're looking at a resort community then I would expect it to be higher than this - if it's a basic pool home then I would think £700+ per week would be fair.

[Cowgirl]

Hi every 1; Just a short Q&A: We have holiday Insurance with InsuerandGo & they have informed use that no insurance company in the land will insure you for loss of accommodation do to 1 off the following:

1. If villa owner pulls out. for what ever reasoning;
2. If Villa owner is not right owner etc;
3. If vila damaged - unliveable etc;

you can ring them on:08709013674

However they did say the following:

1. They would give use emergency accomodation for several days/nights in the event of any of the above was true. Please people read the small print; especially on the T&C(terms & conditions)

Also we would like to point out that we have booked a villa form 1 of the links @ O.V.H so fingers cross(leap of faith)[msncool][msncry][8]

[blott]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Cowgirl
Hi every 1; Just a short Q&A: We have holiday Insurance with InsuerandGo & they have informed use that no insurance company in the land will insure you for loss of accommodation do to 1 off the following:

1. If villa owner pulls out. for what ever reasoning;
2. If Villa owner is not right owner etc;
3. If vila damaged - unliveable etc;

you can ring them on:08709013674

However they did say the following:

1. They would give use emergency accomodation for several days/nights in the event of any of the above was true. Please people read the small print; especially on the T&C(terms & conditions)

Also we would like to point out that we have booked a villa form 1 of the links @ O.V.H so fingers cross(leap of faith)[msncool][msncry][8][/quote]Ah but not all insurance policies are the same...

Some will cover you for number three on your list if your policy includes delay or damage due to weather conditions. I can't think of another reason why a villa should be so damaged so as to not be inhabitable?

Number two on your list is a non-insurance issue as all villas on the four OV sites are verified very regularly that they are owned by the person who says they own them.

And number one on your list is pretty much a very long shot as I can't imagine any owner on the four OV sites doing such a thing to any guest who has a confirmed booking without using their very best efforts to find a suitable replacement. In fact, I have known home owners to 'move heaven and earth' for their guests if in the rare event that such circumstances have occurred.

So you can be as sure as you possibly can be that nothing on your list is an insurmountable problem if you book your home via OV. :)

But, just take a moment to imagine though the 'leap of faith' every Florida home owner has to take to trust guests to rent their home, worth many US$000,000s to someone they've never met.

[Cowgirl]

Hi Blott, Your reply is of sound soul & I salute it. Yours is the very reason why I've taken a leap of faith in booking a verified villa with this company/web-site. Again I'm not at all some one who trust's Humans.(I served in two wars; that's why) make of it what you will; Also you must high-light that people should read the small print T&C. Plus Our insurance is the GOLD policy too!! The Highest/Best they do.
[8][8][8] I'm thinking of buying one as soon as they come down in price.lol[msnsmile2]

[blott]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Cowgirl
Hi Blott, Your reply is of sound soul & I salute it. Yours is the very reason why I've taken a leap of faith in booking a verified villa with this company/web-site. Again I'm not at all some one who trust's Humans.(I served in two wars; that's why) make of it what you will; Also you must high-light that people should read the small print T&C. Plus Our insurance is the GOLD policy too!! The Highest/Best they do.
[8][8][8] I'm thinking of buying one as soon as they come down in price.lol[msnsmile2][/quote]You need to shop around to find insurance policies which will cover weather delays and conditions but they are out there.

I'd advise anyone to read the smallprint in the T & Cs of anything they purchase, whether it's an OV villa or anything else.

[Cowgirl]

Hi Blott: I guess if it turns bad(which I'm more than sure it will not;[msnsmile2]) I guess it's a lesson learnt. I have family out their so if worst comes to worst- well as you can imagine;[msnsmile2] Plus I know lots of other people/M.C Companys out there. We look @ several insurance company's - did rigourous research b4 purchasing our Insurance. We choose Insure & Go because they give £6k rtn for delay/cancellation etc;[msnsmile2]