Financial safety of booking villa

[2008summer]

Hi, can I ask some advice. I've been looking for a 5/6 bed villa for summer next year and had some great quotes by email (typical 30% off web list price). One which looks good wants full payment up front. Are there many scammers out there? (Not defaming anyone on this excellent site!!). I guess it's safe if you pay by credit card??

Many thanks

Anne

[Genie]

That is not normal practice Anne, most owners take a deposit and the balance is paid 10 / 12 weeks before you go. 30% discount is also rather a lot especially as it is for next year. The first thing that springs to mind is that the owner is in some sort of financial difficulties and wants the money up front to help the problem, unfortunately this might not do that and you might find that next year they no longer own the house.
I hope this was not a member of one of these sites as this sort of practice will get them thrown off the site as all the owners on here are very carefully checked and verified every 6 months. Sorry to sound so pesimistic with your"bargain" but I would certainly be very careful.

[Mo Green]

Personally I would not even think about renting from someone who is advertising at 30% off their web prices. All the owners on this site will agree with me that with a huge discount like that the owners will not be covering their overheads of management fees, taxes, insurance, utilities etc. etc.

Most owners on this site only ask for £100 or £200 per week deposit with the balance due 8 – 10 weeks before arrival. Asking for the full amount sounds as if someone is in a desperate situation. When you reach your holiday destination you are more likely to find a negelected home or, at worse, find the owner has gone bankrupt.

Yes you will be covered by credit card, if you can make payment that way, but do you really want to be concerned at what you will find when you arrive. Like most things in life ‘you get what you pay for’. All the owners on this site have been verified. If you book from here you can look forward to your holiday knowing a beautiful home will be waiting for you.

Mo

[GrahamC]

I would agree, dicounting that much now for next summer, and asking for full payment now certainly sets the alarm bells ringing.

Continue your search using the sites listed above, and then you will know that you are on safe ground.

[DaveL]

I guess one question I would ask "Is how much are you willing to risk your holiday?"

You may be able to protect yourself from scammers, who are not using a site like this one where all the villas are verified, by using a credit card. However I would see the real problem being that the owner my not have the villa in 9 months time.

If you are being offered 30% off a web price and someone else wants all the money now then this would ring alarm bells for me. I would guess by your post that you think this is to good to be true.

It costs a lot of money to run a rental villa correctly, pay all the taxes and the mortgage.

Having a great deal is no good if the bank owns your villa when it's time for your holiday.

Dave

[mfairhurst]

All I say is be very careful as said before ,We all only take a deposit and the balance at a later date .
It sound like a travel agent and you nay not know were you will end up in FLORIDA as there maybe no way you talk to the owner .
All the villas on these sites are verified so you are much safer and do not trust anyone who you may think is doing bargains as they all have topay lots of overheads .
Have a lovely holiday were ever you go .
MAUREEN
www.onlinefloridavillas.com/villas/1683.aspx

[Jill]

I would never think to offer a discount to receive full payment up front for a holiday next year so it would certainly sound alarm bells to me. We only ask for a small deposit with the balance paid a short while before arrival. The only time we ask for all the cost in advance is when it is a last minute booking.

All the owners who advertise on this site have to prove every six months that we actually own them. This makes it much safer for potential renters to book via this site as you know you when you arrive in the sunshine state you will definitely have a lovely well cared for home to stay in.

[steph_goodrum]

"Personally I would not even think about renting from someone who is advertising at 30% off their web prices. All the owners on this site will agree with me that with a huge discount like that the owners will not be covering their overheads of management fees, taxes, insurance, utilities etc. etc.

Whilst I would agree in principle, the fact that someone os showing a 30% "discount" off their web price is no indicator without knowing what the prices being advertised on the web are. For instance many hotels show a "rack rate" of £250 plus (the Hilton at Gatwick was earlier in the year) per night, however our stay (and we got upgraded to an executive suite, was £86 for the night for 2 and included breakfast.

When you say payment up front we take it to mean that they are asking for all the money now? Is that the case or is it that they want a deposit now and the balance 10 weeks or so before you go?
If that is the case, then that is standard practise, as most owners require full payment before they will allow access to their homes, for obvious reasons, if it is an individual family etc they may stay for 2 weeks, if payment has not been cleared before they arrive, once they have left it may be very difficult for the villa owner to recoup their payment. And, as I'm sure you appreciate, whilst you may be entrusting the villa owner with up to a couple of thousand pounds/dollars their home will be worth somewhere in the region of quarter of a million dollars upwards.

If they are asking for full payment up front then you are very wise to be cautious, as you say payment by credit card would afford you some protection but that would not be much help if the first you knew of anything wrong was when you arrived to find the accommodation booked unavailable and then had to, not only find replacement accommodation at short notice but recoup your lost money, not the ideal start to anybodys vacation, I'm sure you agree.

Confidence is the biggest factor when deciding, to whom to entrust your booking andpayment and if you have these reservations now, believe me they won't go away by next summer and are going to be a continuing source of worry until you arrive. Is the saving worth it? Only you can make the final decision and whatever you decide hope it works out and you have a great trip.

[2008summer]

Thanks everyone. I think you've confirmed my thoughts, it sounded too good to be true, but was obviously tempted. The old addage remains true.

For information, just in case someone else is interested, this was the Villa:

[edited out]

[msnsmile2]

[ShirleyD]

Anne why not make some enquiries on the sites listed above. All the owners on these sites have to verify they are the owners of their home. I would be suspitious of anyone asking for the full payment at this stage.