Villa Rental Direct from Owner

[stabard]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by lind

There is a brief mention of a management company on the website, but nothing on the booking forms. Access to the villa is via key code, so I don't have a Manager's details for key collection even.

It all looks lovely, & I don't wish to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I'm such a cynic I can't help but worry.
[/quote]

Even if a villa has keycode box the owner will still have an MC to look after the house while you are there so should be able to give you their details.

However if you are still nervous ( and at that price I can understand why) you should try finding a home via the three sites above where you know the owners are for real.

[pepsi]

For peace of mind I would also look at renting from one of these 3 sites. You don't want to spend from now until August worrying about the villa you have rented. This happened to us a couple of years ago - We didn't know if the owner actually owned the villa he was advertising. It turned out that he had owned it but had to sell it due to unforeseen circumstances. We ended up in one of his friends villa. The villa was very nice but we spent quite alot of sleepless nights worrying if we had got a place to stay and we definately lost our confidence in the owner.

[KarenScott]

I know there are plenty of genuine sellers on ebay but to be honest I would not think of renting a property off ebay for my holiday, I just worry that it is too risky, but I do buy lot of lower priced items and have only had one occasion when it just wasn't up to scratch.
I would be far happier renting a property via a verifed site like this one were you know that the property is genuine.

[ellie]

I have to agree with all the others, you cannot do better than rent a villa from one of these three sites.

However, I can understand your hesitancy. I cannot understand why anyone would want, or need, to rent out their villa for such a paltry sum at the most popular time of the year, and a £200 discount is a huge amount.

As Caroline so rightly says, that sort of price is not enough to pay all the bills, let alone maintain high standards.

A trip to Florida is something that many of us save for and plan for a long time. It is certainly not worth trying to cut down the cost of one's accommodation and risk being very disappointed. It is very true that you get what you pay for, and to be able to return each day to a beautifully maintained and lovingly equipped villa is one of the high spots of a trip to Orlando, and well worth the extra.

Cheap villas have to cut corners somewhere - it may be pest control or lawn care, pool maintenance, not adhering strictly to the licencing laws, not replacing worn out or damaged items, or a combination of all of these.

If you have any doubts about this 'bargain' then take a look at what is on offer here before you make your final decision.

[alastair]

I am a home owner who is unable to advertise on any of these sites due to the long waiting list. I would suggest if you are concerned, that you ask the owner to provide proof of ownership and existance of the property. This is something they can do quite easily and you can also do your own online verification on the property appraisers website. I hav'nt added the link, as I am not sure if I am allowed to post it.

[luckylady]

Belinda,
I am not going to beat about the bush if you are prepared to risk £800.00 of your hard earned money
renting from ebay not having all the facts, without being 100% certain they are genuine, it could be the holiday from hell.
A member of this forum a few months ago discovered someone advertising a villa on Ebay as a special,
displaying photograghs of her home in place of his.This person did own a home but was using photograghs of a superior home to rent his home.
At the end of the day it's your money,your choice. I would'nt risk ruining my family holiday renting from ebay.buts thats only my opinion.
You may have a tight budget,we all have budgets to keep to,but the home that will be yours for two weeks is not where you should be trying to make a saving, many other ways you can achieve this.Buying all your park tickets from a reputable company such as this one http://www.park-tickets.com/ will make you a saving,this way you can afford to spent a little more on your accommodation.
What ever you decide is best for your family Good Luck,have a great holiday
[msnsmile2][msnsmile2]

[steph_goodrum]

Belinda
Welcome to the site, hopefully by the time you have finished we will have been able to reassure you on most points.

The address and keycode virtually all owners give out these details on payment of final balance. As thsi is generally between 6-12 weeks before you travel this is plenty of time to check you're coomfortable with the driving directions etc. The reason we have to ask for payment upfront is, in the main most of us own only one home, therefore can accept one booking per time period and the home is then advertised as unavailable. Should the guest (for whatever reason) then be unable to complete the booking (many of our guests book 18 months in advance to secure their dates so things change and is why we recommend travel insurance to cover cancellation).

If the guests are unable to travel and we have to readvertise those dates then we need as much time as possible to try and achieve that to ensure the fundsto keep our homes to a high standard. Unlike hotels, we don't have funds coming in from other rooms to offset any no shows, and also don't get the benefit of "walkins" as they may do.

We also get asked why guests have to leave a security damage deposit, unfortunately not all guests are as respectful as we would hope and whilst accidents happen and we make allowances for that, general hygiene and sheer negligence cannot be left without the person responsible has to be responsible for the consequences.

As you say , you're putting a lot of effort into checking out the place and make sure the whole place is right but we do ask our guests as well to appreciate that trust is a 2 way street and whilst you may be trusting us with around £1000 for a typical 2 week holiday but we are, in return,entrusting our homes worth in the majority at least around $250,000. Even if only a small amount of damage may occur, if it means the home is uninhabitablefor a few days before the next guest can arrive then it has another knock on effect as we have to pay for somewhere else for the guest etc.

I hope by answering your questions honestly you can see that we are in the main trustworth people and by verifying where you are going to be etc.

If you are unhappy about cheque payments you can find many owners who will either take credit card payments or use Paypal to pay by credit card if it makes you feel more comfortable.

[E. Cosgrove]

Hello Lind, welcome to the forum.
I have a home in Sandy Rdge, as you say they are all very new and are beautiful homes, so I can only agree with all that has been said before, £400 does sound very cheap[msneek] and I think you have good reason to be cautious.

With regard to credit cards not all villa owners have the facility to accept credit cards directly, but they should certainly be able to accept credit cards via payapal.......especially if they are advertising on ebay[msnoo]

I hope you are able to check out things to your satisfaction, if not, then don't do it!!!!!!!
If things do work out OK have a really fantastic holiday[msnsmile2][msncool]

[tawny]

As an owner who is on the waiting list to advertise their villa on the above sites I have to agree with alistair. Contact the owner and ask for verification about the villa. I would be happy to have as much contact with my renters as they needed.

[ashley.smith]

A warning was put out on a villa owners site earlier this year the there is a scam targeted at people trying to get a bargain holiday for nothing. If the deal sounds to be to good to be true it is. Villas are let at a certain price to contribute (and I use the word contribute as most villa owners actually run at a loss) If you come across a deal that is much lower than the market rate ask your self why.

If you bought a CD from Virgin you would pay a similar price for the same CD in HMV, Woolworths etc. But if you bought the CD in the market for half the price I bet its either nicked or a conterfiet. Up to you but I agree with everyone above. Look to these forums. They may be a little more expensive but at least you will get exactly what you are paying for and will not have sleepless nights worrying about your holiday before you go or worse of all finding that when you get there you are sleeping in the back of your rental car!!!!