Too Good to be True??????

[JSB32]

Hi, hoping for some advice. I am in the process of looking for a villa to rent for the first 2 weeks of November 2009. I particularly like one in Terra Verde which has everything we are looking for and the price is great including pool heat. Although this is the 4th villa I have booked and have not had any issues so far. I am more cautious now due to the global financial downturn. How can I ensure everything is legitimate and above board and that I am not going to either lose my payments or end up in less than quality accomodation. Contact was made via [edited out - not one of our sites] and the owner phoned me direct and I have called him on a couple of occassions.
Any advice would be welcomed.
Thanks

[andrewmckay5]

Jonathan,

With a mortgage the cost of owning and renting out a villa in Florida runs to a few thousand dollars per month. If the cost quoted seems too low with this in mind then to me there are a few possibilities:

1) the owner is not covering the overheads and "may" not be an owner next November.
2) the owner is cutting corners with insurance, tax or upkeep( please don't risk staying in an uninsured property.)
3) the owner may be taking a quantity over quality approach and relying on a high occupancy rate; this inevitably leads to a lot of wear and tear.

Personally I wouldn't risk spoiling a holiday with poor quality accommodation. You already seemed worried and rather than looking forward to you November vacation you could spend 10 months wondering what type of villa you will turn up to.

Apologies for sounding a bit negative but as the saying goes " if it looks to good to be true, it normally is."

andrew

[brownm]

Jonathan

If you are looking at a villa on this website all these villas are "CHECKED & VERIFIED" by the site owners every six months!! this is a strict regulation that this website stipulates for the very reason you have some doubt's about!

I can't guarantee that every villa on this site will be around in November 2009 but when you view the villas, a good indication to you would be the time these villa owners have been listed on the site.

Best of luck with your booking!

Mark.

[sundowner]

If you have spoken to the owner and still feel unsure if it were me, I doubt that I would book with them. It is important to speak to the owner and feel happy with the outcome.

No one her can guarantee that villa will still be owned by the same person next year, however if you book from here you will know that all the owners care and love their homes, and if anything were to happen there are a lot of us here to help out in whatever way we could.

[Snapper]

Jonathan, I'll probably get flamed to death by all and sundry for what follows (and fellow owners - please don't turn this into a discussion about villa costs otherwise this thread will end up moved into the owners area).

If you want a very general rule-of-thumb, take the rental cost of the villa per week in dollars, multiply it by 26 and divide it by 1000. If the number you end up with is significantly lower than 35 then it's likely that the owner is running the villa at or very close to a loss.

You could also try multiplying by 30 instead of 26 - that figure would work too, and would also give you a high point and low point.

This isn't a be-all-and-end-all and there are probably dozens or even hundreds of exceptions; but give it a go and see where you get to.

[LiesaAnna]

been there done that on Terra Verde, went for a cheap villa, advertised as luxurious..... when it was far from luxurious it was in a slightly run down state!!! it was advertised on another website not here, so if it does seem to cheap then its probably bought purely as a money maker and has no warmth to the place and maybe a little neglected!! the one we stayed at on Terre Verde certainly was..... the air con also broke down and it took 3 days to get sorted.... we couldnt cope with 80' + indoors..... couldnt sleep etc..... we were offered another villa to stay in by kind people we have come to know through this site and another site purely one for TV, who then helped us out the origional villa owner wouldnt even give a partial refund, he was awful so would never book away from here or the TV website
we were never offered an apology either...... stick with this or the TV website and you wont go far wrong!!

[JSB32]

The deal is done now. Having spoken with the villa owners several times and also the management company(UK couple) in Terra Verde I have made the booking. I feel confident they are honest people with nothing to hide.

Roll on November 2009.

[FraserLynn]

Just 'cause it is cheap don't mean it is bad.

We have had many a good value deal which has been low in price compared to others. The assumption that if it is low price that the product is poor, in my experience is just not true, there are many reasons why people can and choose to offer their property at a lower price.

Good for you bagging yourself a bargain and roll on Nov 2009. Knowing that you got a good price just makes the experience all the sweeter in my book.

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

The first two that spring to mind are they are not paying tax and there is no insurance.

Believe me, this is quite a common thing amongst very cheap villas and they will get caught up with by the authorities sooner rather than later. Then you may well be left with nowhere to stay at short notice.

We see enquiries quite often along the lines of "I booked a villa and we've been let down by the owner at the last minute. Can you match the price they quoted of [insert ridiculously low rate here]". I wonder why???

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by FraserLynn
there are many reasons why people can and choose to offer their property at a lower price.
[/quote]

[Katys Grandad]

Just where does the OP mention how much he/she is paying or say that this villa is cheap? He's happy with the deal he's got and is simply asking whether, in the present financial climate, he can be fully confident that everything is above board and that he can be sure that he won't lose his deposit and that the property will be all he hopes it will be. The real answer these days is that, irrespective of price, nobody can rely on the sustainability of any business entity. Ask those who had money with Northern Rock, Icelandic banks, Woolworths etc etc etc...

Some posters seem to be saying that if somebody gets a good deal, it has to be dodgy! Perhaps the owner is simply trying to get at least some money coming in throughout what will be a very challenging market over the next couple of years. Who knows?