Barbara has summed things up in a nutshell.
The one big difference between renting a home directly with a villa owner on this site and renting a home through an agent is that nobody who really values their home will allow a tour operator the use of it. Why? Because they pay peanuts, so the owner does not get a reasonable amount to maintain the home. They also have no control over who, or how many people, occupy their home, and they may well have extremely high wear and tear as a result.
At these sort of rates the owner will need to fill their home every week of the year and still not make anything for replacements and repairs. So you take a gamble. You may find a home which is new, and up to that point, well cared for, but you have no guarantee and if you are allocated a home by the tour operator it may well be anything they can get hold of at the time you arrive. And if you do have a problem when you get there, who actually cares? Once you have arrived at the home it may be difficult to get anything done about an unsatisfactory villa, and you will be dealing with people in an office who have no link with the home other than the fact that they rent it out for the owner.
I am sure there will be guests who have rented a home which has been wonderful via a tour operator. But there are many more who would not do it that way after their first experience, which is why so many turn to a site like this.
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