Need some peace of mind....

[Icemanlu606]

My family and I are looking to rent our first vacation home. We have worked hard to save up money for our trip. The homes on this site are very beautiful. But seem almost too good to be true. We live in the US and as I look around the site everyone seems to be from the UK. I guess I would feel more comfortable not having to send money overseas for the rental. Call me crazy or just naive. Just seems to give me some sense of false security lol. Just wanting to know if anyone had any tips to give a first time renter so that my family will have the best experience possible (or at leas that our budget can afford).
Thanks

[christhear]

A lot of the owners are from the UK, this just shows how much we love visiting your wonderful country. You will also find some US owners on the site as well.
Although I am from the UK I have an american bank account and therefore accept American dollars, guests simply send a check direct to mu US bank. All owners on these sites have to verify their villas every six months and we are all registered to pay taxes. You could ask owners for their Tax certificates, licences and or Management Company details if you want extra assurances.
The owners of this site are also very pro-active with the advertisers on it. I hope I have managed to make you feel more confident about booking a villa from here.

[SteveandJan]

Hi and welcome. I understand how you must feel as trips to Orlando are once in a lifetime vacations for some and so owners will do whatever they can to help you feel at ease.

We are based in the UK too and have an american bank account and our management also accept payments direct via credit card or personal check, should you feel happier in dealing with them for payment. We are always happy to pass on email addresses from guests who have stayed previously and as Christine said we are happy to provide tax certificate and licences.

Ask as many questions as you want to help you make your decision.[msnsmile]

[kitch50]

We have been renting a wonderful villa from the lovely Caroline on this site for a number of years. We had never rented a villa before and did have some reservations having to pay a large amount of our money to someone we had never met. Even when we drove up to the villa we didn't know what to expect because the photos were fabulous and we thought it would be too good to be true ...... we walked into the villa and WOW ... it was exactly the same as the photographs ... no I tell a lie ... it was even better, we couldn't have been happier with our choice and 10 years later we are still visiting King Louie's Pad. I have still never met Caroline although we have spoken many times on the phone.

I would definitely recommend renting a villa from this site [msnsmile2]

[Claire]

Hello Eric

I can only agree with what the others have said. Whilst it may seem strange to you to do business with someone sitting 4,500 miles away, any legitimate owner of a Florida rental home will be more than happy to show you proof that their home exists and would willingly put you in touch with previous renters.

The owners of this site ensure that all homes advertised with them are verified every six months - this confirms that the home exists and the person advertising that home still owns it.

I can only urge you to ask as many questions as you need to (both of the owner of the home you choose and through this site if you have more general questions) and don't be afraid to check and double-check things. Oh, and don't forget to also have a great time planning your trip and enjoying yourself when you are actually there!

CLAIRE

[Icemanlu606]

Thanks for all of the responses. I just get a little worried when I think about spending all of our hard earned money. Now that I have found your site I will have to plan a lot sooner next trip. I thought 3 months would be ok but am finding out that alot of the nicer places we have looked at are sadly gone already. I have a fixed vacation through my work place and did not find out until November when it was going to be. Then with all of the Christmas festivities and shopping we were really unable to start looking. Now we have hit it hard only to find we may be settling or increasing our rental budget to get the things we would like to have for this once every 5 year or so vacation. But my children have never seen the ocean and we want this to be a wonderful experience for them. Once again thanks for all of the help.

[steph_goodrum]

I can only reiterate what the others have said, but another suggestion if youu want a little extra protection is to ask if you can pay by credit card so that you have their back up also if things go wrong. I do this myself when venturing into the unknown because if you pay the money off before the interest is due then it costs little extra (just the credit card fees) but can give you a lot of peace of mind.

We dont have a guestbook on our website but many of my previous guests have said they are happy confirm that everything is as described if I want them too and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Your children will have a wonderufl time I'm sure.

[Andrena]

WE always offer the facility for our US guests to mail their payment to our Management Company. We are also very happy to provide any information that you may wish.

Not sure when you are planning to travel but I am sure that there are still many lovely homes available for many of the months of this year.

Andrena

[Icemanlu606]

Looking to travel from March 25th to April 2nd. We are taking the grand parents with so we are looking for a 3 bedroom house. We have two boys age 17 and 8. The wife and I would like to have a spa/jacuzzi available to relax in after walking in the parks all day. Other than that we don't have any crazy needs. We looked at the King Louie's Pad and man does it look nice! But may be a little out of our range for this trip. Plus it looks huge. One can dream I guess. We will keep digging in and I am sure will find something we can all agree on. Thanks again.

[christhear]

It may be worth widening your search to include 4 bedroom homes - I for one am still available over those dates and I'm sure some others are too. There is a much larger selection of 4 bedroom homes and it goves you a little more room to spread out, a lot will also have 3 bathroom giving you one bathroom per bedroom that you require