Pay for all of apartment in advance?
 

We're a month out from our trip and several days ago I received a reminder from HomeAway that I need to pay the remaining balance for my Paris apartment. The due date on the final payment is 4/29...one month before our arrival date of 5/29. Somehow I misread the original agreement and thought the balance was due on arrival. While I've rented a few apartments years ago I thought I usually paid the final amount upon arrival. How unusual is it to pay everything a month out.

We are seeing that more and more. Our Dublin apartment for the fall was a deposit and then the payment in full one month before arrival. Our Paris apartment last year we paid in full via credit card to the agency before arrival. Last year our apartment in Dublin was a deposit and payment upon arrival but everything this year was paid in full a month in advance. Times are changing and they are covering themselves for no shows.

When I've rented apartments in London, that's always been the case. Also the case for my upcoming trip to Northern Ireland.

I've paid part of the balance on arrival at every one of the several apartments I've rented, but as others have noted, some policies are changing. This doesn't surprise me.

One thing I don't like about the full payment in advance is that it takes away any leverage you have if the apartment isn't as advertised.

I've done it both ways in Paris and other places. Some have you pay a month or 2 weeks in advance of arrival and others have you pay upon arrival.

Great...so it's not unusual. That's what I was wanting to know. Thanks all!

Not unusual but I would never accept.

Good reminder for reading the small print tough.

Of all the flats I've ever rented probably 70%+ were pay in full in advance and 25% or 30% were pay balance on arrival.

We've rented 67 gites through Gites de France, an apartment from Pebbles in Nice, and from Paris Perfect in Paris. For all but about 5 gites - we've paid the final balance 1 month in advance.

Stu Dudley

I have rented three apartments in Paris.. I have never paid in full in advance.. only on arrival.. and I totally trust the company I use now ( used them for all three rentals)so if they changed their policy and asked for it up front I would be ok with it .. but just for them.
Sorry.. I have ( over the years) read far too many tales of folks arriving to apartments that were not as pictured or described, or, not clean.. or worst nightmare.. withdrawn from rental pool after you pay and then you are offered another one ( which you likely would have never chosen)..
My money is hard earned and am careful with it..

But look at it from the owner's point of view - they would write "Sorry.. I have (over the years) read far too many tales of folks not arriving and the owner being left holding the bucket with an apartment un-rentable at the last moment"

I believe Home Away has a credit card option along with some type of security guarantee. I used this and paid in full when I booked with them. With a credit card you do have recourse of something does go wrong.

I would assume that one would do sufficient research including recent reviews of the property that they want to rent and even speaking directly to the owner if concerned about certain aspects.

As already pointed out, there is a tendency to look at property rental only from the renters perspective and the not owners. Concerns and possible problems exist on both sides.

I am renting in Paris later this year through VRBO (sister Co to Home Away) I know I am expected to be fully paid 30 days in advance. I have rented this apartment before. I think it has much to do with the owner. I do not think it is all that unusual

You usually pay in full in advance, in my experience. If you don't want to do this, don't rent the flat.
Some discount hotel rates are payable in advance as well.

Like I stated earlier, we've rented 67 properties through Gites de France. We've rented several of them multiple times, for a total of 51 different gites.

The very first gite we rented in the Dodogne in 1997, we pretty much picked "blind" based on 1 picture in a book, a rating system, and a short description. It was great, & we've returned 4 other times & will be in the same gite this September. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gites were rented "blind" in 1999 - based on a picture in a book, rating, & description. They were nice (great location - near Gordes, St Remy, & Vaison) but the gites themselves were about B- places. We returned to the one near Gordes several years later. While we were in France in 1999, we visited two other gites, (near Nice, & near Cotignac in the Var) and examined the properties & talked to the owners. We reserved them on the spot. They were both A- to B+ Gites. We stayed in 2 other Gites in 2000 also - returning to the Dordogne gite & staying in one in the Loire. The Loire gite was picked "blind", and it was a B+. All the remaining 46 gites were picked using books the first couple of years, then the internet and proprietor's web sites. Again - these were all through Gites de France, http://www.gites-de-france.com/ which has a rating system and supposedly does examinations and follow-ups with renters - but we have never participated in any follow-up. Gites-de-France advertises about 50,000 different Gites. It has some B&Bs too - in addition to these 50,000 - and we have stayed in 2 of them. Gites-de-France is not very "English Friendly".

So - of the 51 different gites we've rented - we have examined only 2 in person, and have never talked to "others" who have stayed in any of the gites in the past to get input from them. We have NEVER been disappointed in any of the gites we've stayed in. We usually stay in the "best" gite in the region we choose to stay in.

In 7 weeks, we'll be in this gite for 2 weeks
http://www.gites-de-france.com/locat...07G155006.html

and in each of these gites for 1 week.
http://www.gites-de-france.com/locat...d-05G5280.html

http://www.gites-de-france.com/locat...74G103018.html

Stu Dudley

Whether you pay in advance tends to depend a lot on the country though not always. In the UK the industry standard is to pay a deposit on booking, followed by the full amount 4-6 weeks in advance. This is what we do, unless it's a late booking when we expect full payment in advance, or a very late booking, when they just bring the cash. In over 10 years I can only remember one rubber cheque; the chap obviously had some problems which went beyond his financial ones and said he was coming anyway so we locked the gate, thus perplexing our neighbour who happened to call round at the time our guest might have been arriving!

In France we have always paid in advance, but in Italy we have paid a deposit and cash on arrival for the balance.

<<or worst nightmare.. withdrawn from rental pool after you pay and then you are offered another one ( which you likely would have never chosen).. >>

As we have only one "unit" that's not a problem with us.

Stu Gites de France is a reputable company that only rents legal places. Many apartments in Paris are not legal, so a neibhor complains and the owner has to suddenly withdraw the unit,or others have had their rentals cancelled at last minute

Paying 67 bookings in advance doesn't mean mean you are smart.
Having no problem doesn't mean you are smart.
I am like above poster : my money is hard earned I don't part with it easily. You do what you like
I understand the owner point of view but the owner has to understand mine.
If relation is unbalanced I run away

You do what you want.

Here in the US we have rented frequently and always have to pay ahead.
I have never found that to be a problem.

>>I understand the owner point of view but the owner has to understand mine.<<

And you have the choice of not renting a place. But IME (and as annhig says it does vary a lot by country) most rentals in the UK and in the States require full payment in advance and mostly far in advance. In france I've found maybe 50/50 - half require full payment half don't. I've only rented one place in Italy so I don't know what is 'normal' - but that one did require full payment in advance.

Just seems totally normal to me . . .

Just be sure to do what you can to protect yourself, whether that means travel insurance in case you must cancel, or enough research to be confident in the property or agency. Scammers are always finding new ways to take people's hard earned money: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...4ec_story.html

This is just something you have to accept when renting a flat. We let a flat in London through Onefinestay. It's pretty much booked solid in the summer months, often booked months in advance. If someone were to pull out without paying just before arriving, it would be very hard to fill those days. Most people who book flats do so for a longer period, and well in advance.

And things can go wrong; there can be flooding, a boiler can break down. It's not always a 'scam'. If you book with a reputable agency, they will find you another property, or refund your money.

If you don't like this, then book a hotel.

HomeAway, VRBO and all their affiliate companies were just bought out by Expedia. I would expect more changes that will affect the owner - including raising fees to guarantee placement on the websites - and this will also affect the clients in various ways.

If you pay all the rental fees before you arrive, and if you find the apartment is unsuitable, there is nothing you can do about it. If you pay the balance in cash, the same thing applies. Vacation rentals in Paris are illegal, so you have no legal recourse in either case.

If the person you are renting from does not live in the apartment at least 8 months out of the year, it is an illegal rental. Most owners/agencies have gotten smart and "juggle" their calendars to disguise this, so there's no way for the client to know for certain.

The Mayor's office has stepped up inspections, so there is no guarantee that your apartment will not be pulled off the market if the owner is notified. If you have paid all the money in advance, it might take a while to get it back, and you will have to look for another place to stay.

In Italy, the standard is to pay the balance on arrival. In London, I've never seen a single apartment that allowed that. So if paying in advance doesn't appeal to you, you couldn't rent an apartment in London.

I rented an apartment for a family group in London one year for Christmas. I didn't want us all in separate hotel rooms with no possibility of cooking our own meal on Christmas day (when London is totally shut down). So I had to accept the terms available or not go there. I did some careful research about the agency and the apartment owner, and bit the bullet. It was all fine, although I agree that there's no statistical significance in that sample.

In Paris, most of the listings I used to see required that from agencies. Usually 30-90 days in advance. VRBO and Airbnb are different stories, obviously, as they are private owners, so anything goes.

So I don't think it's unusual at all for an agency that has been around for some years. I've never rented from a private owner so have no idea what the norm is there in Paris. well, okay, I did once through a French website that wasn't an agency (lodgis.fr, sort of like a French Homeaway) and I did pay part of it upon arrival in cash.

both sides are taking risks, obviously

Regarding Airbnb, "anything goes" in no way describes their system. The entire amount is paid in full the moment you hit "book". The owner has no control whatever over that aspect of the transaction. What they do have control over is the cancellation policy. Some offer a full refund (excluding booking fees) at any time up until check-in, while others are less lenient. I tend to choose places that offer a refund though I very rarely cancel. But booking well in advance it's nice to know I can.

For those like me who feel prefer not being locked in or lose it all, should events require a change of plan, it's a very good system.

When I rented my house in France, I asked for a $500 security deposit upon booking plus half the rental, the rest due a month or 45 days before arrival. Payable by check or credit card, never cash. Security deposit returnable once I received the EDF and Sogedo and France Telecom bills to make sure you didn't eat up scads of francs/euros in unnecessary utility expenses. I sent those bills to the renters so they knew I wasn't scamming them (sometimes they were scamming me - like the two NYC stock exchange mavens who ran up $800 worth of telephone calls in less than a week).

Assuming we are talking about legitimate rentals here, isn't this totally acceptable? Do you think that someone who has gone to the trouble of buying, insuring, furnishing, and keeping up an overseas rental will just let you show up without some guarantee that you ARE going to show up and pay what's owed? Owning a property in Europe is far from a piece of cake. As mentioned it works both ways, and I worked hard to get and keep this property. I'm not going to wait for some rental party to show up on its doorstep and decide if they think it's OK for them. If I can't get your money in advance and secure the dates, it's a definite no-show because someone else will always come along who will comply with reasonable rules.

Thanking God I am no longer in the rental business....

Good rentals can choose their clients !

We rent our house only to people we know. If they don't pay, well so be it...