Reassurance needed for booking made on villa in Cortona Area
 

Hello everyone.

After 2 months of research in finding a rental in Italy, and one near deposit on a different property, I made a deposit last night on a Tuscan stone house 3.10 miles from Cortona. The owner says a 79 yr old man could walk to the nearest commercial center in 10-15 minutes from the home. The property may be seen at this link which is her website, but it is listed on many,many internet reservation sites also:

http://2elisabette.monsite.wanadoo.fr/

I know this may have been really dumb, but I sent the deposit (via paypal on my cc)even though she has not provided me with any references. I asked for some and she told me that she has been renting for 5 yrs and that "As to the reference, I rent this property from five years. My villa is on the mayor international site web for vacation abroad." I did a google search for the terms and nothing came up. Upon further thinking about her answer, I realized that by "mayor" she may have meant "major". (English is not her first language.)

I did a web search on her name and came up with a few things in Italian. From what I can see she might do some writing for some small papers in Italy. Not sure though.

Short of rescinding my deposit what can I do to check this owner/property out? Should I not worry about it too much because of something like maybe in Italy rental circles this is not unusual? I asked her again today and am waiting for a new response. But if this does not produce the desired references what should I do? It took me forever to find something that fit all the requirements my family had. If I tell them this one didn't work out either they will be annoyed. Of course not as annoyed as they might be if we get there and a scam was done to us.

Thank you for your help.

ttt

Do some research on www.slowtrav.com, which has user reviews of many rental properties in Italy.

Thank you. I really like Slow Traveler and have been using it. Actually I think I drove them a little crazy with my postings so I'm trying not to wear out my welcome there.

There is no review of this property that I can find. But that's ok, I received an email from the owner that sort of gives me some confidence and another poster on another site intimated that because the property is on a particular rental site I should be OK. Also, another poster at that site said they have rented places in Italy for years and have never had a problem.

Good luck Phoebe--I hope this works for you. Remember, it is not about the house, it is always about the location.