condo rental from owner?
 

Is it safe to rent a condo directly from the owner? I contacted someone through vrbo.com, and their policy is to ask for a $250 check for a deposit. That $250 is later deducted from the full bill as long as there are no damages, but they cash the $250 check as soon as they receive it. Does that sound standard? Thanks! S.

Of course they cash the $250 cheque when they receive it. Otherwise how do they know the cheque is good? Usually, the $250 is just an advance on booking and you have to pay the FULL balance about a month before your arrival date. If that is the case the $250 has nothing to do with damages. I have never been asked for a damage deposit when renting directly from an owner, just as I do not pay a damage deposit at a hotel.

This sounds perfectly reasonable. I should also add that a damage deposit is not out of the ordinary, whether or not you're renting from an owner. In fact, you don't say what the full rent is, but I've seen damage deposits that are a lot higher than $250. This owner's method of getting a damage deposit is a little out of the ordinary but nothing I'd be alarmed about.<BR><BR>

I try to avoid any cash payments because if there is a problem and you have to cancel, how easy is it to get that money back?

We've rented houses lots of times from the owner, and never ever been burned. Two out of the three we recently rented in Hawaii required a $500 security deposit, which was returned within two weeks of our stay. The third house (which was the nicest!) didn't require one. Go figure!<BR><BR>To xxx: when you have privately rented properties, credit cards are not an option. But the savings makes the risk worthwhile (at least for me). Also, most individual properties will not reimburse you for cancellation unless there are dire circumstances, or they re-rent the property.

They usually give a cancellation period though yes, Joan? You are talking about cancellation after the this period yes?

I personally prefer to rent from owners through a site like ebay.com where the sellers have ratings and if there's a problem, there's recourse. I'd be a bit leary unless you can get some type of references or something from previous renters.

Hi Sarah! I had to check my rental docs, luckily I've never had to cancel...one says no refunds unless re-rented (no time allowances), but the other allows a $75 fee for cancellation outside of 60 days. After that, you forfeit all payments unless the house is rebooked. This is the much more typical arrangement in my experience.<BR><BR>To those who are leery of renting from an unknown individual: to get a feel, ALWAYS telephone the owner. You can ask the nitty bitty questions (room darkening shades? air conditioning? walking time to beach, who are the neighbors?), with followups, all the while getting a feeling whether the owner has pride in their place. I am a big believer in "gut feeling" - this is always the clincher for me, a glowing voice tells me they love their place, and I will too! So far for me, about twelve rental houses and counting, all have turned out even better than their web photos.

I have used VRBO.com four times in the last couple of years. (3 in Colorado and once in Florida) Usually I've been asked to send a deposit check of $250.00 to $500.00. They owners I've rented never cashed this check and returned it to me after the rental. They do require full payment 30 days prior to stay and I don't think a refund is allowed unless they are able to rent it to someone else for that time period.<BR><BR>I was pretty leary the first time I used them and called the condo complex to verify that person xyz owned unit 123. That helped with my anxiety and I have always had a great experience with my VRBO.com rentals.<BR><BR>I was

Thanks Joan<BR>Susan what I did when I was reluctant to rent from owner was call a local agency and ask if they new about rental. Someone suggest that to me. I also called the tourist board to see if there were any complaints. When all came up clear I knew it was ok. <BR><BR>I now know that in small place like Hanalei, Hawaii that are very dependent on the tourist dollars you are not likely to get ripped off. They are too dependent on word of mouth. Everything we have experienced so far demonstrates this. <BR><BR>Now I would be leary of a rental in an area not dependent on tourist dollars and isolated. Don't ask me why those are just my worry rules.:):)

Thanks to everyone who replied! Your responses really helped put this in focus. I did phone the owner, and she sounded fine. I just haven't done this before and was wondering what the protocol is, if there is one. I'm also going to phone the complex and make sure that the condo number is legitimate, though. THanks again!

Hi Susan,<BR>I rent out a condo here in Ft Myers. It is standard for me to ask for a $300 deposit and full payment within 30 days of the rental. <BR><BR>I do cash the check, mainly to make sure I can get the deposit if they cancel (otherwise they can stop payment). As long as they cancel within the alloted time, I will always give the money back. If they don't cancel in time but I can rent it out, I will give the money back too. So, asking for a deposit and cashing the check is not unusual.<BR>Duane

Duane--could you please give me an idea of what winter rentals are in your Ft Meyers area. Are you located in Ft M Beach or inland? What would average 3 month one bedroom cost?? Thanks for your help. Just starting to gather info for 2004--retirement!!