Hello everyone - we're heading to Wailea soon and have placed an online reservation with the owner of a condo at the Polo Beach Club. I've never booked directly with an owner before - is it normal practice to send a check for the entire stay directly to the owner a month in advance? Perhaps I'm being paranoid but I'm curious how others have handled their payment arrangements, as it would be devastating to arrive and find our emailed reservation is worthless. Thanks!

Yeah, that's pretty normal - as is the unease you are feeling. If you found the condo through VRBO.COM you can probably rest assured - and even if you didn't chances are you will be fine. There are lots of folks who rent out condos & homes and the vast majority are on the up-and-up. If you are really uneasy, you can always verify that the person you're paying is really the owner of the property by using the following web site:

http://www.mauipropertytax.com/Owner...h&submnu=Owner

Ken

That is pretty standard. It helps protect the owner from getting burned at the last minute due to a cancellation.

Does the owner live on-island, or elsewhere? In Hawai`i the law states that absentee owners must designate an agent who resides on the island, and the agent's real estate license is at stake. If they are off-island, ask them who their agent is. Also, many of the AOAO bylaws are pretty strict about transient rentals. If you still have concerns you can always check with the Polo Beach Club AOAO.

We booked at Polo Beach directly through the owner a few years ago. Perhaps it's the same one - he owns several there - and sent our check and everything was fine. Condos are gorgeous, great location, in-house staff was very helpful. We use vrbo and similar sites fairly often and sending the $ 30-45 days ahead is standard practice. We've never had a problem but I always do some extra checking before committing, i.e. verifying ownership, etc. Enjoy. PB is a beautiful place. We plan to go back for our 40th in 3 yrs, God willing.

Thanks everyone, we appreciate your responses! I've checked out the owner and everything seems legit - it's just hard to send thousands of dollars when I'm used to reserving with a Visa card through a rental company! I appreciate your link, Ken, that was very helpful. If any of you have suggestions for rental cars on Maui, we're all ears. Looking for a convertible or preferably someone who knows someone who lives on the island and wouldn't mind making a few bucks renting their car for a couple of weeks. Insurance verification included, of course. Mahalo!