generally, yes. It depends on the city/town I need to book into. I always look at both when we book because price wins for me. Utah was cheaper going with realty company but mostly vrbo is cheaper.

but you know, again that is a vague observation. Some realty company may seem cheaper but the property is not really the same is it? For utah (in Moab) there was one for the same price we paid but much nicer but it was already booked so we ended up with the next one that was close to the price per day and it happened to be the realty company one. the property of the vrbo seemed nicer though....

Agree it is hard to evaluate the price, as so many add extras--cleaning, pool heating, security--that are not stated up front. But people who rave about VRBO always cite significant cost savings, and I just haven't seen that.

my experience with all the other charges are always up front on both realty company and vrbo....

We used VRBO for a Michigan beach house last summer (we were desperate for a last minute place) - it was wonderful. I was nervous too - and still feel like maybe I was just lucky - but after reading the reports here and the Google Earth idea is fantastic - I think I will definitely look into it again.

Wow! Thanks for all the response! I contacted the owner of the property we are interested in to find out the exact location. It helps that we are pretty familiar with Sullivan's Island...it's not a very big place...but at any rate, I had already looked at the location on Google Earth, just to see which section of the beach it is on. The owner seems very friendly and up front. The pictures on the website look lovely. In fact, before I even signed on here tonight, I had already done most of the things suggested by many of your posts...I guess I was just afraid if I didn't do enough research, then I would only have myself to blame, if we get burned on this rental. However, the fact that the majority of you who have responded have had very positive experiences with your VRBO rentals has somewhat allayed my fears and I am pretty certain that we are going to rent this property. I know it is in a good neighborhood, so as long as it is decently clean, I will be fine. Thanks again!