vrbo...safe?
 

Am wondering who has used this site to book accommodations sight unseen and how you found the properties. Thank you

Everything turns on the unit/owner.

If you are thinking of specific units, perhaps others have had experience.

I own a property managment company and have advertised my own properties as rentals for years with VRBO which stands for Vacation Rental By Owner. It is basically a search engine for you to find a property in a desired area in which you are looking. Property owners with one property to rent as well as large property management companies with many properties use VRBO in hopes of gaining perspective renters.

It is the first site i go to when traveling and looking for a full serviced rental (furnished house or condo with kitchen) instead of a hotel to stay in. Now- that being said, there are many owners who advertise their properties on the site and the property pictures seen on the site may look new and clean compared to how the property looks in real life. I suggest if you decide to use VRBO and are booking with a "Ma and Pa" ask for references of others who have rented their property in the recent past. If they do not wish to accomodate this request then move on.

You should ask for references even if you book with a larger company on VRBO.

Another site that I know of is Rentalo.com. You can do a google or Yahoo! search for vacation rentals in (the area you are looking for) and see what you come up with.

Good Luck!

I've rented thorugh VRBO twice - once in Mont Tremblant and once in Paris. Both experiences were fine.

BUT -- you are dealing with individual owners, so that is like me telling you I have two good neighbors so you will too in your next move.

One tip -- ask if the unit is professionally cleaned. Look for references on line (try slowtrav.com for Europe) for specific units.

I advertise a rental on vrbo, also through vacationrentals.com.

The photos are your best "proof". I've had a few people book in advance for the snowbird season then show up to do a walk-through when they were in town. I've also had someone send a friend to check out my place.

But once you pay, you are at that old adage of possession being 9/10s of the law. It will be hard to get your money back. So tread cautiously.

I topped a couple of threads for you. I've had great luck all over the country and in France and have gotten great savings. Its fun to shop for an apartment or condo on the website.

thank you...special thanks to amwosu.

One more yes vote for VRBO. Great site. We have rented in Paris, London, Nova Scotia, and Alabama. All rentals were wonderful, and the savings were outstanding. Tracee

I've used vrbo to rent houses in mountain towns in Colorado, and condos in Maui and Hilton Head. Have not ever been disappointed.

We used it to rent a condo in Vail and was very happy. Now we are renting a condo in Deer Valley for January through the site.

Used it to rent a condo in Maui and all was well.

Ken

We got burned for the first time this past summer. Thing is I could smell the burn coming but sister was so excited with the location on Kauai she refused to hear the warnings. She financed this trip and it was her first time so I backed off.

I think this was an unusual experience, stove did not work, AC did not work and there was mold all things we were told over the phone were fine. We inquired verbally about mold and told owner that we had two kids with chronic asthma. The guy still lied to us!!!! What an absolute looser. We found out he was not well liked on the property from long term neighbors.

You always run the risk of this sort of thing but I think your chances are less likely if you just pay attention to owner behavior. This guy wanted us to send our security before before we had our lease in our hands. HUGE RED FLAG FOR ANYBODY But my Kauai happy sister LOL.

Our experience was unusual and I am sure that this guy will be dumped from VRBO. Will check and see if he is still on there. We were asked by the management of the complex to report him in writing because the guy was violating policy of the complex by renting with a consistantly broken stove.

Will this experience keep me of vrbo, no. As I said we have rented other properties that we loved that were also listed on VRBO. For the most part in Hawaii these rentals survive by word of mouth. People that treat you like you are making your one and only trip to Hawaii suffer in revenue return.

I too used VRBO for vacation rentals and would highly recommend them and other for-rent-by-owner sites. We have since purchased our own vacation rental and list our place on VRBO, as well as on vacationrentals.com, stayinnc.com, and other sites. Many listings will have a rentors.org guestbook where you can see what past guests had to say. Negative remarks will also be noted, but not necessarily shown. Many prior guests leave their email address, etc., so you could contact those prior guests to find more information on the rental. VRBO is a huge site, many, many listings, so you should be able to find something where you can check with prior guests. Best of luck to you!

The General Manager of VRBO replied to a thread on this forum last year. It was someone who was asking about what to look for when you rent through a site like VRBO. He gave a great tip list of dos and don'ts to having a good rental experience w/these kids of sites. I think his name was Marvin but I can't recall the last name. I think the thread was on the "Other" forum. I'll look for it and see if I can find it to top it for you.
BTW, I have rented from online rental sites (not just VRBO but also www.vacationhomes.com and several others) at least 8 times and used most of the same tips and tactics the VRBO General Manager mentioned and I have not been burned. I probably should add a "yet" to that sentence as it is always a possibility that even though you use all the reference checks and tips, as in most other things in life where you are careful, you can still get burned. But you reduce your chances if you are smart and careful. Let me try to find that post for you...

frannieb: Well, that was easy. I found the post immediately - it was by Marvin Floyd, GM of VRBO. Go to the "Other" forum and chekc as I topped the posting for you. VRBO is right in the title, you can't miss it.

frannieb: I used VRBO for Maui with success. The lady sent to me comments from recent guests. She had many pictures of the condo.

Sarah: The best thing you can do is write your experience on tripadvisor.com to warn others about this guy. If it's a condo, you can finds the complex on trip advisor and tell which condo number you stayed in and how the owner lied to you. You'll be potentially saving at least one person a lot of grief.

emd: What and where in the heck is the "other" forum?????

On the left side of the screen, where it says Change Forums, click then scroll down until you see "Other Topics".

Go to the little "change forum" box on the upper left of the screen - click and the additional forums besides the US forum come up. Go down the list and you'll see the "Other" forum. It is kind of a miscellaneous place for postings not really categorized well in the other forums. Click on "Other" and there you are...

Actually, it is "Other Topics"

and amwosu, I see that when you replied to that post where Marvin Floyd posted, you said you were looking for a place to rent in Phoenix in Spring 2006. My, how things change!

Yep! And we're actually going to Florida instead so DS who is a senior can enjoy a bona fide spring break fleshfest. We always go to the Sarasota area which is pretty laid back even at spring break but we're doing the Clearwater area instead. And I found it on VRBO!

many thanks emd, that was very helpful.i am renting one in Anna Maria Island and I have emailed her many times so I do have a feel for her. I sent a cheque for the deposit (it is only 3 nights as I was unsure about all this) but I guess i should have used my credit card. I hated to give it out to a stranger. Again thanks a lot.

frannieb- hope you love the quiet casual pace of Anna Maria Island. Go to Banana Cabana for dinner and try the crab stuffed grouper rolled up, coated with bread crumbs, and fried. Then walk next door for ice cream.

For a romantic dinner for grown ups (and many quite well dressed but you can get away with a golf shirt and khakis and a casual dress) go to Beach Bistro where many locals go for special occassions. Or go to its more casual sister Bistro at Islands End.

Skip the Sandbar and the Beach House. Overrated and underwhelming.

Oooooh. "Other Topics". I don't know why, but it almost sounded covert in nature. The "other" forum. As if only those "in the know" would know. haha!

I'm so glad you pointed me that way. There is a dynamite thread on the "other" forum (wink wink) that has people relating their comical mistakes in trying to communicate in another language. SO funny! Be prepared to laugh out loud.

The thread from Other Topics is this one:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34544942

This way people can find it no matter when they read this, since it won't stay topped over there forever.

We used VRBO once for a beach rental in Oceanside, CA. All went well, but the place was pretty dirty. We went and bought cleaning supplies, spent an hour cleaning up and then it was OK. The carpet was filthy. But the sheets were clean so it was livable. The location was great. So, even thought it was not a "perfect" experience, I would try VRBO again for sure.

loangalsal: You should have contacted the owners of the rental at check-in, obviously their cleaning staff did not do their job, and many owners are not located in the same town as their vacation rental and they need to know these things because most owners really do care about their guests being satisfied with their accommodations. We always tell our guests to contact us upon arrival if they have any problems so we can correct whatever it is ASAP (luckily my renters have had no problems so far), otherwise, there is no way we would know something is wrong, including the place being dirty. If the renters wait until after they leave to let the owner know, there is nothing we can do to correct the situation for that specific renter and we have possibly lost a return guest. In your situation, I would have had the housekeeper there in a heartbeat to do the job they are paid to do (and cleaning is usually paid for by the renter, i.e., cleaning fee in addition to rent, taxes, deposits). Hope your next rental is a clean one, there is no reason why you should have had to clean that place yourself.

Justmom where is your unit you sound like a great owner!

wantagig: I will be writing on Trip Advisor

We have a place in the beautiful NC mountains. We try our best to please our guests, and if there were a problem I would want to know and fix it right away, I would appreciate that if I were renting from someone else.

thanks, espec. amwosu and justmom...i will post upon return and let you know how it went.

I own a S. Padre Island condo and am always concerned for our guests' welfare. Although I live in Colorado, I keep in touch with my guests. Several emails change hands (and sometimes phone calls). I would be upset if my guests found the unit in less than satisfactory condition and, if those circumstances should ever arise, I would do what I could to rectify it immediately. I have received phone calls upon guests' arrival telling me how pleased they were with the condo, and "thank-you's" after their stay. My ultimate goal is to have return visitors whom I can trust to take care of my place. I will use VRBO in the future for some of my own trips, I am sure!
Sharon