Villa rental help please

[Wills Mom]

Hi, I'm just wondering if anyone could help me. I've always booked our villa rental through our travel agent here in Ireland but this year they are charging an exorbitant price compared to previous years so I am looking at booking directly with villa owners. I have to book two 3 or 4 bedroom homes and I got a great rate from someone through HomeAway but I'm very hesitant to book as I've never done it this way before and the two villas she has offered me have no reviews on their HomeAway page or on their VRBO pages so I'm just sceptical. I'm wondering does anyone have any advice on how to book through the owner - how to pay, how deposits work etc? Or if anyone has any villas they have previously rented and been happy with that you could recommend to me? We are travelling for 17 nights in May. I'm kind of getting overwhelmed by it all at this stage so any help or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated

[bamor]

I highly recommend Beth at www.wishingplacevilla.com. This is a three bedroom, three bathroom townhouse. Paid her directly through paypal. She refunded our deposit via a personal check but I also had the choice of paypal as well. Very easy to work with, timely in her response and she sent all necessary paperwork in a timely manner. This villa is located in Windsor Hills. You've got a Super Target and Publix about 5 minutes away for all of your grocery/household needs.

[Wills Mom]

Originally Posted by bamor

I highly recommend Beth at www.wishingplacevilla.com. This is a three bedroom, three bathroom townhouse. Paid her directly through paypal. She refunded our deposit via a personal check but I also had the choice of paypal as well. Very easy to work with, timely in her response and she sent all necessary paperwork in a timely manner. This villa is located in Windsor Hills. You've got a Super Target and Publix about 5 minutes away for all of your grocery/household needs.

Thank you I just checked that site but shes booked out for my dates! Thanks for your reply though

[JANNYANS]

First thing is establish a line of comunication with the owner how quick are they in answering questions ? Do they give you answers that are clear and consise and fully answering the questions you ask
Each owner will have their own way of doing business you need to have a written terms and conditions and a booking form .Depsots may be paid by cheque Bank transfer -some owners will take pay pal but ther emay be a charge and others will have the facility to take cc or their man co will -again there may be a charge .
You can check the appropriate county sites to see if the taxes are up to date -not always an indicaiton of something may be amiss or that there are no outstanding leins against the property .
Do your homework and the process is not too bad .

[bamor]

the easiest thing then to do is go to
www.windsorhillsrent.com
be very specific in your request:
example:
3 bed/3 bath townhome
private pool
2 twin beds in kids room or bunk beds
close to clubhouse
specific dates

any owner meeting your requests will send you an email with a quote, you can decide from there

BTW, Beth also owns a 4 bed villa, you may want to check www.laughingplacevilla.com

[Wills Mom]

Originally Posted by JANNYANS

First thing is establish a line of comunication with the owner how quick are they in answering questions ? Do they give you answers that are clear and consise and fully answering the questions you ask
Each owner will have their own way of doing business you need to have a written terms and conditions and a booking form .Depsots may be paid by cheque Bank transfer -some owners will take pay pal but ther emay be a charge and others will have the facility to take cc or their man co will -again there may be a charge .
You can check the appropriate county sites to see if the taxes are up to date -not always an indicaiton of something may be amiss or that there are no outstanding leins against the property .
Do your homework and the process is not too bad .

Thank you so much for the tips! I've just emailed the lady about the villas and said I will call her over the weekend to talk things through. Her website says they accept the deposit via Paypal so that answers that question anyway. I'm wondering what you mean when you say to "check the appropriate county sites to see if the taxes are up to date" - can you just advise me how I can do this please?

[JANNYANS]

You look up the property appraisers site ,
http://www.property-appraiser.org/

tax collector
http://www.osceolataxcollector.com/

and official records
http://osceolaclerk.com/

Search by the owners name and all records should come up if you need help decodihg it all just ask

[Wills Mom]

Originally Posted by JANNYANS

You look up the property appraisers site ,
http://www.property-appraiser.org/

tax collector
http://www.osceolataxcollector.com/

and official records
http://osceolaclerk.com/

Search by the owners name and all records should come up if you need help decodihg it all just ask

Thank you. I'll have to find out the details of the owner though. Her email is just her first name and her husbands first name I'm starting to think maybe we would be better off booking through a third party! The owner gave me the email address of a past guest at the villa and I contacted her but I'm still not convinced!

[sympatico]

Try romancingthemouse.com They have a few houses in Windsor Hills that are close together and they get good reviews.

[JANNYANS]

Originally Posted by Wills Mom

Thank you. I'll have to find out the details of the owner though. Her email is just her first name and her husbands first name I'm starting to think maybe we would be better off booking through a third party! The owner gave me the email address of a past guest at the villa and I contacted her but I'm still not convinced!

Have messaged you with some help