Anyone ever rent a home....

[Shutterbug]

that was listed on vrbo.com?

I was looking through this website and there seem to be some good deals. I had no idea so many people from the UK owned homes in Kissimmee.
I have found one home I really like and have emailed the owner. The rate is great and is available.
I have never done this before and was wondering what things I should ask the owner.

 

[disneysteve]

Too bad Search is rarely available because there are many threads devoted to this topic. Here are some basics in no particular order.

Confirm the rate, taxes, added fees such as cleaning, pool heat, etc.
Get the cancellation policy.
Find out who the local management company is. You need to know who will handle problems during your stay.
Find out where you pick up the key to the home. Sometimes it is in a lockbox at the property. Other times you need to travel to another location (management office) to get the key. That can sometimes be a fair distance from the home.
Be sure you view photos/video of the actual home, not just representative photos from the development.
Get a complete list of what amenities and supplies the home has, and what things you need to bring. Do you need toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, dish detergent, etc. Some owners provide things that others don't.


I've rented pool homes several times and just last week rented a condo in Windsor Palms. Always great experiences. No comparison to a hotel onsite or off. Its a great way to travel - you'll be spoiled by the space and amenities very quickly.

Steve

 

[OrlandoPlanner]

Two years ago we rented a home thru vrbo. The owner lived in England. Everything was great until we opened the door. In the instructions we were sent they specified that the alarm would not be active. When I unlocked the door the alarm started screaming.
They had a local management company listed as a contact. It was Saturday afternoon and the company was closed for the weekend. We later found out that someone was supposed to be on call but the phone was not forwarded properly.

The police and the fire department including a fully outfitted firetruck arrived within moments. I called the alarm company and they could do nothing. The police, fire department and the alarm company all said this happens a lot with the vacation rentals.

We ended up leaving the house alarm screaming and staying in a motel overnight until someone could be reached. The home was beautiful but this was a big deal. It cost us $150 to rent rooms for the night and the owner only refunded $100 of our home cost over the ordeal. We also had problems with the pool heat.

 

[Shutterbug]

thanks for the replies!
The owner of the house I am currently looking at lives in England.
That kinda concerned me if something goes wrong.
I would like to go through a management company but that tacks on to the price.

I guess I will have to think about this.

Again thanks!

 

[JANNYANS]

Please do not give up the idea of going through an owner -the service you can get is great.You will get to know every little nook and cranny about where you are staying before hand exact details of how to get there and every owner I know of will bend in half to answer any question you have and find out anything you need to know .The problem orlando planner had are not really the fault of the owner but the manangement company but I do agree that a little more refund would have been better .

If you want more information ask the owner who their man co is and check their home is where they say it is .Find out which county it is in and you can check online that they really own it through the county website.Ask for previous guests' names and get something from "the horses mouth so to speak"
As disneysteve says once you stay in a home you will be spoilt -give it a go its a big jump if you have never done itbefore but if you want someone to hold your hand get in touch -and remember its a two way process and the owner is allowing perfect strangers to stay in their home which is worth $1000's and you as a guests are giving up hard earned money to strangers so both sides have to have trust.

 

[FLeisure]

Shutterbug,
Don't know what makes you think using an MC ups the price. MC's have to be competitive in the market themselves and lets face facts $ 89 per night for a 3 bed house is hardly breaking the bank is it ?

Further, renting from either an owner directly or a management company should really make no difference. Both need to know everything about the house and both need to work together to make it successful. Too often on these boards we get this Owner v MC competition and as OrlandoPlanner discovered, you can rent a home through an owner only for the MC to let you down and vice versa.

Just follow the rules and everything will be fine.

1. Check the credentials of the company you want to book with with Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce and CFPMA.
2. Ensure that you are given a home address so you know the actual home you are staying in rather than a home upon arrival.
3. If possible look at photos of the home on the company's web site. Better still, see if they have video footage...some companies do.
4. Check how long has the company been in business.
5. Check whether the company actually manages the homes or is just a booking agent.
6. If booking directly with the homeowner, check there is a local agent or Management company who looks after the home. Essential if you encounter a problem during your stay.
7. Check the terms of business, what happens with security deposit, when is balance due etc.
8. Check the location of home...is it where you want to be?
9.Check that the home is equipped with everything you require.

 

[ptcruisermom]

It's the only way to go, would not go to orlando any other way. have rented 3 times, and haven't had a problem yet. The first two times were with a mc this time directly through owner( haven't been there yet but everything is set to go less then 5 weeks now) I guess I had better to get busy.

 

[Lisa AF]

We've rented a home from UK owners (through VRBO) and had a wonderful visit! We checked out their management co. with the BBB. I also looked up the phone number of the management company myself to be sure that it existed and asked for a reference for the owners. They were happy to assure me the owners and the home was legitamate.

 

[kilee]

We just returned 10 days ago. We had 2 homes rented both from UK owners. Both were rented through the orlandovillas.com webiste. We had a great expierence. One home had management company, the other did not. Either way, the renting and payment were directly dealt with on both rentals right to the owners. Both homes were beautiful. We had a 5 bedroom 3 bath in Hampton Lakes. Then another part of my group had a 3 bedroom 2 bath in Emerald Island. The one in Emerald Island didn't have pool heat when we arrived. However, within 24 hrs it did. There were instructions left on how to turn it on, and my uncle didn't see them right away. (This was the house w/o a mang. co.).

We got a really good rate. The 5bedroom was just a hair over 900.00 w/ pool heating. The 3bedroom was $695.00 w/ pool heating. We had both for 8 days.

 

[FLeisure]

Kilee,
Very concerned to read that one of the houses didn't have an MC. In all likelihood this means the owner is trying to cheat the sales tax system and is prepared to cut corners. It also means the house probably wasn't licensed.

What if this had been the only house you had rented ? What if an emergency had arisen?

 

[kilee]

Then I guess my aunt would of been up a creek. It was her choice not mine. The one I rented did have a MC. I thoroughly checked out what I was getting into. I only post about her's because we spent a fair amount of time there as well. I am posting what our expierence has been. Whether they are cheating the tax system our not is really not my problem in all honesty. Do you check the tax records of all hotels you stay at? I am sure you don't, which would be impossible to do anyhow. How a cabin/villa/hotel owner does their taxes is not my problem. I felt more comfortable for myself going w/ a rental that had a MC. My aunt didn't have any qualms about her's not having one. Just as there are going to be posters on this board who may be willing to take the chance of not having a MC. I am JUST posting our expierence. So far to you, in 95% of your posts a "good deal" means it's a cheap house, corners are cut, or something else MUST be wrong. It's not always the case!! In previous posts you had implied the house I rented must be a roach infested, walls falling down around us dump. This was prior to my arrival. Your reasoning was because the specific house I rented had really cheap rates for this upcoming January. I will tell you the place was gorgeous. There wasn't a bug to be found. It was spotless. It had beautiful furnishings and high quality amenities. Therefore, I highly recommend that anyone interested in renting a villa does quite a bit of research. Know what you are getting yourself into. However, sometimes the advice given here is biased (some people here own or manage their own villas) and should be taken w/ a grain of salt.

I'm glad you had concerns, but quite frankly the trip is over, so they were needless. Thanks anyways though.

 

[Shutterbug]

Well I did some more hunting around and found a different house I actually like better. Very scenic. I just sent an email off to the owners to see if the dates I need it for are available.

From what I read they dont have a MC but they say that have a caretaker that is available 24/7 if there are any problems. Should I be concerned by this?

It also said the villa is fully licensed by State and County Authorities. Is there a way to check this out?

 

[JANNYANS]

There is no need to be concerned shutterbug a caretaker is someone who looks after the house for the owner but generally speaking does not get bookings for them and may not deal with the paying of taxes due -you could say they are rather like housekeepers-I have a caretaker and they simply ensure all the jobs around the house are done ,the pool is cleaned and the lawns kept neat .
When you know the owners name ,and the county their home is in you can check what licences they have on the county website-although in some cases the licence may be in the caretakers name so find out that as well. Enjoy your stay .

 

[FLeisure]

Kilee,
There is a massive difference between a hotel and a home in regards to the tax. You would have been very concerned if the tax people had visited the house and put one of their bright red stickers on it saying that you can't rent it anymore because the owner hadn't paid the tax.

Kilee, I'm glad things worked out for you and now that you've visited you maybe able to se the dangers a little more. You did your homework well and that made your stay pleasurable. However, please don't say that I have implied things that I haven't. As I've said on numerous occassions, I couldn't careless who you book with as long as you have a great time...meaning that one day you'll want to come back.

Shutterbug,
Jannyans pretty much says it all. A caretaker is essentially an MC and as long as the house is licensed and you have someone on a local level to turn to in case of a problem, then no worries.

 

[Padre Disney]

I have found a home with Orlandovilla.com. The owners live in the UK. The home looks wonderful. How are you suppose to find out the information on where the house is located or where the management company is IF the owner won't give out the info until after you have paid the deposit?

We will have a rental car so not worried about a drive, but some of the homes are over 30 mintues away from WDW. How can we be sure the home we are renting is close enough for us.

We are really interested in renting this home but very worried about the whole thing. We rented a home a few years ago from a local couple in Florida. They had us pay the deposit when we made the reservation and then the final balance was due AFTER we arrived and toured the home with the owners.

 

[magicmouse2]

I had a ressie at a Townhome in Windsor palms through a management company, however I cancelled as I got a really good rate by booking through the owners of a 3 bed home in Windsor palms, direct. I have seen photos of the home, unlike the one I stayed in in September. I know the family own other homes in Windsor Palms too. In a few years this is something I would like to do - own my own vacation home, however I have just bought into DVC.

Oh - and the owners live in the UK too! I find it amazing that most vacation homes have enquired on are owned by Brits!

 

[JANNYANS]

Padre Disney As an owner on orlandovillas .com I can assure you that all the homes have been verified by the owners of the site -we have to give them details of our homes -address and county so that can search in county records to check that we own the property we list.
You can do the same you can do it by owners name -which you will know -all you have to ask them is which county they are in .
The listing on ov.com will tell you where the home is -at least which community so you can use that info as well.The last home you rented had the advantage of the owner living in Florida and were local so HAD anything gone wrong with the check they could have come round straight away obviously living in the UK presents different problems and as owners we need the money to be cleared in our bank accounts before the guests arrive.As I keep saying if you have not done it before it is a leap of faith to book direct with an owner -but the owner is taking risks so it is a two way thing.
If you would like me to help you verify the ownership of the home ypu are looking for pm me with any info you have and I'll see what I can do but I say to you Padre-have faith

 

[FLeisure]

Padre,
The reason some owners don't like to give their full address is because they perceive it to be a security problem. Whoever you are booking with should be able to show you pictures of the home and tell you the sub-division as a bare minimum.

To me, it's not unreasonable to request the full address in the knowledge that you won't get the keys or key collection instructions until you have paid but some owners see it differently.

MagicMouse - UK Owners. I think this has something to do with Brits renting homes / villas in Europe whn they go on vacation. It's the preferred thing to do rather than stay in a hotel. This then transferred to Florida when it became easier to get to and at a rate most folks could afford. Back in the 80's there were relatively few homes for rent but the last 15 years has seen more and more people travelling from UK to Florida (just over 1 million per annum) and naturally some of these folks want their own home.

Homes here become even more desirable when you see what you get for your money but unfortunately, most builders have now seen this and prices have risen considerably. To give you an idea, in 1996 I purchased my first house for $177K...nowadays it's very difficult to buy the same house for $225K.

For Brits it's a case of 1) the Sun 2) Disney 3) affordable property prices 4) friendly people 5) aspirations of retiring if the visa laws ever change 6) something tangible to pass onto family members that all lead to the purchase decision.

Further to this, in the UK there are programs called "I Want That House" being aired everyday. This causes excitement and curiosity and more people wanting to buy. This Summer has seen the resale market take off and houses literally sell in days. In the last week alone I sold 3 houses and I could have literally sold them many twice over since then. It's a crazy market at the moment so hopefully it will have slowed a little by the time you come to invest down here!!

Overall, Americans have absolutely no idea that these homes exist. 20 - 30 times a week I must explain what is happening and each time I see people's jaws drop in astonishment. Last May I was in Vegas and people asked me what I did. They associated it with timeshare and it's only when I educated them that they startd to understand. Vegas is another area I can see developing the same way and if ever this area was to get a casino or two (ie., some adult orientated entertainment) this area would really explode.

 

[disneysteve]

Padre Disney - FLeisure and JANNYANS have given good info. I'd add one thing. You mentioned a rental home being 30 minutes from Disney. IMO this is totally ridiculous if Disney is your main destination. There are literally hundreds of quality rental homes located within 10-15 minutes (or less) of Disney. And the rental rates are quite reasonable. I can't imagine you would save any money by going farther away. You would just waste more time traveling.

Before you book, find out exactly where the house is located - not the actual address, but what development. Then you can decide if it is close enough for your preference.

Steve

 

[magicmouse2]

Fleisure - thanks for that info
The homes in Orlando are so beautiful and so worth the money, unlike here in the UK, where you can get something like the size of a shoebox for double the price of a 4 bed Orlando pool home