Renting from an owner in the UK or abroad - concerns?

[LglBlonde]

We are looking for a 4 BR house to rent for a week in December. I've gotten a ton of responses from UK owners, but my husband is concerned.

I also am concerned due to things like not wanting to make long distance international calls to make arrangements (not comfortable w/ 100% email, etc.)

What advice/suggestions do you have on this issue for those of you who live in the US?

 

[sympatico]

We've rented from UK owners a few times and have never had a problem. Have only used email also. Never made a phone call to them. Ask them through email to give you their management company number in Florida and you could contact them for questions etc.
Get their names and check out the tax records site to see if they actually own property. If you want the sites let me know, there's one for Davenport: Polk County and one for Kissimmee: Osceola County.
If you rent through VRBO and others under the Homeaway blanket you can now register with them and get a guarantee. There's a thread just below this about it but I'll give you the info:
HomeAway Rent with Confidence Guarantee.
http://guarantee.homeaway.com/
Look at the top of that website and you'll see all the company rental sites that fall under the HomeAway blanket like VRBO, Great Rentals, A 1 Vacations, CyberRental etc.
"The HomeAway Rent with Confidence Guarantee provides travelers protection (and peace of mind) by guaranteeing up to $5,000 of a traveler's payment in the event the listing is determined not to be legitimate in accordance with our policy." It's free but you have to register you're rental within 7 days of first payment. Should go to the site and read through the policy. We've never used it so I don't know the particulars.

 

[Sunresortvillas]

I am a UK owner and rent to lots of US guests. You could also ask UK owners if they would be willing to pass on contact details of some of their US guests (I've had US guests ask me this before, it's never a problem, I do always contact my US guests in the first instance to ask their permission as under UK law - that I also afford to my US guests, we have Data Protection Law that forbids us from passing on such information without their express permission).

I hope this helps

 

[Freaky]

We also are UK owners and rent to all parts of the world - we are quite happy to phone prospective guests if they prefer that to email. Just ask the owners as I am sure they will not mind giving you a call.

 

[deejay-55]

There ara a ton of UK owners, they generally use local US Management Companies - no need to be concerned.

 

[FLParadisevilla]

The first time I rented a home was when I was planning my wedding at the house that I rented by the pool and all I can say is the owner I worked with was number 1 in my book she was so helpful it was amazing! I fell in love with these homes and then decided to buy one and hopefully have as much fun as the owner I first rented from... I have to say that I have had as much fun! I really don't think you will have any problems!

 

[JANNYANS]

I am an owner based in the UK and have lots of US guests but can understand your concerns .Ask the owner to phone you if you don't want to do it all by e mail or make your point of contact their management company who will be in Florida -my Canadian guest do this a lot of the time.They will deal in $$ and return your damage deposit in $$ too so you have no worries there.

 

[pomcoach]

Our experience was not so good. We rented a 4 bedroom home from UK owners in Dec. about 4 years ago. We got there and the 4 bedroom home was nice, but then the alarm on the door to the pool kept going off. It was extremely loud and at first we didn't know what it was. Finally we found the number and called the owner or management company. We could hardly hear or think, it was so loud. They were not concerned, even when it had went off over and over. They said it happened all the time, just unhook it and leave it unfunctional. We felt funny about doing that, since there was a kind of government warning on there, but did as they said.

Then we wanted to take showers before going to bed, but couldn't find the washcloths! When we called again, they said they don't provide washcloths. Well, that was sure a surprise at almost midnight. We had to drive about 6 miles to find a Walmart still open and purchase washcloths. I've never stayed in a hotel in any country that didn't provide washcloths. At least they should have warned us.

Then the icing on the cake was when the pool was ice cold and even the hot tub was too cold to stay in for more than 2 min. So our vacation was practically ruined. We could not do any swimming at all and that was sure a disappointment for our 2 college age kids and younger daughter. Even though we called and bought a thermometer at Walmart to prove to the owners the water was not the temp. they'd stated, they would do nothing and not discount anything, because we had paid upfront, so there was no getting anything back. and the owners frankly did not care at all that our vacation was pretty much ruined.

I sure cannot recommend renting a home. We will never do it again. We'll stick with a hotel, where you can voice any concerns and they are usually nice and take care of things, or at least we know what to expect.
Good Luck to you,
Pomcoach

 

[Mainebound]

You had a bad experience but it had nothing to do with the country the owners were from.

We have rented from UK owners and had great experiences.

Never had a problem with a rental home yet -- have done it 4 times in Orlando and also in several other parts of the country and world. You just have to choose carefully, take your time, and do your homework.

 

[andyhayley]

Im sorry to hear of your problems pomcoach.

We are UK villa owners and take a lot of pride in our villa, and try to ensure everyone who stays there has a great stay.

We have a local management company on call 24/7, and also maintain a US telephone number for our US guests so they can contact us without incuring international rates.

I think recommendation is always a good way to work, we get a lot of business from past guests that loved the villa and recommend our home.

We also send out a questionaire to all guests to ask them if there was anything they suggest we change or improve, to ensure we are maintain a high standard.

We are now booked up for most of 2008 with a lot of guests being from the US so we must be doing something right! The only 'complaints' we tend to get is from people who cannot rebook after a stay as there is no availability left.

We are not alone, there are lots of villas out there, owned by US or UK citizens that are also maintained to the same standard.

I hope your experiences have not put you off villas for life, and you give it a try again in the future, once you have stayed in a good villa you wont want to go back to a hotel.

Andy

 

[TraceyL]

As a renter I've rented from UK & US owners and one agency (never again!) - the nationality of the owner has made no difference to the service we have received prior to or during our stay. If the owner genuinely wants your custom they should have no qualms telephoning you to answer any concerns - have fun

 

[crjack]

We have rented several different homes in the Orlando area and two were from owners in the UK. As others have said, it did not make a bit of difference (except for the extremely polite emails!).

What mattered was that they were both great owners with beautiful homes. They answered all of my newbie questions and made some wonderful recommendations on restaurants, touring tips, etc.

I would concentrate on finding the right house for you and not be too concerned with where the owners are located.

 

[psharrock]

I hope this thread doesn't fall foul of the disboard rules on owners commenting about their homes.

I think you will find bad owners in any country, but they are only a very tiny percentage compared to the owners that care about their homes and their guests.

I am sure as other have said just ask the owner to phone you if you are concerned over the international call charges. Quite a few owners like myself and Andy provide a US number which will re-direct to the UK at no additional cost to the caller.

Please don't exclude UK owned homes from your short list as we too provide an excellent service , like our US cousins do.

Paul