1st time renting a private home- need advice please?

[gingerblue]

Hello all,

Thanks to you recommendations, my husband and I have decided to rent a lovely private home at Terra Verde for our vacation at the end of the month.

We have never done this before and would like some information about how to proceed with payment and the like. The owner has asked us to directly transfer the money into her account since it's so close to the vacation- is this normal? I'm used to doing everything via credit card (and have some amount of security behind that) so this is new.

Is it normal for the rental to have no money back policy? Usually with resorts the deposit is forfeited but not the entire cost of stay. I have no intention of canceling my vacation, but in case of emergency... I do understand this is completely different than a hotel, but don't know if there's a general policy about this most vacation home owners share.

I have never done this before so as you can tell I'm unsure of how rentals usually work. Can anyone give me some basics?

Thanks,
chel

 

[sympatico]

We've rented a number of times within a month of departure and had to pay the total up front. I've never wired the money but know many do. I've paid with my credit card or Pay Pal through their management company if they can't process it themselves. But I've usually been charged at 3% fee for doing so.
It is normal for a no refund policy. I usually get cancellation insurance through insuremytrip.com in case of an emergency.
You can ask if you could pay by cc through her management company.

 

[califred]

I typically rent outside of FL but I always have to pay 1/2 up front and 1/2 3 to 4 weeks out. no refunds is normal, although I do have on person who will just let me change dates but I've stayed at her property a few times.

I have only been able to use a Credit Card with one person, but again, I'm not dealing in Orlando when I rent a cabin/house

 

[gingerblue]

Thank you so much for the info! I appreciate it.