First time renter...need advice

[jenhclec]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time bringing the whole family to wdw. I am contemplating renting a house in windsor hills, VRBO Listing #326911ha. I am a little nervous. Never rented before, and do not want to ruin the first family vacay. Please help me with the following questions:

1) The owner is giving me 4 week nights for $780, 5bed, 5bath pool house, which is 200-300 cheaper than similar houses in WH. This includes pool heat, damage protection, tax, etc. Is this too good to be true? The house has some good reviews. It is not the most reviewed house, but the calendar is pretty full.

2) How to pay? There is a 4% fee for credit card or paypal payment. Or is check safe? Or go with credit card/paypal for safety?

3) When I am ready to reserve, what is the next step? Rental agreement, then deposit, then final payment? He is asking for $250 deposit, rest due 2 months before trip. Is this usual practice?

4) The owner lives in Europe. Does this usually create problems? He is pretty good with email communication so far. The management company is Mid-Florida Home Management Inc. Calling the owner can be very expensive, so is this management company reputable?

Thank you to all the DIS experts!

 

[Comeundone87]

Here's my experience...

1) Do you need a house this big? You can find many 4bedroom/4 bath for closer to $100/night + about a $75 cleaning fee. If you stay more than 6 nights a lot of places don't charge a cleaning fee. THe $780 for 4 nights seems a bit high to me, but I've never rented a 5 bedroom so that may be why it seems high.

2) I've paid by checks before, sent to the management company. I hate paying the credit card fee. I've seen very few that don't charge a fee.

3) yep rental agreement with down payment and then pay as their policy states. Yes, 2 months out is common - I've done that with 2 of my rentals.

4) 2 of my rentals have been with people who live in Europe. I never called them, just spoke with their management company in FL. Sorry don't know anything about the management company that they use.

 

[anorman]

We rented a 4 bdr for 8 nights at $900 last year with all taxes, pool heat, cleaning included. We had to pay a deposit up front and the balance at 6 weeks.
One of my coworkers rents through VRBO all the time and hasn't had a bad experience yet. Good Luck!

 

[Leota]

We rented at Windsor Hills thru All Star Vacation Homes & it was a wonderful experience. I wish we had done it sooner, to be honest. I think you will love it.

I have skimmed VRBO fo other locations, but haven't used it yet. I did have a very simle, easy, safe & wonderful experience with All Star tho. From how easy it was to search for a property that had the right number of Master Bedrooms and the amenities we wanted. They even threw in a week's rental car & pool heat. I liked dealing with company that would handle everything for me so I wasn't worried about how it would all go.

Not to pitch them, altho I am - why don't you give All Star a look? They handle all the "negotiations" so it's basically as easy as booking a hotel room only with ALOT more room & amenities. No hassle, no worries, they have great customer service - everything you could dream of & more.

 

[mguedes]

1- it is a bit cheap, but maybe the ower has a windows in between rental and have decided to lower the price.

2- I would choose paypal as it is safer.


3- yes, it is the usual practice. Nothing wrong with that. But ask about cancelation/refund policies.

4- I don´t know Mid-Florida Home Management. I rented from overseas owners three times already and did not have any problems.

 

[jenhclec]

Thank you for the advice so far everyone!

Now I am looking into a bigger house with more en-suites and a kiddie pool. I really like it, but it is a bit out of my price range. VRBO Listing #12787

Should I wait longer for last minute specials? Has anyone ever gotten good last minute reservations for nice houses?

 

[4forMe]

OP, I would personally choose the Windsor Hills home over the 2nd home you posted located in Rolling Hills. Each bedroom in that Windsor Hills home has an en-suite bathroom attached. The two master bedrooms have the large shower only and the other three bedrooms have the combo tub/shower. The location of that house looks like it is extremely close to the clubhouse and pool.

I know this because we are currently at Windsor Hills for the 5th time in a house on the same street as the one you posted. We are staying in the other type of 5 BR configuration where only the 2 master bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms. The owner for the house you are looking at should really include in the listing that all the bathrooms are en-suite.

If having a larger home is important to you, then you may also want to look at 6-7 BR homes in Emerald Island. You may be able to find a larger home cheaper than the Rolling Hills one.

Good luck with your search!

 

[jenhclec]

I know that there is a way to check if the rental house really belongs to the owner. Can someone pass me the link?

Just as a precaution, the owner has been really nice so far.

 

[quagmire0]

We first did VRBO at Windsor in 2011. The two things I looked for were: 1. Recent/believable reviews, and 2. I did go to the county (Osceola?) assessor's website to verify that the owner that was communicating with me was listed ast he owner of the property.

Here's the link: https://www.osceola.county-taxes.com/public

Just search by address.

Our rate was very cheap for the condo and our story ended far better than I could ever have expected. The owner was awesome and so was the condo. We'll be staying there again next week.

Do your homework though, as YMMV.