Help with what all needs to be done on a villa

[eeyorelori]

Help ,I am planning on renting a villa either in E I or indian creek ..I sent an email and now i am receiving emails and i have no idea where to go ..What all needs to be done ..Do you get a contract or what ..I dont want to do it un fore seen and when we get there we are screwed and no house..I was paraniod when we went in 05 ..We never got any thing that we had as proof ..I called like off and on for a week had numbers but how will i proof with a villa..Do you get paper work on the house? Sorry the paraniod side is coming out..What else do i need to do how early to make a choice..They all seem the same for what i want price is up and down Or they dont have the taxes included some do some dont ..I am sooooooooooooo cunfused ..Please help newbie to villas... thanks

 

[spiceycat]

each individual that you rent from will be different.

but every one should be able and willing to send you a rental contract.

just ask for one or go through a management company not an owner (it will cost you more)

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Ask the owners for a total price. They should be able to do that!
Pick which home you like best. Ask for the booking forms and all you would need to do is fill that out, and fax it back.
I am not sure how you make the payments, but for us we take credit cards, checks. Once I have all this paperwork and the deposit done, I send an email with a reciept stating that their booking is confirmed.

Then you should have a date of 8 to 10 weeks prior to your booking that the final payment is due. I usually send out a reminder about 2 weeks or so before its due. Once that payment is made your again recieve a reciept for your final payment, with you check in details and directions to the house.

I usually have had quite a few emails back and forth before our guests take thier trip. I also call the day after arrivial to make sure all is ok with the home.

I think you will be quite happy with a home and hopefully you will have a great home owner that will help you with any questions you may have prior to your trip!

If you have any questions please feel free to ask, I would be happy to help!

 

[mbb]

First, take a deep breath

You've done the easiest part, the hardest will be picking the house you like the best!!LOL

Make a list of the things you need in the house in the way of bedding arrangements and amenitites:

1) Do you need king size beds? Or are queen size masters okay?
2) How many bathrooms do you need? One for each master and a family bath? Or is a 4 bed, 2 bath floor plan ok?
3) Are TVs in all bedrooms important?
4) Pool and spa? Or no spa?
5) Internet, long distnace calling, games room?

I could go on and on, you get the idea If a house doesn't have something you *need* for your family, cross it off the list.

Then, look at your budget, and what's left..

Some homes are going to be less expensive than others, but may have those additional "wants" that may make a few more dollars/night worthwhile.

And then like Karen and Pat said, get your contract filled out, deposit paid, and you're all set to go.

Some folks like to check that the property exists with the local county tax records Others feel more comfortable to pay a little more and rent through a management company. It's up to you.

Let us know what you pick!!

 

[5mins2disney]

We rented several years as guests, and never received any kind of rental agreement or contract. Now, as an owner, I can tell you you should get a detailed up front quote with ALL of the prices / fees spelled out in detail, and the owner should have you sign and return a rental agreement.

Once you know the property address / owner name then you can go and verify ownership of the property if it makes you feel better! You can also look at their rentors.org calendar (if they have one) and see if they have an online guest book, if they do, then most likely there will be guest comments in it you can read! (Please note, owners cannot remove the comments if they are negative!!)

 

[eeyorelori]

OMG i am soooo frazzeled...I am booking for next jan and not sure on the dates since high school finals are in jan...FLP ,Spicey,mbb,5mins thanks for your help..We have seen sooo many and they are all starting to look alike..All i need is king size bed,,Washer and dryer,pool and game room...Not much ? BVut now other peeps are starting to say book bigger and maybe this one can come with ,But then if they dont we have to pay for the whole thing...
Now do most give back the deposit if i need to cancel???I am worse now then i was for our first trip...Some offer everything others dont have it all figured out i hate to be a pain and ask a million questions and then not take it ..Yuo know what i mean...I guess thats the business huh..lol .
Thanks again keep all the ideas coming ...I may have a break down just till i pick a date then a house lol.

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Ask all the questions you need to ask! I don't think anyone would mind at all!


Another option if you find out you need more of a home is that you can always talk to the owner of the home you book and see if they know any other owners and get a 2nd home near the one you rent and then you wont be over crowded and you would not get stuck renting a bigger home than you need.

I had a booking the first part of Dec. that at the last minute needed another home and I helped her rent a friend's home that was near ours.

 

[Mainebound]

I think it is too early to be renting a villa, personally. We just rented one a few days ago for a trip in 7 weeks and I probably had 200 different home owners respond to my queries on various websites. There is a glut of homes in the Kissimmee and Davenport areas. You will never NOT find a home, even at near the last minute. Even owners in "hot, new" developmentslike Windsor Hills were beating down our door to rent to us for very reduced rates. That may not be fair to owners, but it is what the market is like, lucky for us renters.

Also you really should purchase trip insurance. We use www.insuremytrip.com which gives you quotes from dozens of insurance cos. To insure our villa and plane tix this year was $100. It is worth it for peace of mind. Most villa owners have strict cancellation policies. (This is another reason not to book a year out, IMHO.)

Finally, there are state run websites where you can check -- it is free and legal -- that the villa owner really does own the property. You need only the owner's name and development name. Then when you get the address you can go to google maps and find the exact house (although not if newer than 3 years) for further peace of mind.

Just relax. There is no need to rush! Villa searches should be fun! I usually make a chart with amenities and prices. I put the homes we are considering down the left column and the amenities (like size, location, game room, pool, spa, etc.) and cost in rows. Then you can compare apples to apples.

If it is too stressful and not fun for you to do that, maybe you should look into a management co that rents homes. You will pay more than direct form owner, and may not know until you get there exactly what property you'll end up in, but you won't have to do the searching yourself.

Good luck!

 

[eeyorelori]

Thank you to all that have helped me...I am going to wait till the summer to worry about a villa ..My health prob are acting up again so i will work later in the summer....So i hope i can call on you all to give great advice again ...Thanks a bunch

 

[Freyja]

We had a contract/booking form e-mailed to us. We read it and signed and recieved confirmation a week later via normal post. We paid approx 1/3 in advance and the rest is due 10 weeks prior to arriving at the villa.

 

[KayR]

IMHO I believe that the guest should receive booking confirmation and that is just what we do. We send ours by email but if a guest asked, we could mail it to them as well. (In fact we email all our documents including the arrival information - that way we know guests get it quickly)

I have tried searching for an additional home for friends of our guests, and I was shocked by the variety in the quality of the reply and information provided.

mbb gave you some great tips. Think what you need in your home & what you want. Look at a few homes on some of the rental sites to get an idea what you can get. Look at a map of the communities and decide how close to Disney you want to be (The further away, the cheaper the rental) There is something there for you, but it will take some digging.

One thing I will say is often you pay for what you get.

I hear of homes being rented really cheap and I wonder how the owners can afford to do that with all the costs association with renting a home not to mention normal maintenance and upkeep. We have a home at WP which is only 4 years old. We have just had the interior re-painted and are looking at new carpets throughout. These are not cheap items, but we need to do it to keep our home in top condition. This year taxes and insurance have risen dramatically - (upto 50%) and I wonder how many owners will still have their vacation homes next year or what condition they would be in.

Good luck and happy searching...

-Kay

 

[5mins2disney]

I have tried searching for an additional home for friends of our guests, and I was shocked by the variety in the quality of the reply and information provided.
mbb-Kay

You're right Kay! Same experiences here, and not all owners "run" their homes as well as others. For 2 years we stayed in WHR and didn't receive any booking confirmation, receipt, rental agreement, nothing! Now that we own a place and I've been out reading every "how to" book on the subject I can, I'm amazed people would do it this way!

You should get 2 things, and possibly 3... 1 is a booking confirmation / receipt with all of your payment and reservation informaiton...2 is a rental agreement with terms / conditions / etc... 3.. some sort of a security deposit... many use a credit card imprint for this via their mgmt company, many others use a refundable cash deposit.

As far as the costs...you're absolutely right...you do get what you pay for! What we find though...the people who do a very poor job of running their homes (the same ones who typically aren't well organized and don't do these things), are the same ones who don't get bookings, and often rent their homes out at dirt cheap bargain basement prices just to get SOME rental income. Often these are not the nicest / best homes, you're absolutely right, you have to maintain the home and put $$ back into it!!

The good news about WHR, WP, EI, they're all mostly new, so it's hard to go too wrong in these resorts.

- GQ

 

[five_lil_monkeys]

I think it is too early to be renting a villa, personally. We just rented one a few days ago for a trip in 7 weeks and I probably had 200 different home owners respond to my queries on various websites.

See, we're going in June and I thought it was safe to wait until my tax return came in, but within the 2 weeks between contacting people and getting my return, my 2 top choices were rented I guess I was picky....I wanted very close, 5 bedrooms and a decent looking decor for around $1k. I think 5 months before is a safe bet, but I wouldnt cut it closer than that *if* you are picky. I didnt think I was...but there were some things I couldnt get with, like green carpet or an extra $300.

 

[5mins2disney]

Yeah I don't agree with that...it all depends on where you want to stay and when. Now if you're looking for a slow "off" month...sure..wait until the last minute. You want March / April? We already have reservations for March / April 2008!! The nicest places book up early and fast, not saying you won't find something, but the pick of the litter, so to speak, goes fast!

June/July/Aug are high season too, school's out!

If you don't care so much about which place you're staying in, then sure, wait! We actually found in our own home we had to book a week months ago or it would have been long gone for our own trip in April! LOL We've had multiple inquiries for the same open dates tons of times, and I'm very upfront with potential guests and tell them there are multiple oustanding inquiries and that the first one to book it gets it! The thing is, you never hear back from so many people that you just can't mark off dates for people until they tell you they've booked and put down a deposit.

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Yeah I don't agree with that...it all depends on where you want to stay and when. Now if you're looking for a slow "off" month...sure..wait until the last minute. You want March / April? We already have reservations for March / April 2008!! The nicest places book up early and fast, not saying you won't find something, but the pick of the litter, so to speak, goes fast!

June/July/Aug are high season too, school's out!

If you don't care so much about which place you're staying in, then sure, wait! We actually found in our own home we had to book a week months ago or it would have been long gone for our own trip in April! LOL We've had multiple inquiries for the same open dates tons of times, and I'm very upfront with potential guests and tell them there are multiple oustanding inquiries and that the first one to book it gets it! The thing is, you never hear back from so many people that you just can't mark off dates for people until they tell you they've booked and put down a deposit.

I have to agree with George! We had to put our dates in early to get the times we want to use our own home. You just never know how fast a home is going to book or not. I say if you know your dates and you find what you want in a home " book it" save your self the trouble of not getting the house you want and then having to start over weeding through tons of emails about homes again. Its your vacation and the sooner you get the things like booking your place to stay done the sooner you can plan the rest of your trip.
Its alot of fun planing the trips but its also can be stressful. Find an owner whom you like the way they are with you and that will make the whole thing 100 times easier.

 

[Mainebound]

Yeah I don't agree with that...it all depends on where you want to stay and when.

If you don't care so much about which place you're staying in, then sure, wait! .

Well, I do care, and I still say you can find what exactly what you want 8 weeks prior to your visit, even for busy spring break, which is exactly what we did. Sure, you may not get one particular home, but my opinion is that you can find something equally wonderful for your group without booking 11 months in advance, which is what the OP was going to do.

This post is from a guest point of view. Owners will obviously have a different point of view -- it is in their interest to fill their calendars as quickly as possible. Some owners, like some of those on this board, are very skilled at promoting their lovely properties in all sorts of ways. Other owners, who may also have wonderful homes to rent, have a hard time filling their calendars for lots of reasons (new property, cancellation, too busy to advertise, not internet savvy, etc.). Thus, some homes available "at the last minute" are just as nice as those that booked up months in advance.

My contention is that you can find a wonderful home at a good price within 2 months of your stay at any time of year.

 

[FLParadisevilla]

My contention is that you can find a wonderful home at a good price within 2 months of your stay at any time of year.

I dont think anyone would ever disagree with you that you can find a absoutly wonderful home within 2 months of your stay or even less for reason you posted above. Cancelation, etc.. I know there are quited a few wonderful homes to choose from!

I know that for me when I was renting homes before I was an owner I rented a wonderful home in Hampton Lakes and we got married at that home. Now having never been to Florida I wish I would have had a place like this to talk to other people traveling I would have definately looked harder for a home off the 192 area. I loved the home in Hampton lakes and we visit it everytime we are there to just visit where we were married! and one day I would definately rent it again! But I was looking for certain things in a home for our wedding, so that one I booked very early about 9 to 10 months early. But again I was looking for certain things that not all homes offered.

On the flip side of that still being a renter not an owner I booked a home last minute in Windsor Palms for one of our trips to look at homes to purchase one. We truly enjoyed the home, but for that trip I was not being as picky about what I needed in a home. I think its all what the individual is comfortable with. I have to be an early planner but that is me just being a bit anal.

So as an owner I do agree that you can find a wonderful and great home last minute but it just may not be someones original or first choice home.

 

[eeyorelori]

Well i was thinking on the terms of the summer for feb..I am anal with organizing and getting it early..When we went in 05 i reserved in july for jan ..It helped me to sleep knowing the big one was out of the way ..I am glad i didnt jump in though ,I just found another thread and there was a whole list of other villas and i found to be much cheaper.( gated and not) Not sure what the difference is though......I am not picky about it being a newer home as long as it has a pool game room and one king bed ..I could care less about anything else...I will post on which of the list is closer though ...But to save 3 to 400 dollars for a 10 min drive i dont really care.....Thanks a bunch