Question for owners

[wdw-ocd]

I emailed an owner on Friday to say we would like to rent her condo and to please send us the paperwork so we can get the ball rolling. Well, it's 3 days later and we haven't heard back from her.

How long does it usually take for an owner to respond once someone wants to rent? Should I email the first owner again or do you think she's trying to let me know she's changed her mind? (I have to admit, I'm a little gun-shy to re-email her after one person I tried to rent from decided not to hold my dates because I'd asked too many questions! )

Please fill me in on the whole rental etiquette of how long to wait for a reply and how many emails are too many.

TIA

 

[sjanus]

Wow! I'd be leary of anybody that did not communicate with me in an efficient manner. Communication is very important in any business. I probably would keep looking.

As for questions asked, it is your right to ask questions. An owner who takes pride in their property and what they do should welcome your questions and answer them professionally. E-mails should be welcomed if you are asking for information or verifying whether the other party received your e-mail. Sometimes it takes multiple e-mails in order to feel comfortable with somebody in a business relationships on both sides.

Possibly in their defense, sometimes people may not receive an e-mail because of all of the filters on their system and it may go to spam or junk mail. If you think the party is legitimate, it might be worth re-sending the e-mail to make sure they received it and asking for a response that they did or making a phone call to see why they did not respond back. Hopefully, if they rented the days to someone else, it would be common courtesy for them to let you know so you can look elsewhere.

If someone is not replying to you this early in the game, my concern as a guest would be how they will respond to you or how long it will take them to get back to you should you experience any difficulties during the rental process or your stay in their property.

Good luck in your search! Hope you find a great place.

 

[wdw-ocd]

You're right sjanus, I guess I should just get over my feeling like a stalker and email the owner to make sure she got my message.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Freaky]

Those are very good comments made by sjanus Certainly they may not have got the email but if they did I think 3 days is way too long! Even with a time zone delay, with many owners living in countries other than the US/Canada, it should be quicker. We reply to emails as soon as possible - usually within a few hours, at the most within 24 hours but it can quite often be within minutes as we check our email all the time.

The owner you have emailed is worth contacting again to check if the original one was received (just in case it went astray). You are their customer and please don't be afraid of asking all the questions you need to - any owner worth dealing with will be happy to answer anything

 

[Brian Noble]

It's possible that they are away from home, and not checking email daily. I know that when I take weekend trips with my family, I often leave the laptop at home. Also, as strange as it may seem, some people don't actually check email every single day.

These are individuals with a vacation home, not a large company. I generally give private parties a week to respond---whether I'm on the renter side or the owner side. If you haven't gotten a response by the end of this week, start contacting other owners.

 

[IWANNAGOTODISNEY]

Hi,

I rented 315 Grand Reserve and the leases were on the website. I printed them out and she said, I have 7 days to return them. After returning them, I received signed copies back in 3 days. They may have someone else interested and are seeing if they will return the leases. I'd prefer to do it the opposite way as this homeowner did.

 

[spiceycat]

this is thankgiving week - would definitely give a week if not a little longer - unless of course you are going in Dec.

then go with someone else.