Rental Homes (or groups) to avoid?

[Frothy]

Not necessarily the original owner will pay the other owner just as if an agent moves you you don't pay twice.The owner that ends up with the booking gets the money .

I'm a bit concerned about the "not necessarily" bit. Also, what if the original owner doesn't pay the other owner or what if the other owner wants more money? Also, what rights do I have if the new owner gets my money and I have no written agreement?

Seems a lot of hassle to me sitting here writing this ... I wouldn't like to be facing this situation for real... fortunately I live in South Florida so it's only a short drive but what about people who travel 6+ hours? Do they really want to deal with this possibility?

I suppose it's up to each individual but overall I think its safer with a management company as they have other homes and your contract and payment is with them.

 

[Frothy]

Here's my rationale for why I feel more comfortable renting from an owner then a management company....

The owner of the townhome I rent owns one other townhome in WH. Her local "manager" takes care of both her properties. He and his wife are the ones cleaning the homes and taking care of the pool. He is accountable for the condition of the home if there are any complaints.

Management companies who manage numerous homes have to have crews of workers to take care of all the various properties. Is an hourly worker in a cleaning job, that probably has massive turnover, going to be as attentive to the condition of a property? I just think the accountablility for the quality of the condition of the home gets diluted the more people there are in the chain. I think it gets easy to pass the buck if there are problems.

I know there a lot of people who have had wonderful experiences renting from the big management companies out there. I'm just sharing my personal bias.

I don't see the difference... all the husband and wife are in your case are a small management company doing everything themselves. They are people...just like the people who clean properties generally. Can't they make the same mistakes as others? What would happen if they have a problem, or they are very busy or one of them is ill...isn't there a danger of the clean being affected?

We've rented from a management company (I have no idea what size they are classified as) and the houses have always been spotless. I assume they are just as responsible for the standard of the clean as a husband and wife team?

 

[chris7]

As I said, just my personal bias. When I was researching where to stay I read all posts, pro and con, about peoples experiences with both management companies and individual owners. Based on what I read, and how that related to the things that are important to me, I made the choice that was right for me. People post a lot more about bad experiences with management companies than with individual owners. I'm sure that colored my decision. To be fair, management companies might represent the majority of Orlando rentals so it would make sense that you would hear more about peoples experiences with them then with individual owners.

I do still think though that an owner who books their own rentals, talks to the clients while they are there, and has a hands on involvement in the running of the business is going to be more on top of the condition of their property. It seems that there would be less of a chance to end up in a situation where you would feel like you needed to switch properties.

I also think there is a wide range in "management companies". Some might be mom and pop set ups that take care of 5 properties versus ones that represent 100 properties. I just happen to favor the smaller end.

 

[Frothy]

I can see that an owner will know their property better than a management company that looks after many properties Chris but all owners seem to rely on them to look after the property so to me your comments in regard to more complaints about them than directly with owners leave me with mixed feelings. Interesting though.

 

[davinakb]

Also had good luck with rental homes, save one time. The house itself was fine, but poorly managed by the rental company (cleaning, pool set up, etc; won our dispute with AMEX for the days we were inconvenienced). Not sure if it was an isolated incident or not, but I just won't use that company again. Wouldn't hesitate with a different private owner or company, once I checked them out. FWIW.

 

[JANNYANS]

Frothy it will depend on why you needed to be moved from the home.If you just didn't like the house for some reason then the chances are you would need top pay the new owner -if there was a major problem that couldn't be sorted quickly by the usual methods i.e. no air con in the middle of August say then the man co and owners would sort it themselves.

 

[Hasil72]

Also had good luck with rental homes, save one time. The house itself was fine, but poorly managed by the rental company (cleaning, pool set up, etc; won our dispute with AMEX for the days we were inconvenienced). Not sure if it was an isolated incident or not, but I just won't use that company again. Wouldn't hesitate with a different private owner or company, once I checked them out. FWIW.

If you don't mind me asking, which company did you have a problem with?

Thanks.

Lisa

 

[7165red]

My original post didn't go through. I have rented on two occasions and will be renting again this year. It was a good experience. We went to www.orlandovillas.com. Please che out this forum www.orlando-guide.info/forum/. It's excellent, will help you with any question you may have.

 

[geminigirl]

Hi I am an owner on Windsor Hills and any information we can help you with we would be glad to.. Send me a pM if you like.

Geminigirl

 

[FirstTimertoDiz]

There is some really good information here on this thread...I am entering unchartered waters here looking for a rental vacation home for our next trip. To be honest, I never really thought of it before as an option, because I assumed it would be too expensive (and you know what happens when you assume.... )

Our next trip won't be until summer of 2010 (oh, so far away ), and it will be my family of 3, plus my parents, and my sister and her dbf. After seeing this thread, we started looking at some of the links posted here for rental homes, and this will so be the way to go!

I do have one question for anyone who may have experience in this- I was looking at the vrbo site, and noticed that some of the homes are labeled "pet friendly." Has anyone brought their pet with them? This is usually the hardest part about taking an extended vacation for my family- boarding our dog. We could easily stay for 2 weeks in Florida if it wasn't for not being able to leave him for so long.

Between all of us going on the trip, there would be a total of 4 dogs- a lab, a jack russel, a mini-dachshund, and a st. bernard! Is that asking way too much from a "pet friendly" home? Any experience would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Lisa

 

[davinakb]

If you don't mind me asking, which company did you have a problem with? Thanks. Lisa

It was Sunshine Magic, one of their homes in Windsor Palms. Not sure if it was them, the people they hire to run the place or what, but we'll avoid them again just the same. FWIW.

 

[Hasil72]

Thanks! Wanted to make sure we weren't using them if we can ever make up our minds where to stay next year.