Security of booking directly thru a condo/house owner or thru VRBO.com

[joyincr]

Just how safe is it to do this? My worst fear would be ME booking lodging for my group of 6 and then getting down there and not having the condo/house owner be trustworthy and having no where to stay. ADVICE please
Thank you in advance

 

[FLParadisevilla]

No worries you have dome to the right place for help. I have not heard of that happening to anyone. But here are some things, ask a lot of questions about the home. Google search the house to see where its advertised, ask for ref.'s on the home.
Most of all trust your instints, if you talk to the owner on the phone you can sometimes get a good feel for them that way.
There are some sites like
www.indiancreekflorida.com
www.onlinefloridavillas.com
There homes are verified by the owners.
Have a good time house hunting this is part of the fun looking at all th wonderful homes and picking the one you like the most to have a great vacation in!
Enjoy and let us know if you have any questions or concerns we will all help!

 

[5mins2disney]

Home ownership is also verified on :

www.windsorhillsrent.com

You can / should also checkout the owner's online guestbooks (many have this as part of their rentors.org calendar). Ask who their local mgmt company is too. You can also go onto the Osceola County property appraiser's website (if the home is in Osceola County of course!) and verify the owner of the home is who they say it is.

We have rented for years all over the world from VRBO.COM, Florida, Disney, Colorado, other vacation destinations, and we've never had a problem!

One word of advice, look for LOTs of pictures, and I don't mean on vrbo. Many owners will have links to their website from VRBO, where you should see lots of current pictures of the place you're renting, this way there are no "surprises" when you show up!

 

[JANNYANS]

There are several site that ask thier owners to verify ownership .
WWW.orlandovillas.com
www.disneypremiervillas.com
www.floridapremiumvillas.com

to name but three.
You can go to either Polk, Lake or Osceola county sites to check ownership once you have an idea of where you want to stay .Ask as many questions as you like most owners do not mind answering them .I quite understand your feelings it is a bit step to take -but it is one that takes faith on both sides so talk to any prosective owner you want to and enjoy searching for your ideal home.