Should I be worried? (Vacation Rental Question-Indian Creek)

[NeutralNovice]

I am looking at a particular property right now for my vacation... I narrowed it down to this one because of its amenities:
# of Rooms, Pet Friendly, and Close to Disney.

I saw the listing on HomeAway and it has 6 reviews, all of which are stellar reviews. I tried to see if I could find even more reviews by looking for a listing on VRBO and TripAdvisor and found the same property on VRBO.

What's disconcerting to me is the fact that the 6 reviews on the property are exactly the same as each other on both HomeAway and VRBO--word for word.

I don't know how linked VRBO and HomeAway are but I would assume that someone would need to write a review separately for each site and I would assume that most people wouldn't do that.

I would post the link to the rentals but I am not sure if I can or if it's a good idea to as I don't want to tarnish anyone's name or whatever.

The property is located at a place called "Indian Creek." Only 2nd time ever renting so I am not familiar with the whole process just yet.

Should I be skeptical? Thanks for your input!!

 

[sympatico]

Homeaway owns VRBO so it would be normal to see the same review on both sites if the owner lists the property on both. Not a problem.

 

[NeutralNovice]

Thank you! I didn't know that HomeAway owned VRBO!

 

[GypsyPearl]

True, HomeAway and VRBO are basically the same company, but I've rented houses and had to write separate reviews on each site. A review posted on one does not automatically show up on the other site. I'm sure the reviews would be similar, but the word for word exact same review for all of them would bother me a little.

 

[NeutralNovice]

True, HomeAway and VRBO are basically the same company, but I've rented houses and had to write separate reviews on each site. A review posted on one does not automatically show up on the other site. I'm sure the reviews would be similar, but the word for word exact same review for all of them would bother me a little.

Interesting...

Now how can I ensure that I am not being scammed if I decide to go with the person who owns an Indian Creek timeshare or property? Is there a way that I can verify the owner?

 

[JANNYANS]

You need the owners name .Then you can go to
http://www.osceolataxcollector.com/
http://www.property-appraiser.org/

http://osceolaclerk.com/

and check everything about them

 

[NeutralNovice]

Thank you for the resources!

So far, it's not looking so great--I am not able to find any information on those websites about the owners. I searched the name (including spouse's name) and no records came up.

I went into "stalker mode" (sounds creepy I know) and found very few records but was able to match the phone number I have to the name and found both an address and the name of the spouse. I even found what looks to be a receipts record that was somehow publicly available and included hundreds of names, addresses, and e-mails of customers, which I would've hoped that company kept things like that confidential but alas, no.

I even went as far as finding the rental property on Google Maps and matched it with what was being advertised. (It was easy because the general location of the house was already pointed out on the map portion of the HomeAway listing).

So far, there is no indication of any type of criminal record so at least I have that lol.

A reason that I may be running into issues finding out more about the owners is because apparently they are in their first year of ownership.

It would very well be that some of the reviews that predate 2012 might be from the previous owners of the same property and that they used the previous owner's reviews for their listing.

Anyone want to help me out and make this possible easier for me? LOL

Perhaps a suggestion on an Indian Creek property that...

Has 4 Bedrooms (with 3 of the rooms having full-size or larger beds)
and is Per Friendly

 

[JANNYANS]

If you want to message me the information you know I can double check the records if you like .

 

[torinsmom]

Don't know when you're looking for, but we are staying in a 5 bedroom pool home in Indian Creek. We stayed there before and had an amazing time. I know I verified the tax records last time we stayed.

http://www.vrbo.com/229838

I am the only one who has left a review, which I find amazing, considering she was totally booked last summer.

 

[bengalfreak]

Don't know when you're looking for, but we are staying in a 5 bedroom pool home in Indian Creek. We stayed there before and had an amazing time. I know I verified the tax records last time we stayed.

http://www.vrbo.com/229838

I am the only one who has left a review, which I find amazing, considering she was totally booked last summer.

From what I have heard, the only way an owner can get rid of bad reviews on VRBO is to ditch all of the reviews and start over. It would worry me that a property I know was booked a lot of the time and there was only one review. Although many people never leave any kind of reviews period.

 

[torinsmom]

From what I have heard, the only way an owner can get rid of bad reviews on VRBO is to ditch all of the reviews and start over. It would worry me that a property I know was booked a lot of the time and there was only one review. Although many people never leave any kind of reviews period.

Well, we're staying there again this summer, so I will report if we have problems this time. I doubt it, as everything was perfect the last time, from responsiveness of the owner, to the way the house was presented and actually was when we got there to the return of our deposit right after we got home. I think its more likely people don't typlically leave feedback if things go well.