vrbo

[pamlur1]

I have used VRBO many times, and always had contact with the owner. A couple of years ago my daughter, granddaughter and I were in Boston, and at 10:30 on a Friday night, the fire alarms went off. And went off. And went off. It was traumatic! I called the owner and he got somebody over there to disconnect them, finally; if I hadn't had that phone number we would have had to pack up and try to find a hotel in the middle of the night. I guess I haven't rented in locations that have all those fees, and every place we have stayed has had all beds made up and lots of towels.

 

[Colleen27]

The fees are a way to work around the "filter by price" option. If they priced with everything inclusive, they'd show up in fewer searches. I was very happy when AirBnB started showing the total for your stay in the left-column search results, rather than just the per-night cost, because some owners tack on enough fees to substantially change the cost per night and it was a pain to have to click on each listing to weed those out.

 

[RedAngie]

If you look on VRBO and find a place you like click on the owners information and see if it’s a rental agency

if it is a rental agency look them up and do a mock booking using their site. I find it’s always cheaper if it’s listed by a agency to rent directly through them.

If it’s just the owner using VRBO you don’t have many options except to check Airbnb. I find Airbnb’s fees more reasonable and will only use them right now.

Thanks for the tip. You’re right. During my browsing today I noticed a few vrbo hosts who are also real estate agents. Going to the agency’s website showed the same listings with much lower service fees, no mysterious owners fees, and a bonus in Delaware, no lodging tax.

 

[RedAngie]

Wildwood, NJ-I’ll pass

Rustic1BR-Sleeps 11
Pet and 420 Friendly 2.5blocksToBoards/Beach
Under 25 Welcome
Proms/Senior WeekOK
Sept Specials

Descent sized Apt in an older house, 420 friendly, close to everything just 2 and a half blocks to boardwalk, beach and convention center, full bath, ice cold ac, comcast blast wifi with pod(ethernet jack) to insure excellent wifi as well as ethernet connection, 42 inch flatscreen(great for connecting game systems and devices just remember any connection cords), microwave, stove, bbq grills, full fridge, outside dining area, 19" tv with vcr, it has 5 beds(4twin1full)(2bunkbeds) max occupancy 11, pet friendly.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Dang. They have more fees than Vegas.

Won't use VRBO, nor Air BnB nor would I rent my place out with it. All these things end up like ebay. Infested with scammers on both the business side and the customer side.

And like ebay, they all say they aggressively go after bad actors but they don't. And just like ebay the fees are going up, and the service is going down.

So. nope. Not for me.

 

[Christine]

I used to use VRBO when we went to Disney and stayed offsite. Great experiences. Last summer, I also rented a house at a Delaware beach and I found it on VRBO. Then I saw the VRBO fees. I searched the internet and found the same house listed on a realtor's website. Not only was the weekly fee cheaper (by about $400), but I also didn't have to pay the VRBO fee. I won't use them anymore.

 

[robinb]

The fees are a way to work around the "filter by price" option. If they priced with everything inclusive, they'd show up in fewer searches. I was very happy when AirBnB started showing the total for your stay in the left-column search results, rather than just the per-night cost, because some owners tack on enough fees to substantially change the cost per night and it was a pain to have to click on each listing to weed those out.

Exactly. It's the same on Airbnb. I am less likely to book those places just because the owner plays games with their pricing.

 

[mjkacmom]

Wildwood, NJ-I’ll pass

Rustic1BR-Sleeps 11
Pet and 420 Friendly 2.5blocksToBoards/Beach
Under 25 Welcome
Proms/Senior WeekOK
Sept Specials

Descent sized Apt in an older house, 420 friendly, close to everything just 2 and a half blocks to boardwalk, beach and convention center, full bath, ice cold ac, comcast blast wifi with pod(ethernet jack) to insure excellent wifi as well as ethernet connection, 42 inch flatscreen(great for connecting game systems and devices just remember any connection cords), microwave, stove, bbq grills, full fridge, outside dining area, 19" tv with vcr, it has 5 beds(4twin1full)(2bunkbeds) max occupancy 11, pet friendly.

I’d never stay in a prom house down the shore, my kids are going to the poconos with 48 of their closest friends for 4 nights, large house but $400 each, I guess the owners don’t mind what might happen to it, although the rowdier kids go to seaside with house bouncers.

 

[lil mermaid]

I’d never stay in a prom house down the shore, my kids are going to the poconos with 48 of their closest friends for 4 nights, large house but $400 each, I guess the owners don’t mind what might happen to it, although the rowdier kids go to seaside with house bouncers.

48 kids in one house for four nights. What could possibly go wrong?

At least they are not at the shore!

 

[DenMig]

Long story short, my dad passed away three years ago and my mom had to ( reluctantly ) move to assisted living. To help offset those crazy bills, my sister and I use vrbo to rent out their condo in Ft. Lauderdale 1 block off the beach, across the street A1A for those familar. The complex only allows 30 days or longer stays and has a $100 fee for renters that we add. We also charge a cleaning fee of $125. We live in IL, condo is in FL. The cleaning company charges us 125 and we tip them, so we actually lose out there, but don't want to go over $125. No way would we rent without having it professionally cleaned after each guest. Any other fee is vrbo's, we don't get it. The advantage to using vrbo is internet traffic, they pay the taxes to Broward County and the state of FL so we don't have to mess with that, and some insurance issues. I basically figure out a fair rate for what my mom will clear and base my rate on that. It goes up with taxes and vrbo fees. We provide all towels, linens, starter tp and paper towels, dishes, pots / pans, etc. Not to mention high speed internet and cable. We aren't getting rich by any means, but it helps cover some of mom's bills.

 

[georgina]

We've used VRBO and airbnb several times. Both seem to have extra fees added in the last few years. Still often a good deal though. I was very happy to get a full refund on my 10 day VRBO cottage rental last summer when we cancelled due to covid. Couple of years ago I was looking at a listing for a cabin in Olympic Natl Park, and there were only a couple of reviews. I emailed the owner, who said they were new to airbnb and check their listing on booking.com, which also had lower fees for the rental!

 

[pweyl36]

Well, the building is beachfront and the unit has an ocean view. There’s a pool, fitness center (not that’ll I’ll use it), game room and other amenities.

We skipped going last summer but before that a condo or small house a block or so from the beach cost in the $2000 range. No pool or other extras.

$5800 for 14 days is $414 per night. About the same or maybe even less than a beachfront hotel room in August.

Then again, if I’m paying $2900 per week, what’s another thousand in ridiculous fees, right?

Its exspensive at the
delaware and Jersey beaches. We use VRBO for Florida and we always find them cheaper.

 

[china mom]

It is usually cheaper to book "off platform" as we say in the 'biz.

Same Townhouse, same dates

Air BnB


Direct from property management company

VRBO

taxes nt included in VRBO quote so add $97

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I own a vacation house in Ocean City, NJ and I'm in the process of buying a condo unit just off the boardwalk. Closing is set for this coming Friday.

I tried going through vrbo one year and it was a hassle. More trouble than it was worth, High listing and administrative fees and more than a few renters were Karens who complained about every small thing.

Listing through two real estate agencies works much better for me. They take care of and deal with the nitpickers.

 

[oktxregulators2020]

This is our 5th trip to Disney in 10 yrs and we have always stayed on property until now. We decided to stay off property and booked a townhouse 8 minutes away from Disney through Vrbo. Yes, there are some fees involved with the house but when we ran the numbers it was going to come out about $2k cheaper then staying on property. At the moment, I don't see any reason for staying on property unless they bring back extra magic hours (doubtful). Our last time on property was at POP and it was insanely crowded in the pool and the bus transportation was averaging about a 30-40 ride to the park. Our townhouse we rented sleeps 16 (there is a total of 8 people here) has 5 baths, backyard grill, pool, hot tub, living room, entertainment room, kitchen. I think you have to do your research way ahead of time to understand the pros and cons of where you stay especially if you are on a budget.

 

[ronandannette]

I’ve wasted several hours today browsing different locations on vrbo. In some areas most listings have no owners fees; in other areas, like the Delaware beaches, most do.

Perhaps the fees are included in the base rent, which is how I like to see it. The separate fees remind me of the dreaded hotel Resort Fees.

I haven’t yet encountered @ronandannette ‘s $25 media fee, but there were a few unexplained “Third Party Fee”s and other nonsense.

{{sigh}} Since our borders aren't open yet it seemed prudent to plan a domestic summer holiday. DH's daughter and the grandkids are flying out from Ottawa and we're all meeting on the West coast. She insisted on going VRBO although I was firmly in the "let's just get a freakin' hotel already" camp. After weeks of research she's found a place that's about 50% more expensive than booking two hotel rooms. Her heart is set on it so I stopped even looking at the websites. We'll pay up, shut up and hope the ridiculous price covers toilet paper.

 

[RedAngie]

{ We'll pay up, shut up and hope the ridiculous price covers toilet paper.

One of the selling points of the condo I rented was actually “upgraded bath tissue and paper towels.”

You gotta admit now that it makes it worth the $2900 per week I’m paying.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

We’ve only used vrbo twice - both times for our kids’ university graduation weekends. For week long family vacations, it’s much cheaper for us to pay the trade fee and use my timeshare (fully paid for back in 1985). For long weekends we usually use Marriott hotel points if we have enough or book through hotel loyalty programs.

For the graduation weekends, vrbo was waaaaaaaay less expensive. The college town hotels had 3 night minimums, and rates ranged from $300 to $600 a night!!! With siblings and grandparents, we needed 3 hotel rooms. That put the lodging cost at $2700 to $5400 for 3 nights! That was way over our budget, and we knew the grandparents wouldn’t pay that either. So for DS’s graduation we rented a vrbo farmhouse for $1200. For DD’s we rented a lake cabin for $1000. And we were able to treat the grandparents both times. The highlight of these weekends was staying together in the quaint and beautiful vrbo houses. The grandparents still talk about it!

 

[Darcy03231]

I use VRBO a lot. If the total price is in my budget I don't really care about the fees.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the owner can cancel on you at the last minute. I had that happen to me last fall. I rented a home where my daughter's wedding was being held. Actually, I rented two for our family. I rented both a year before the wedding and for one home I had to pay the entire amount up front. Two weeks before the wedding the owner of the home I paid for up front refunded my money and sent a message saying that her family decided to use the house that weekend! So now it's 2 weeks before the wedding, on a holiday weekend, in a resort area. Owner was "sure I could find a suitable replacement." After a lot of scrambling around, the resort where the wedding was being held was able to come up with some rooms and we had extra room at the other house due to some family members deciding to not attend due to COVID, so it all worked out. VRBO was no help at all.

 

[Skippy918]

Our most recent Vrbo was great! It was near Zion National park. 3 bedroom, 2 bath, washer/dryer, etc. it was cheaper than a hotel.