Waiting to book a villa...bargains?

[shawy1269]

My parents and niece will be driving down from NJ in mid-August for our yearly Disney vacation. We usually book a Palm Key villa in Davenport at a pretty decent discount (around $500 a week) through a friend of a friend of a friend. I might be crazy, but could we do better??? My thinking is, this is the end of season and many of these villas are empty. I know this because we were there last year, and we were just about the only people staying in one of these villas!!! Davenport is quite a hike from the parks, so i was wondering what kind of deals i might find closer to WDW. What kind of prices am i likely to see if i wait to book? Anyone with any experience with late booking deals? BTW, the $500 villa is an open-invitation, so i won't lose out if i wait.

 

[sympatico]

Is this a pool home and is that what you're looking for? And how many bedrooms?

 

[JANNYANS]

To be honest if an owner is charging less than $500 then I would be wary -that amount won't cover all the costs involved -taxes @12 % in Polk higher in other counties -utilities and management costs.Davenport isn't that far out and the closer you get to Disney the higher the rental costs.

 

[shawy1269]

No, this is not a pool home. There is a community pool. We are looking for a 3/2.

 

[sympatico]

If $500. is your total amount with taxes in then I think it's a good price already. But you could put in a few inquiries on vrbo.com or homeaway.com and just see what you get for a price: Grand Palms, Crestwynd Bay, Encantada etc. Also watch for other fees like cleaning and the taxes that may not be included in the rental price.
Could also try windsorhillsrent.com but be fairly specific about what you want or you'll get responses from pool homes also.
In this instance "the devil you know" might be better than "the devil you don't know." If the rent is too low it may be that the place isn't well looked after.

 

[torinsmom]

We stayed at an Emerald Island 3 bedroom/2.5 bath townhome June 18-25. Total cost was right at $500. Gated community, 5-10 minutes from all the parks, wireless internet, washer/dryer and the clubhouse was right across the parking lot. Other than the tv in the living room being smaller than I was used to and the sliding door to the back deck sticking a little, the house was GREAT!
I think there are just so many condos and townhouses for rent, that the rates are now lower.

Cleaning was free, but there was 13% tax on the $450/week.

Here is the listing....

http://www.vacationhomerentals.com/vacation-rentals/Kissimmee-Florida-vacation-rental-townhouse-proID-42665.html

 

[bmaurits]

I would be careful too. What to expect for $500? Your vacation is too precious to run the risk of finding yourself in a villa near a railroad, or your next door residential neighbor ties his pit-bull to his front yard palm tree. We stayed in several gated community resorts Watersong Resort & Windsor Hills), and found the ones with only vacation rentals to be preferred over mixed residential and vacation rentals.

We have booked through VIP Florida Villas and were very content with the service.