Vacation Rental Listings – The Good, The Bad and the Outright Scams
Advertising vacation rentals across the nation has changed to the property owner’s advantage. Five years ago, property owners depended on their local newspaper to advertise their vacation rentals. Newspapers charged anywhere from $50.00 to $100.00 to run a three-line cram-it-in ad for 30 days as a classified listing ($1200 per year). The reach was limited to the amount of papers that were printed and read on any particular day. Compare that to today’s global reach and on-demand access to rental listings on the World Wide Web.
This is great news for owners wishing to advertise to the far corners of the earth. Travelers from around the world now have the ability to view listings on thousands of advertising sites with relative ease. There are risks, though: RENTER BEWARE! That vacation rental you have selected in New York, Utah or Lake Tahoe may be an empty lot upon your family’s arrival at 9:30 pm after a day of traveling.
Travelers are beginning to become keen to the fact vacation rentals are a popular choice when traveling with the family, but checking to see if that perfect getaway is verified is an often overlooked step. Anyone from Hong Kong to the Idaho can post a listing for a vacation rental on the internet. Simply log on to the internet, pay your $100.00 to post your listing on a popular rental site, and field the inquiries as they arrive in your inbox. Not getting enough inquiries? Lower the price and add a few more pictures. Owners know this all too well and unfortunately so to the scammers.
98% of all the vacation rental websites do not verify their listings. It is up to the consumer to assume the risk and do their own due diligence. Scammers are good at what they do and here is why: They spend hours scouring these properties on these listing sites to learn how to create a good attractive listing, often simply cutting and pasting from other ads to create a great presentation of a non-existent property.
Just looking at some these listings, even the most experienced agents would have no clue whether or not the home, condo, chalet or cottage is legitimate until it’s too late. The renter has mailed the check or used an online means for payment and the money is transferred to a corner of the world we did not know existed. The email account is closed and the chase across the border will end right there.
As the vacation rental market expands by leaps and bounds, so are vacation rental listing scams. Without some due diligence and research, your perfect family vacation could end before it even starts.
How do you protect yourself from scammers? Obviously, be very careful before you send your hard-earned money to a listing on a vacation rentals website. Be patient, plan ahead – it might take some time and some communication exchanges before you find the place you’re looking for. Find out who the listing belongs to! If it sounds too good to be true, or if you just have a feeling that something isn’t right – stop right there and ask for proof of ownership and that the house you’re viewing on your computer screen actually exists.
To learn more about renting verified vacation rentals from real owners with real proof that the home exists visit http://www.reservemyhome.com for vacation renal listings that are carefully verified for your next family vacation.
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MG Lodge, a mountainside vacation rental home in the tall cool pines of the Prescott National Forest at 7100 feet, 11 miles from Prescott, 90 miles North of Phoenix Just a few miles south of Lynx Lake, Goldwater Lake, and 11 miles to Whiskey Row. Available daily, weekly, monthly view our website for more details: www.mglodge.com
Help answer the question about vacation rental home
Do you tip the owner of a vacation rental home at the end of your stay?We are first-time vacation home renters. We are ignorant of the etiquette for this arrangement. Do you leave a gratuity for the owner at the home, mail them one, or is it unnecessary altogether? Should you tip the cleaners who will come after you leave?
About Author
Sondra is an expert author in travel, vacation rentals, destinations and accommodations for http://www.reservemyhome.com
Hi, have you heard of Home Exchange & Home for Exchange? Scroll down the page of the link I have posted here.
I don't tip the owners. They're usually making a nice chunk of money on my weekly rental.
I do tip the cleaning staff. I leave $5-$10 in an envelope (which I have to bring with me) and write "HOUSEKEEPING" on it.
Of course, most rental places expect you to leave the place really clean, and we do, but still, maids make lousy money, it's hard work, and I assume they appreciate it.
For the owners, I write in their guest book (most provide one) how much I enjoyed my stay and how pleased I was at how well-stocked the place was.
If and only if the place is the primary residence of the owner, rather than a rental-only place, sometimes I'll wait several months and write a little thank-you note telling them I was among their summer renters and how very much at-home I felt. Twice now the next year's slightly increased rental rate on the same house mysteriously dropped to the previous year's level when they sent the contract–presumably at the owner's request. Nice works!
You are amazing!
wow!