Home Owners -next several weeks of rentals

[wetwilly]

I am a new owner and a new rentee (renter before that for 15+ yrs) and have 2 groups coming in on 7/16 and 7/23, respectively that rented directly from me via VRBO, vacationrentals.com etc and also use BRoSW too. As for BroSW, I can not get directly ahold of BRoSW on the phone (just got 1st email yesterday afternoon) even as an owner. I know they are dealing with other priority issues (owners with dmaged, lost houses, and renters that require relocation) but if I can not get ahold of them I am concerned that my other renters that they have booked being able to reach them to get info.

With my 2 direct renters coming in to my house in the next 2 weeks, I called them as soon as I felt I knew enough to tell them what to expect etc (Tuesday evening). Both are coming down as scheduled with no discount. We offered a 1st season discount so the price was a good one from the start and both renters have been down to the area several times before and know what to expect and one of them lives in New Orleans and has lost a family vacation home in one of these storms. I have been very proactive and forthcoming with them as to the condition of the beaches, walkovers, accesses, dunes, erosion etc and sent them the official SoWal access info and pointed them to the SoWal website.

They both thanked me profusely for calling them and giving them the straight scoop and allowing them the opportunity to know what was going on down there. I was prepared to offer them a discount for any inconvenience but neither asked for one and in fact one of them said that they would be glad to fix my minimully damaged screened porch if he had time. I told them both to call me directly when they are down there if they found the place/beach in an unusable condition and if they needed anything. My point is that as an owner that some people will want to cancel, some will want an "inconvenience" discount, others will try to gauge and be unresonable, and some owners and rental companies will tell it like it is and some will only give minimul info. So, on both sides, I think if you are fair, forthcoming, proactive, and respectful, you will work something out with the rental company and/or owner directly. I expect the gammit when dealing with the general population but have been lucky (and my renters stated that they felt lucky to get the stright scoop) with mine so far. I am prepared for some to ask for discounts and some to cancel but think that it will all work out in the big picture. Seems more people want to come and others need to relo from the west and all will balance out if you are fair and honest.

 

[Rather B Paddlin]

Well said Willy

 

[physes]

My family and I are scheduled to come in this Sat 7/16. It took me forever to get in touch with my rental agency (BRofSW) and I don't really feel that they gave me all the information that I needed to make an informed decision. When you are responsible for making the travel decisions for an extended family it is hard to know what to do. One of the things that I have learned from all of this is that I will never rent from an agency again. I will in the future only deal with the owners direct. This message board has been a great way for me to gather information about my next vaction there. I have always been a little wary of dealing with anyone but a agency because I trusted them. Now I know that I can trust the owners more. Thank you for that.

 

[wetwilly]

Great. As an owner that books direct and also uses an agency, I find alot of value in having the relationship and contact with the renter (and I know my renters do as well) but that is because I approach this as I would like to be treated and communicated with not strictly with the cold/hard line of a business with no emotion. My span of control is 1 house and my agency has over 300 and they can not give the attention that I do and it would be unreasonable to expect that they could.....I use a "hybrid" approach to this and when I take a direct booking, I work directly with the renter and have a direct relationship with the renter, deal with the $$, rental contract, and then have the agency there as an "onsite" mgt entity for key pickup/dropoff, and local mgt/maint/cleaning. In this situation where I have a direct relationship with the renter, even though the agency is the place to call when onsite, the renter can still call me if they have any other issues.

In the other situation, the agency also has taken several bookings and I am not involved at all (and that is a little frustrating because I do not have any info or control over how the agency treats the renter.

In my opinion, the WIN/WIN/WIN is when a renter books and deals thru me, deals with the agency when onsite at the property, and still has my number to call me if the agency is not getting "it done" locally. Being a remote owner, this works well for us. Also, everyone gets a good deal since the hybrid mode insures that the renter gets the best price on the property, the property mgt agency gets a fair fee for onsite mgt, and I pay a lowr rate to my agency when I book it and the renter/rentee have a direct relationship if all else fails. Additionally, I enjoy dealing with people, sharing my knowledge and experience with the SoWal area, and I enjoy talking to people about the place that I love...the SoWal 30-A strip. My opinion on this subject.........

 

[STL Don]

Wet Willy,

Your approach is a great one--if one has the time to devote to it as an owner. Otherwise, I think it depends on the agency. Some can be way over extended--and this is bad for both owners and guests. Others, and we are dealing with one now, shows a great attention to detail and are very responsive. The trick is for the owner, and the guest, to figure out the best ones to deal with.

 

[wetwilly]

STL Don,

Agreed. I enjoy doing it, I like dealing with people (most of the time), and my agency could be alot more attentive to details but it is working for both sides and is all good in the end. If I didn;t have the time or like it, I would be pissed as some people are right now.

I'll bet a beer that you can guess my agency and I can guess yours. PM me your guess and I will PM my guess as a reply. Just a little game for fun...not mean spirited.

 

[GVM]

If one of your marketing messages is 'beach access', and you don't have 'beach access'...the first effort should be to preserve the rental by offering a discount, if the guest indicates some reluctance. My personal opinion is that a full refund should be offered if you can't deliver on such an important amenity. I'm getting flooded with emails from people who want a house that's not damaged...they don't seem to be concerned so much about convenient beach access.

 

[Paula]

I was able to contact many/most of the people who initially contacted me through VRBO (and then they worked with Beach Rentals of South Walton to book). I knew the phone at BRSW was always busy, so I figured out which people booked initially through VRBO and emailed them to let them know the conditions of the beach and the area. A few people contacted me as well. I did give a discount to the people coming next week because it's so close to hurricane. According to the BRSW calendar for our cottages, it doesn't look like anyone has cancelled. Many are repeat guests so they know they'll have a lot to do anyway (pool, porch, everything else along 30A). Perhaps some will contact BRSW and cancel (it has been hard to get through by phone), but so far they haven't.

 

[beachma]

Just a little more info on my rental...I have in fact for the first time booked through an individual owner which I found on VRBO. I felt very comfortable and excited to be renting their home because they were actually from the STL area. Once we had an agreement on the date, I was turned over to a Rental Agency...which is where I sent my deposit and from whom I have my confirmation. I have yet to hear from either the owner or the agency. I have not called either as I am opting to wait to hear from them...at this point I have decided to wait till Monday before I make any calls. This board has been my only source of info...I realize that it's very probable that the owner is in the same predicament as other owners on this board and their management company simply isn't communicating with them. I'm sure we're on the "long list" of rentee's to be contacted...I'm just still holding out for a nearby beach access to be completed in the next 3 weeks In the meantime...Mom calls everyday to see if we're still going... !

 

[Paula]

Just a little more info on my rental...I have in fact for the first time booked through an individual owner which I found on VRBO. I felt very comfortable and excited to be renting their home because they were actually from the STL area. Once we had an agreement on the date, I was turned over to a Rental Agency...which is where I sent my deposit and from whom I have my confirmation. I have yet to hear from either the owner or the agency. I have not called either as I am opting to wait to hear from them...at this point I have decided to wait till Monday before I make any calls. This board has been my only source of info...I realize that it's very probable that the owner is in the same predicament as other owners on this board and their management company simply isn't communicating with them. I'm sure we're on the "long list" of rentee's to be contacted...I'm just still holding out for a nearby beach access to be completed in the next 3 weeks In the meantime...Mom calls everyday to see if we're still going... !

One thing to keep in mind is that if you contact an owner through VRBO, they are more likely to be able to track you down again if you use the same name for booking as you did when you contacted them. Every month with our monthly statement, our agency gives us a list of the names of people who booked and the dates. After Dennis, I did an email search of all the names that the agency had listed to see if they had contacted me previously (I never clean up my email so it was easy). But, if the guest used different names when they contacted me and when they booked with the agency, I wasn't able to find them on my email list. I couldn't just use the dates and search because most VRBO listings get multiple requests for information for each week, but only one actual booking. So, you may want to contact the person from VRBO because you have their email and they may not be able to track you down. I was VERY thankful for the people who contacted me, and I wish I had been able to reach everyone else. I hope this helps.