Hi - I have booked a condo unit for 5 nights at BVG through the owner. I am now required to send a 50% deposit ($600US) to their PayPal account or wire to owner's bank. How do I know that I'm actually booking a legitimate rental? I found the rental on Homeaway.com and also on VRBO.com. Thank you! Linda
The simple answer is you can never be sure. On the other hand though, how does the owner know that once you've made a booking you are actually going to show up to the property that he has left empty for you? I would look for reviews from previous renters, legitimate owners thrive on having good reviews and if they're out to rip someone off they usually only manage to do it once.
If the owners name is Steve (not the Admin of this site) then you should be ok since he is legit and has reviews all over the place. However 50% is a lot and you should insist on 25% at maximum. Do not wire the money. Use Paypal and your credit card. That way if you do not get the room for any reason you can dispute the charge with your credit card company.
Thank you for the responses. I see you can purchase vacation insurance on VRBO - for $39 is it worth it?
Is this for the vacation in case you have to cancel for some reason or for the booking only? I think if its for the booking its not worth the money. Pay by credit card and you have protection from your credit card company.
We have booked rental properties here in the States through both Homeaway and VRBO and never had any problems.
