Trip Coach: January 9, 2007

Christine Karpinski: I hate to be redundant but I think that honesty is the best policy. I find when you ask direct questions then you'll get direct answers.
I would ask the owner the specific questions that you have asked me. Believe me, after renting my properties for nearly ten years, I have had every question imaginable and no question offends me. 
 
What anyone who's renting a vacation home needs to realize is both parties (the owners and the vacationers) need to be comfortable with each other. Vacationers are trusting that the hundreds or thousands of dollars that they are sending is for the home portrayed in the ads. And owners are trusting that the vacationers will respect and take care of their thousand or million dollar homes.
I think that one thing that makes my renters feel confident when renting my homes is I always provide them with a written contract which specifies property address, rental dates, rental amounts, cancellation policies, and checkin and checkout policies. Here's a link to the contracts that I personally use howtorentbyowner.com/RentalRules.htm. I think that renters should demand something in writing from the owners. 
 
I also accept credit cards, which gives the renters the safety and security that if anything goes wrong they can always dispute it through their credit card company. If the owner that you are dealing with does not accept credit cards, ask if they can accept PayPal. 
 
From looking at this particular property's webpage, it looks as though these owners have been renting their property since 2002. You can always email the webmaster for VRBO and ask if there have been any complaints about this property. Their email address is webmaster@vrbo.com.
  
But one thing that would concern me is that it looks as though their photos were also taken in 2002. Five years and tons of renters later the place could either still look great (if the owners are diligent about upkeep) or it could be run down. I would ask the owners if they have more recent photos. I would also ask them how often they themselves visit the property. Properties that are visited by their owners at least two or three times per year are more likely to be kept in great condition. That is unless they have excellent maintenance staff on the premises. 
 
Bottom line, there are no guarantees when dealing directly by owner but I can tell you that the number of complaints that VRBO.com and HomeAway.com receive from vacationers is less than .01%. 
 
Happy Renting By Owner!
Christine Karpinski

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Boulder, CO: We like to travel off the beaten path. How can we identify vacation rentals in Mexico outside of the main resorts that are popular with Americans? Cities like Colima, Veracruz, Catemaco, or Guanajuato.

Christine Karpinski: Actually a vacation rental is your best bet for finding a property off the beaten path. What many travelers don't realize is there are many off the beaten path beautiful places in Mexico. Last year I stayed in a Mexican Jungle Retreat. taninah.com/home.htm 
 
Because many of the vacation rental sites categorize the properties by specific geographical regions, there are some gems buried in geographical areas that don't fit into that cookie cutter box. 
 
The way I found Taninah was by searching on HomeAway.com first...but it was listed under "Playa del Carmen" which is the closest big city. homeaway.com/110057 
 
Here are some of the properties I have found for you:
Colima: vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/mexico/mexican-riveria#10339, vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/Colima-Central-Mexico.html
Veracruz : vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/mexico/central-gulf#4977, vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/Veracruz-Gulf-Of-Mexico.html,
Catemaco: vrbo.com/112261
Guanajuato: vrbo.com/107513, vacationrentals.com/vacation-rentals/Guanajuato-Central-Mexico.html 
 
Of course whenever you're looking for out of the ordinary accommodations or locations, you'll have to do some digging and likely it will take you a bit more effort than if you were just traveling to a popular destination. 
 
Happy Renting By Owner!
Christine Karpinski

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Welches, OR: We frequently rent through VRBO with wonderful success both here and abroad. But, on our trip to Hawaii last fall we ran into a difficult situation... Our apt. on Maui exceeded our expectations; our apt on Oahu was lovely but misrepresented. We were told it was a 1 bedroom, not a studio. It turned out to be one tiny room overwhelmed by the bed (our motor home bedroom was bigger), the kitchen was a hot plate and micro in the bathroom and the only window/door was the sliding door at the foot of the bed. We had to sleep with the doors wide open. The only place to sit was outside. To whom do we send an alert that the property is not as described?

Christine Karpinski: Many of the "by owner" vacation rental websites take vacationer complaints very seriously and will boot off any owners who have had three or more vacationer complaints. I know that VRBO has this policy as well. I encourage you to email the webmaster for VRBO their email address is webmaster@vrbo.com . 
 
HomeAway.com is the only site that I know of that has "Listing Reviews" on their site. This rates the accuracy of the advertisements and unlike guestbooks, they are mandatory for all owners. 
 
Many homeowners list on 3-5 different websites. You can always find out which other sites they list their property on my Googling their phone number. You should make this complaint to all of the sites that they are listed on.
As a final note, it's very important for you to ask many specific questions before booking a vacation rental property. When I rent my vacation homes, I always go through a detailed script about my home. I clearly describe the location, the view, the configuration of the bedrooms, bathrooms, what things are included such as dishwasher soap and things that are not such as laundry detergent. My modus operandi is to have my guests pleasantly surprised when they arrive rather than terribly disappointed. 
 
The thing to remember is there are most vacation property owners are honest and their ads are accurate. 
 
Happy Renting by Owner
Christine Karpinski

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Christine Karpinski: Thanks so much for joining me. The hour passed very quickly. If you have any other questions you can contact me directly through this web site: http://ownercommunity.homeaway.com/ 
 
If you're thinking of renting a vacation home for your next vacation, be sure to check out www.HomeAway.com the worldwide leader for vacation rentals on the Internet. With more than 130,000 vacation rental homes across 100 countries, HomeAway makes finding the perfect vacation home, defined as anything from condos to castles and bungalows to villas, faster and easier than ever. 
 
Happy Renting By Owner!
Christine Karpinski

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