Posted on 1/23/2009

Why is it important to use an agent to book your vacation rental?

So, to recap, last week, when I was looking for a rental property off-island for myself, I couldn’t find one. I could only find a site that listed millions of properties - but didn’t offer an actual person up for customer service, for an inside look. That just doesn’t work for me. It’s so important to be able to rent from a 3rd party, and I’ll tell you why. An agent:

...will have seen, personally, all of the houses that they list. They’ll be able to give you real details about size, feel, look, etc.
...has the ability to get a group of houses in the same area, say if you only want Lambert’s Cove - they can gather them all up.
...can be objective as a 3rd party and not the owner.
...customizes your search for you. Will know all of the houses that meet your exact needs.
...shares with you the benefits of geography of each of your rental choices (for example: This house has the perfect backyard, but it’s close to a main road).
...realistically tells you if some of your needs just aren’t possible and then can help you come up with a real solution.
...offers more choices.
...mediates if there is a disagreement or issue between the renter and the owner of the property in terms of security deposit, cleanliness, damage, etc...

I love the internet...but my process of trying to find a vacation rental, from the renters side, left me craving a real person that could really help me! Off to search some more...