Short term rental - is it risky to pay upfront?

[Guest BenJay]

I am in the process of organising a short term rental for my family. I'm coming to Adelaide early in September this year.

 

I have sent a few inquiries and one of the replies was a bit surprising:

I would need a 25% deposit of the full amount to secure the booking for you. Another 25% would need to be paid 8 weeks prior and then the final amount 4 weeks before occupancy.

This is a $800p/w rental so if I want to take it for 4 weeks I will have to fork out $3200 a month before my arrival! It sounds a bit fishy to me. I understand the reason for securing the booking with the 25% deposit but paying the full amount before arriving there seems to be very risky.

 

What are your experiences with similar cases?

 

Maybe I'm exaggerating?

[Lea]

It is quite usual to have to pay up front, I think we paid 50% deposit and then the remainder about a month before - these places fill up quickly.

 

Why not ask on here if anyone has used the company - in that way at least you get some feedback about the operator.

 

HTH

 

Lea

[Guest Guest75]

Deposits are normal here.

 

Do your best to check out the company - either by reputation ( perhaps on here?) or are they sowing their ABN on the site?

If anything does not look professional they probably ain't.

 

What paperwork will you have??

 

Short term lease agreement to sign when you arrive, signed receipt for the bond??

 

If all does check out you will be fine :)

[Guest markmet]

Hi Benjay

We rented a short term rental from the UK $650 per week fully furnished, and yes we did have to pay 50% of the rent and 50% of the deposit upfront. What I did was rent from someone reputable and well known. I did lots of research before I decided who to rent from. We rented from Roo's rentals and had no problems whatsover. Another piece of advice is if you decide to go with the rental you are looking into, just make sure you pay with a credit card. At least that way you would be covered if there was any dodginess going on. I have to say $800 a week rent sounds a lot. Have you shopped around? Who is this with and where? Hope this helps, and if you need any more info feel free to ask.

Chris

From the Midlands

Now in Flagstaff Hill

[hoopster]

Ben Jay

 

We are in the holiday/short-term rental business, although our properties are in France rather than Australia. The payment of the deposit and then the balance up-front is absolutely standard practice in our industry. I would always recommend, as suggested in the replies already, that you check out the company you are dealing with and of course, paying by credit card will also afford you some protection.

[Guest Nick11]

It's the norm here. Look at it from the other viewpoint - you book it..pay a deposit..then dont come..the rental is left standing empty .

Unfortunately its happened all to often here..so owners of rentals want their money up front.

[Guest BenJay]

Hi Benjay

We rented a short term rental from the UK $650 per week fully furnished, and yes we did have to pay 50% of the rent and 50% of the deposit upfront. What I did was rent from someone reputable and well known. I did lots of research before I decided who to rent from. We rented from Roo's rentals and had no problems whatsover. Another piece of advice is if you decide to go with the rental you are looking into, just make sure you pay with a credit card. At least that way you would be covered if there was any dodginess going on. I have to say $800 a week rent sounds a lot. Have you shopped around? Who is this with and where? Hope this helps, and if you need any more info feel free to ask.

Chris

From the Midlands

Now in Flagstaff Hill

Thank you all for your replies.

 

The property I was thinking about renting is the Margerita's place whose reputation is not well known to me. I also think that $800 for a week is rather pricey but I am a bit limited by the proximity to the primary school. However, I am still shopping around because I should have somewhere to live only by September.

 

FYI I need to be close to a school which has the New Arrivals Program because English is not the native language in my family so I need to send my 11 y.o. daughter to practice her English before the mainstream schooling. That's why I would like to be close to Richmond, Cowandilla or Goodwood.

 

Alternatively I will have to look at Salisbury North or Elizabeth Vale but now it seem to be too far from the CBD where I will hopefully get some work.

 

Any hints will be much appreciated!

[Toni]

Hi – it’s me – Kris – I am the owner of Margarita’s Place, I've been working steadily for nearly the last 12 months to build a good reputation and hope that I have. I realise I have a long way to go as other people who list on PIA have been doing this a lot longer than me.…I have 2 properties and the one I quote DBenJay was for the Glandore one because he asked for that one specifically. . Margarita’s Place at Hallett Cove is a 2 bedroom place and my rates on that one are pretty comparable and cheaper than some others in the area ...There are a few people on PIA who have stayed there and have given me personally good reviews but I’ve had many people from different nationalities also. I know I go the extra mile for people – like a lot of people who have rentals on this site and do have fabulous reputations. I hope that I am starting to build that myself and no offense definitely taken by these comments. Whenever I go anywhere to stay I also do my research and that’s the beauty of these forums. Glandore is a 3 bedroom place and is close proximity to the city and the overheads are higher because it is an older style cottage. BenJay if you would like to stay at Hallett Cove you would be more than welcome and you would notice that not only are my rates lower than the Glandore property it is also lower than some others. And I did also say I would charge you $780 per week because there were only 4 in your family (not the 5). Anyway I know I didn't need to say all this and I am sorry this is so long but as I said people's reputations are important and I know I go the extra mile to help people.

[moggies2]

We are currently staying at Kris's place (or rather Margarita's Place) in Hallett Cove and I can only say good things about all our dealings with Kris and also the unit itself. There is certainly nothing 'fishy' about the arrangements or having to pay upfront - as others have said its quite normal. The unit is lovely and very spacious. As long as you dont mind watching the galahs and lorikeets playing in the tree outside and seeing the fabulous sunsets over the sea from the lounge window. A great place to stay - would highly recommend it.

 

Mariane and Cliff

 

 

 

Hi – it’s me – Kris – I am the owner of Margarita’s Place, I've been working steadily for nearly the last 12 months to build a good reputation and hope that I have. I realise I have a long way to go as other people who list on PIA have been doing this a lot longer than me.…I have 2 properties and the one I quote DBenJay was for the Glandore one because he asked for that one specifically. . Margarita’s Place at Hallett Cove is a 2 bedroom place and my rates on that one are pretty comparable and cheaper than some others in the area ...There are a few people on PIA who have stayed there and have given me personally good reviews but I’ve had many people from different nationalities also. I know I go the extra mile for people – like a lot of people who have rentals on this site and do have fabulous reputations. I hope that I am starting to build that myself and no offense definitely taken by these comments. Whenever I go anywhere to stay I also do my research and that’s the beauty of these forums. Glandore is a 3 bedroom place and is close proximity to the city and the overheads are higher because it is an older style cottage. BenJay if you would like to stay at Hallett Cove you would be more than welcome and you would notice that not only are my rates lower than the Glandore property it is also lower than some others. And I did also say I would charge you $780 per week because there were only 4 in your family (not the 5). Anyway I know I didn't need to say all this and I am sorry this is so long but as I said people's reputations are important and I know I go the extra mile to help people.

[Guest Roo1]

Well, I just have to comment on this thread as this is what I do for a living!

At RooRentals we ask for 50% up front, then the rest to be paid 14 days before arrival. This is absolutly the norm for this type of accommodation, as like a previous poster said, what happens if our guests didn't turn up and we are left with a rental with no income for that week or more?

 

Tyke, myself and Tamara from HomesDown Under have been providing accommodation for families for a few years now and business comes from recommendations no doubt.

Kris maybe quite new on to the scene but I've no doubt that standards will be as high as ours. (Do you think the members on PIA would let Kris get away with anything less!);)

 

You are right to be cautious and good on ya for posting to get some feedback.

 

Best of luck with your emigration,

 

Judi x

[Guest BenJay]

Hi – it’s me – Kris – I am the owner of Margarita’s Place, I've been working steadily for nearly the last 12 months to build a good reputation and hope that I have..... (...)

 

Thank you Kris and others for their opinions.

 

The reason I was asking for help in this forum in this particular case was that I have never done anything like that before so excuse my inexperience.

 

My profession is project management where risk assessment plays a crucial role when preparing a project approach. Relocating overseas is a big project for me and my family therefore wanted to find out if the terms proposed by Kris (only as an example) are the industry standard. Now I know already that these terms are standard so the risk is mitigated.

 

In my experience with accomodation I usually dealt with hotels where you pay only a portion of the whole amount to secure the booking. The rest is paid when you leave.

Now I have learnt that the short rentals are different not only in Adelaide but also in France - you pay the full amount upfront - period.

Thank you all again for the lesson.