Renting a vacation home - what questions to ask the agent? About This Page:

[jenloveseeyore]

Hi everyone!

Thanks to all of your help in my Carolina thread, we have looked around and have found a couple of beach cottages/homes that we would like to call on for the anniversary trip. These are all through real estate companies and we found them online.

We have never rented a home for a week like this...what questions should I be asking of the real estate agent? Any loopholes or problems I should be looking for? Anything that would send up a red flag? Since I did the research and the calls, I feel like this trip is kind of riding on my shoulders. I would hate to be misled or ripped off just because I didn't ask the right questions at the time of signing the contract.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

[JoanW]

I think because you are going through an agency it alleviates a lot of questions because they handle all the ins and outs. Make sure after cleaning is written somewhere and ask about linens for the beds (do you need to bring or rent them, are they included), have pets been in the property, is there a telephone in the house, and what appliances are there. A lot of this will be covered in your rental contract and sometimes listed on the property listing, especially if it's online. Look for what happens if something is not working appliance wise and what time is check in and checkout, and if you are checking in late is someone available to get you in are other questions to ask. Have fun!

[jenloveseeyore]

Thanks Joan! I didn't think to ask about appliances, so I will check that out.

My only concern was that I didn't want to pay for something and then find out that I wasn't getting that actual property (but instead something 'similar'). I have heard of that happening to people. I have seen interior and exterior pictures of one particular home, and I want to make sure that that's the one we get!!

Thanks again for your help!