Once you have found some interesting properties for your vacation rental you’ll probably want to know more about them - at the least, availability and rental rates.

Depending on the website:

• You may be able to book a property online without any interaction with the property owner
• There may be a phone number for you to contact the owner directly
• Complete a simple online form that will be sent to the property owner as an email

The most common way of communication is by email as this allows you to send a single request for multiple properties at once - rather than talk to each in turn or go straight to booking online.

What should I put in the request?

You should include the dates you want and describe any flexibility that you have for the most responses. If you have any special requirements or expectation then include those too. Include anything that you think may not otherwise be obvious or that you want to ensure is explicitly included.

Make a list of your must-haves and make sure that they are included. Add your nice-to-have’s too if you want to make choices based on these when you get the responses.

When should I talk to the owner?

You should always have the opportunity to speak to the owner in order to answer any questions that have not been answered by the online information. Either call them if a phone number is provided or email them with your query and provide a number for them to call you - say that you’d like to talk. Most owners will provide their phone number in a response should you wish to call them directly.

The owner should be able to answer pretty much all of your questions about the property itself and most of the ones about the local area and can be a great resource to help plan your stay.

Is it OK to book online?

If you are satisfied with the property and have done your research…

• Confirmed that the dates are available and for the right property
• Have an unambiguous rate quote for the same dates
• Have contact information for the owner
• Know what to do if there are property emergencies (who to contact)
• Read and agree to the Terms & Conditions (or Contract)

…then booking online can give you a number of benefits:

• It’s the fastest way to ensure you get the dates you want
• You can often pay by credit card too - this is fast and gives you a level of protection against mis-representation (as with any sale)
• There are fewer mistakes introduced as these systems are automated - your dates and contact information will be as you have typed them. If you make a typo then this can be changed later

Not all properties can be booked online without owner interaction:

• Some may use a paper system and send you a contract for you to sign and fax/mail back - this is the slowest method
• Some use an online form to capture the contact information and have you print out, sign and mail/fax it to them - this is quite fast
• Some use an online form to capture and submit everything needed once everything else has been settled (dates, rates, options) - this is the fastest method and is effectively the same as signing the contract, so don’t submit it unless you mean it

How long should it take to get a response?

You should expect a response from any interested owner within 24 hours and more often than not sooner. Owners can be on any world timezone (regardless of the location of the property) so always allow 24 hours before assuming you have all responses.

Depending on the request itself, owners that do not have availability, or are otherwise unable to offer you their property, may not respond at all. Often, requests sent to many owners at once are deemed “general inquiries” and there’s no expectation that a response is required if the property is unavailable. If an inquiry is send to a specific owner then this is deemed a “direct request” and a response should be given by the owner even if they do not have availability.

Note that some owners use a Property Manager that is local to the actual property to manage the day-to-day running of it even though they may be many miles away when taking reservations. This is quite normal.

How should I deal with all the responses?

This is the difficult part - how do you decide who to choose? Unfortunately I can’t help too much with that as it really depends on what’s important to you.

You can always get an idea of how your experience may turn out from the responses you get from the owner:

• You want a clear response listing the rates and any extras/options - detail is important and reflects on the owner
• The more professional it looks the more professional the owner is likely to be.
• Talking to the owner also helps you get an idea of their attitude and how helpful they are

My suggestion for narrowing down the list:

• Use your list of must-haves to rule out properties that are missing these
• Rank the others based upon your nice-to-haves
• Look at previous guest reviews (if they don’t have them then wonder why not)
• Then look at the other things:
  Rates, Payment methods, Hair dryers, TVs, DVDs, proximity to stores, size of pool, view, parking space etc

Always contact the owner again if you need clarification - they should be able to help you get to the point where you are confident about their property and the way they deal with you.

As always - it’s your responsibility to do as much homework as possible before committing to a reservation. If you are uncomfortable then don’t do it.