Asking to pay for holiday home when she said it would be free

[Momhope15]

Am I being unreasonable?
My friend has been telling that she wants to sell her holiday home in Italy to which I said I knew a couple looking for a vacation home abroad.
She told me that they could go visit the 2 bed apartment and stay for free for a couple days maximum a week as the flat was empty anyway due to it being winter.
I reverted that same information to the couple to which now they say they wish to stay 2 weeks to know the area a little bit better and also they are travelling all the way from UK to Italy. I know 2 weeks was never the agreement and I was not expecting them to stay there for free so I asked my friend to give me rate.
She first quoted me 450 euros.. a week! Of course I looked surprised and she eventually said no less than 200 euros per week. That's still 400 euros. I completely do understand that she has costs like electricity, cleaning etc but I thought the rate was a bit too high and not expected. I felt as if she is now renting as a "business" and is deviating from the original agreement. I am embarrassed to be in the middle as I feel really bad to tell the couple that the visit will cost them 400 euros at least and I don't wish to tell my other friend that they thought it would be less .....

'you can stay in our property for two days for nothing'.

'For free? Oooh, we'll take a fortnight, then'.

'Um, nope. It'll be double the cost for being a pair of choring dickheads'

'But you said FREEEEEEEEEE!'

Great way of putting them off, IMO. They were taking the piss.

Step back and let them either find the money or look for somebody else to take the piss out of.

Let me know this region where you can get 2 weeks for 400euros as standard. I'd like to go!

It sounds like your friends are trying to get a real cheap deal. They were offered a weekend/week max for free. They should absolutely pay 450 Euros for the second week. That is cheap. You should be embarrassed about the ones trying it on rather than the person lending/renting the apartment.

I presume they want water/heating/electricity/clean bedding/gas for cooking/someone to meet them/someone on call when they break something/the taxes paid on the place.

Who do they think will pay for all this?

We have paid up to 1200 euros for small apartments for a week in Sardinia in the summer, so 450 euros a week for a whole villa in the winter sounds reasonable to me; it's only roughly 65 euros a day for the two of them!

Very generous and cheap offer! The couple is taking a p&ss... nobody needs 2 weeks to decide if they want to buy an appartment . They are just after a freebie. Pathetic. 2 days free the rest going rate in that region in off season - thank you very much.

Also I would love to know your friend who can give appartment for 200-450 euros per week - my suitcases are ready and packed! I would appreciate so cheap price.
Shame on ones that expect freebies .

If I was your friend with the apartment I would back out of this now. Even for 400 euro they are getting a very cheap holiday and taking advantage of a friend of a friend. Even if they like the area they will be unlikely to prefer this apartment to any of the others that will be for sale there. They should pay full price or nearly full price for the 2 weeks and your friend should refund them the money if they end up buying her apartment.

Oh my goodness, your friends are such cheapskate chancers I’m cringing for them. What cheeky fuckery. Your friend would be well advised not to allow them next to near the place, they’ve no interest in buying and are changing their arms. Horrible behaviour! What’s with the sense of entitlement and thinking it ok that this lady provide them with a free holiday? The mind boggles. Advise your friend with the property to change her mind, giving whatever reason she chooses and then extricate yourself from these embarrassing negotiations.

YABVU, your friend charges £450/week she is preparedto give them 2 weeks for £400 so is giving them more than 1week for free. And yes electricity and heating in the winter is super expensive, I know from experience, Most places abroad are cold in winter and they have very little insulation. It is highly likely it will cost €100/ week for heating/lighting and water ( all much more expensive than in the UK). Then in addition €50 for cleaning and €50 for laundry of sheets and towels. This is mimimum we pay at our place. It’s way more expensive than people think and your friend will be coming out with very little change from £400 for 2 weeks.

This is nothing to do with you OP
Owner can set own terms ( which seem entirely reasonable to me)
Potential buyer can agree to terms or not as they choose.
Not your circus.

I think its cheeky of them to ask to stay for two weeks on the excuse to ''see if they like it''. No one gets to ''stay'' in a house for sale to see if they like it, you just have to do drive bys and research the area thoroughly using other means. I would step back as others have recommended, someone is going to be upset.

Bloody ridiculous.
I will be selling my house in Wimbledon but I’ll be damnrd if every interested buyer will get a 2 week stay while they see if the local
Shopping centre is up to scratch.

There's 3 elements in the story here.
First OP got involved and maybe with regrets,embarrassed to tell the couple the cost.
Secondly, if you are saying, its a flat and the going rates in winter for the location is about 400 for 2 week then your friend is greedy toward a potential buyer( believe me there's some area in Italy you wouldn't even stay for free).
Thirdly, if the couple are genuine buyers and not cheecky trying to get 2 weeks for nothing then they should pay the right rate for the 2nd week.
Tricky for OP, just convey the message and do your best to find middle ground

I’m baffled that you think the seller is the cheeky one here. If you were selling a property & the buyer wasn’t local “feel free to come and stay a couple of days to view the property properly given it’s empty” & they responded “view the property for free? Sure we’ll take a fortnight.”
Seriously ????

And who cares if their costs are low - it’s their property !

Thank you all for your replies.
The couple really isn't trying to get a "free holiday". They wouldn't go if they weren't genuinely interested.
When she mentioned that she had a place to sell, i mentioned that this couple I knew were looking and I'd be happy to forward the details (like an advert of some sort). She shared some pictures and offered for them to stay there for a week free - they didn't ask for it. When I asked if she was sure - she said absolutely, it wasn't a problem at all, the house was empty for the winter and they are more than welcomed - again she said that, not me.
When I mentioned this to the couple, they offered to pay for bills and cleaning, they said they wouldn't feel comfortable going for free. When I told my friend, she accepted that they only needed to cover costs. However because the flat is in a remote location which they never heard of, they wanted to stay a bit longer - a week longer.
What took me by surprised when I spoke to her , was that she originally suggested 450 euros per week therefore 900 euros for their stay to cover costs. She then lowered the price to 200 per week when I said I would let the couple know.
Similar property online in the same location are at 200 euros per week. So I guess the rate she eventually quoted was more realistic however this seems to cover more than just costs.
As rightly some of you have said - not my problem let them deal with it!

OnTheHop particularly if the 2 weeks is the final week in June, 1st week in July ;)

This is for February :)

It doesn’t matter what other people are charging though. Electricity costs are much, much higher in Italy. A full clean including all laundry is also very expensive. If they have a property manager they will also have to be paid to be on call.

There is no way this couple will buy this apartment if they have never even been to the area it is in before. The apartment owner realised that as soon as you asked (cringe) if they could stay another week.

I am genuinely bemused as to why you think the apartment owner is being cheeky and not the supposed buyers despite most on here thinking the opposite.

I am purely stating that the agreement was for costs to be covered. If she then changed her mind bc The couple asked for an extension, than fair enough.

I included the prices of similar flats to give you a reference point as to what the normal rent would be. Some thought it was a villa and others that 900 euros was cheap for a property in Italy.

Agree that she can charge whatever she likes ....

I would still walk away from it after giving your friend's number to the interested party. Let them sort it. Chances are as they don't know of each other, it will be via emails and therefore in writing as to each party's expectations. Much better than going back and forth via yourself (3rd party).

I always get to see posts late so apols if this is already said. If she's offered a week free, then why can't the couple stay elsewhere to "get a feel for the area" if they think one week isn't enough 'cos it sounds to me like they are taking piss and trying to blag a free hol. Again, apols if this is already covered. If it were me I'd follow what others said & just put them in contact with each other & let 'em get on with it :)

Do not be the middle man. Incidentally rentals in Italy are dearer the spain , croatia and many more. Put them in touch with each other, Potentailbut=yer can do her own reasearch. Most people looking to buy would rent a place in the area first. Dont feel embarassed, just back away

The only thing I don’t miss about having a holiday home is other people’s cheeky fuckery!

400 euros for 2 weeks in Italy?! I'd snatch their hand off!