Urgent help please! How do people normally pay for private villa/ cottage rentals? Owners asking for bank transfer

[Yorkshiremother79]

I've never done this before. Can you tell?!
The owners of a villa I'm looking to rent say they take paypal (but with a 3% charge) or I can transfer the deposit straight into their bank account. I feel uncomfortable with this. How do I know they are legitimate - if I don't at least pay by credit card, I could be transferring money to anyone surely?

I went thorugh a website and paid the villa agent via an online transaction on their website.

So it's not suspicious that they asked for a transfer and normal practice then?
Will we have some protection if we do Paypal?

We rent privately every year and always pay by bank transfer.

check the t&C for paypal. It is pretty safe, esp if you pay via paypal with a credit card.

Ok will do that. Still a bit scary and would prefer credit card but of course private renters understandably can't offer that.

We rent out a holiday property and take payments either by cheque or bank/internet transfer. It's never been a problem for any people who've booked as I either speak to them or email them to explain how payments work. I also email them the details for getting the key/full address as soon as payment is made so that they have all the details for their holiday, which reassures them that all's well. If you're worried, speak to them directly.

Lots of owners are now doing this because cheque guarantee cards arent there anymore. we run our own business and the fees on credit card transactions are high so we get and do bank transfers whenever we can because these transactions are free on business accounts.

I have done both - the cheque or bank transfer. Usually I have dealt with British renters so it is more straightforward, but once we rented an apartment in Paris - from a French person, so had to do the transfer with extra fee as it was going into a 'foreign' bank account and in a different currency?

Generally pay the deposit straight away - and the balance about 8-10 weeks before the start of the rental.

I guess if you use Paypal youare protected - as you say - depends if you want to pay the extra 3%?

When we rented in the UK we paid by cheque, a deposit and the rest 4 weeks before arrival.

When overseas bank transfer to the owner's account.

We did it many times and never had any issues.

Do not assume that Paypal gives you 100% protection.

It won't.

I normally pay by bank transfer for villas.

I also ask all my will writing clients to pay me by bank transfer as it's free and takes 2 minutes. Much better than faffing around with cheque books and snail mail.

surely it is no different from paying for anything by "mail order"?
Your bank will have a record of the transaction and you'd have to follow that up with them if the holiday or company did not exist etc.

I have always paid "holiday rentals" type bookings via bank transfer. I always use the big agencies - Holiday Rentals/Homeaway/Owners Direct though. I have never had a problem.

i sent a cheque off to confirm my verbal booking of a holiday apartment in wales and it got lost in the post. the owner didn't bother letting me know, just re-let it. so i think bank transfers are best as it was inconvient to have to find somewhere else.

I rent my holiday home through owners direct and although used to request payment of deposit and balance by cheque most people now prefer bank transfer. It is much quicker and easier and I can then refund their security deposit quicker too.

I doubt many will take credit cards as most are private owners not companys.

I alays do bank transfer. It's easier for me. If you are uncertain about the owners then maybe you should look for someone else to book with.

I have paid by bank transfer to avoid the fee of paying someone through paypal - I rented a holiday apartment in Edinburgh through an owner I found on www.rentalsforprofessionals.com. I don't see why paypal would be any safer than a direct bank transfer. Perhaps missing something...I figure any advance payment involves taking a chance, which is why I only use sites that do some checks on the owners who post.

I am trying to rent my flat as well (for the summer) so will be on the other end of the risk. What if people don't show up? or do not pay the balance after the deposit? We will see.. I've done it twice before and all went well. Fingers crossed

Hi we use www.ownersrentals.com/ when we book a holiday rental villa or apartment, we've always used paypal, just click the box that says are you paying for a service or product and the owner pays the 3%, we always do that never had a problem and we've been booking with owners on www.ownersrentals.com/ for over 6 years now.