ellie
New Member
Posts: 5
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Post by ellie on Mar 31, 2010 20:20:29 GMT -5
Hello and Bon Jour! I have been looking at apartment rentals and have found two. The first is on homeholidays.co.uk and I contacted the owner, it is not through a rental agency. It makes me a bit nervous! She wants a small deposit sent western union to her after she sends me the contract (the amount seems reasonable). I have not agreed to rent it, but she seems very accommodating. My biggest worry is without the agency to back me up I may end up in Paris with very little money left having to pay for a hotel! Here is the apartment: www.homelidays.co.uk/paris-04/apartment-flat-267642en1.htmI love the area of the above apartment, I have been there before and stayed in the 19th two different years in a row and I would like to be somewhere a bit more "fun" though I loved the 19th too. I spent a day in the Marais and this location seems close enough to where I would like to be if I could afford it! Here is the second one vacation.lodgis.com/en/paris/description/1185783-rue-caulaincourt-apartment/I am very unfamiliar with the neighborhood, but this apartment looks very nice and I saw that someone else on here rented it once and liked it very much. It is available for the dates I need and the price is fabulous. I worry about the ride into the center of Paris being long and also the safety of the area, how easy it is to get to a bakery or small market to buy coffee for the apartment..yadda yadda! When I was in this area two years ago, a woman (a street walker) came up to me and warned me the area I was in wasn't safe and that I should go back the way I came. Made me a bit wary! My gut says to take the Marais but my head is telling me to be cautious not using an agency. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Ellie
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Post by Darcy on Mar 31, 2010 21:15:18 GMT -5
Hi Ellie and welcome! I have rented an apt through Homelidays and had no problems at all. Actually, Gitte discovered this gem and recommended it to me. Merci encore, mon amie!! I have also rented several apts from VRBO and have never had a problem renting directly from the owner without the involvement of an agency. Whichever one you chose, I'm sure you'll be pleased.
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Post by PariS on Apr 1, 2010 13:52:31 GMT -5
Hi Ellie--if you're worried about renting directly from the owner, it would appease your fears to search the internet for apartment reviews on that specific property if you haven't already. If you can't find any and you're still worried, your best bet is to use an agency (or rent an apartment thru VRBO, HomeAway or Homelidays that DO have reviews indicating past guests have had a good experience with the owner). I think most apartment owners are on the up and up, but it does pay to do your homework on the off chance they're not. I looked on the Homelidays website to see if there's some kind of guarantee with them in case of a bad owner, but don't see anything like that. VRBO and HomeAway do have a guarantee, tho. They have tons of reasonably priced places.
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Post by denise on Apr 2, 2010 3:38:15 GMT -5
:)It is interesting to read your approach to the difference between renting through an agency and renting direct from agencies. Is this an American thing, are agencies something else there?
I always think renting direct is better than an agency, just like buying a house from the owner is better, rather than an estate agency. This is because agencies are middle men, only there to represent the owner and not the renter. The owner pays the agency for advertising, correspondence etc to save the owner the hassle. So renting through an agency is always more expensive.
Some agencies are better than others, I think and will help you if you get into trouble but that is not always the case.
Agencies like VRBO and homlidays are just advertising windows for the apartments and you deal direct with the owner
In England, an agency has no responsibility to the renter,, so you would go direct if you could. I don't know about France, but from reports of some agencies who just take your money and then put you in touch with the owner, I suspect things may be the same there.
BTW, I had a less than satisfactory experience with a VRBO apartment and VRBO took no responsibility at all, wouldn't even publish my review because the owner did not agree. After all it is not in their interests to publish a review shouting "stinking fish" is it? They make their commission by renting the place out!
So I would be very wary of reviews on agency websites. Better to get an independent review from here, slowtrav or TA. Even on slowtrav I have noticed reviews that I suspect come from the owners from the language used. No place is ever ABSOLUTELY perfect. Everywhere has it's quirks.
Denise Love from England
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Post by PariS on Apr 2, 2010 9:32:48 GMT -5
Denise, I understand your points and they are very valid. It's nice to deal directly with a good owner. But sometimes these days it's hard to make sure you ARE dealing with the real owner and not someone who's trying to scam you! Payment requested via Western Union rather than credit card is a red flag. The thing about renting from a reputable agency is you know you're sending your money to a legitimate entity (assuming you've checked them out and know they are legit, and if you've paid by credit card you have some recourse). You also know you're going to have an apartment when you get there and not just a fake address (possibly with a phony set of keys). Yesterday afternoon the new edition of Adrian Leeds' French Property Insider came out, and in it she warned about a website (Exploranda.com) that had copied her personal rentals' photos and descriptions from her website without permission and was trying to "rent" them through their own website. They are also advertising on Craig's List. Crooks like this give a bad name to legitimate agencies, but also make you wonder if the "owner" you think you're dealing with thru VRBO, et. al. are also legit. It's so easy these days to get fleeced if you don't do your homework. I made the mistake of posting a wanted ad on Craig's List while searching to buy our apartment, and was flooded with offers from people wanting to sell me "their" apartment--several of which I recognized from rental websites. These people couldn't tell me anything about the apartment that wasn't listed in the rental ad, all they wanted was a fee to show me the apartment "because so many people waste their time, they want to know I'm serious". But I digress... If you rent thru a full service agency, you have someone to deal with if the apartment doesn't work out for whatever reason. For example, last May we had booked Saffron on Ile St. Louis from Guest Apartment Services. Ends up the owner had planned to use the apartment at the same time and there was a mix-up in the office. I don't know which party was at fault, but that doesn't matter--Guest Apartment Services put us in a larger, more expensive apartment (Lilas) at no additional cost. I'm sure in similar circumstances any of the regular agencies will make it right for the guests (but obviously VRBO and agencies like that can't--but some of them do have built-in guarantees that will reimburse you in some instances, detailed in their fine print). Denise's post also points out that there is a difference between a full-service agency that does cost you more, but comes with perks like someone to meet you in person at the apartment and show you how everything works, concierge service during your stay, cleaning, and more; vs. agencies that are strictly "advertising windows" for the owner and vary widely in the services offered (it depends on what each individual owner provides). Yes, it's usually less expensive to rent directly from the owner--just do your homework and make sure you find plenty of independent reviews (not just those the owner posts on their website) or references from the owner that check out, until you feel confident that you are dealing with the legal owner who has proven to be honest and provides what they claim. Just found an excellent article pointing out the pros/cons--there are some good comments after the article as well, for those of you who are trying to decide which way to go-- www.smartertravel.com/travel-advice/what-the-best-way-to-arrange-vacation-rental.html?id=4671711&source=dealalert&value=2010-04-19+00%3A00%3A00&u=F547029205
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Post by PariS on Apr 2, 2010 13:05:07 GMT -5
Ellie--to answer your questions more directly, I think the rue Caulincourt is quite safe. Laidback and several others on the forum stay in this area quite a lot and love it. Is that the street you were on when you received the warning? One of Paris' "red light" districts is perhaps 1/4 mile from there, but the elements don't overflow into the Caulincourt/Lepic area as far as I know. If the apartment is located right where indicated on the map Lodgis gives on the website, you won't have a problem there. I see there are lots of shops right there too--a bakery, fruit stands, groceries, cafes, etc. so it would be convenient for those things. The metro station Lamarik-Caulincourt looks to be 200-300 meters away, and that line links directly to line 1 and lots of others, so it should be pretty easy to get around the city from there. Laidback has a posted a nice overview of the area here: www.ourparisforum.com/index.cgi?board=quartiers9&action=display&thread=1820
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Post by GitteK on Apr 2, 2010 14:12:04 GMT -5
Oh yes, Rue Caulaincourt is the BEST !!
Treelined, non-touristy, filled with shops, wine shops, fabulous bakeries, cafés, bistrots, florists - and the good little busline #80 taking you down to Place Clichy, Gare St. Lazare, Champs Élysées and Avenue Bosquet in the 7th arr.
Full of young locals, you just feel tucked away - and best of all: the fresh, unpolluted air of the Montmartre hill.
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ellie
New Member
Posts: 5
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Post by ellie on Apr 4, 2010 6:48:42 GMT -5
Thank you so much for the help. Sorry I did not respond sooner, we had a death in the family. I found an apartment on homeaway.com and contacted the company that offers the rental guarantee. They gave me some great tips and I asked the owner questions they recommended- references, deposit info, etc. He was wonderful, responded to all of my requests without getting irritated, providing everything I asked for. I was particularly curious why such a nice apartment was available at the last minute and he said that they had just finished renovating it a few weeks before. It also doesn't have a lift and is on the 5th floor. Hoping I am going to be able to hike my luggage up those stairs, knowing full well the 5th floor probably means the 6th floor! I paid for the guarantee ($21) and feel a little better at least knowing my deposit is insured so if we do get there and something happens, we are covered. It will not cover the cost of finding alternative lodging, BUT, life is an adventure right? Here is the apartment I chose www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p653120aHe also has a very nice website with 5 other studios on it www.tcstudios.fr I used paypal to make my deposit so that will be somewhat covered as well in case the insurance doesn't work out. When I return (June 1) I will let everyone know how it went! Thank you for all of your great suggestions!
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Post by PariS on Apr 4, 2010 8:54:26 GMT -5
What a cute little place! I'm glad you were able to find an apartment you're happy with. Let us know how it goes!
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Post by Darcy on Apr 4, 2010 17:50:27 GMT -5
Cute apt, great location, good luck with the stairs!!
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