Help! The villa I have booked is up for sale

[Lemag]

Hi, I was just reading another thread about villa checks we should do (we booked our villa ages ago with a £250 deposit for Easter 2018). I had done all the checks apart from checking it was for sale. I've just checked and it looks like the owners selling it? ! Where do I stand re the deposit?

Just about to search for a Dibb villa 😐 Do u just post what we are after in the villa request section? I can't see that anyone else has posted here? Thanks

[Paddcomp]

The villa being up for sale isn't something to worry overly about. Many other checks such as are the taxes paid could indicate potential bankruptcy.
I'd imagine selling a villa business as a going concern with existing bookings transferred to the new owners. Probably worth a phone call to the current owner for assurance.

Hope you get some peace of mind.

[Michelle]

All villa request are to be made here in this forum.
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=94

Accommodation questions are posted in this forum, I have moved this for you.

[Lemag]

Originally Posted by Paddcomp

The villa being up for sale isn't something to worry overly about. Many other checks such as are the taxes paid could indicate potential bankruptcy.
I'd imagine selling a villa business as a going concern with existing bookings transferred to the new owners. Probably worth a phone call to the current owner for assurance.

Hope you get some peace of mind.

See more...

Thanks for your reply. Even if he says that it will be sold with all the booking honoured it makes me a bit uneasy 🙁 We could end up leaving it until 12 weeks before when paying the balance to find out we don't have accommodation (and Easter is obviously a really busy time...) I will call him after 8, but were do you think i stand on getting my money back? I did/have done all the check on the taxes etc and all looks fine. I can see that he has business in the uk too which are all fine as well...

[Lemag]

Originally Posted by Michelle

All villa request are to be made here in this forum.
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=94

Accommodation questions are posted in this forum, I have moved this for you.

See more...

Thanks Michelle, I just checked this forum but there are no other posts, I just put the dates and location we are after there? Thanks

[Lemag]

I have just called the number I have for the owner and the message said the office was closed until Monday!

Has anyone got any experience of this? Any advise greatly appreciated!

[Michelle]

Originally Posted by Lemag

Thanks Michelle, I just checked this forum but there are no other posts, I just put the dates and location we are after there? Thanks

See more...

The link to the villa request forum is in blue, click that and it takes you to the forum

[Tetrarch]

Originally Posted by Lemag

Thanks Michelle, I just checked this forum but there are no other posts, I just put the dates and location we are after there? Thanks

See more...

The reason it looks as if there are no other posts in the request forum, is that only the villa owners can see all the threads. The OP can only see their own thread and the replies on that thread. I can assure you that there are multiple new requests every day.


In terms of what to put, obviously your dates are paramount and the size of your family/group so that you only get replies from villas which are of a suitable size. Other than that, any must have requirements like south facing pool, not overlooked, spa, games room etc and anything else you think might be relevant.

So sorry you are having to deal with this in these circumstances but at least you have plenty of time to sort this out.

Debra

[Lemag]

Originally Posted by Tetrarch

The reason it looks as if there are no other posts in the request forum, is that only the villa owners can see all the threads. The OP can only see their own thread and the replies on that thread. I can assure you that there are multiple new requests every day.


In terms of what to put, obviously your dates are paramount and the size of your family/group so that you only get replies from villas which are of a suitable size. Other than that, any must have requirements like south facing pool, not overlooked, spa, games room etc and anything else you think might be relevant.

So sorry you are having to deal with this in these circumstances but at least you have plenty of time to sort this out.

Debra

See more...

Thank you! This makes sense now! I'll post there now :-)

[ianc]

Lemag, my advice is stop, don't panic, take a deep breathe and consider this objectively.
Villas being bought and sold is a basic fact of life, and is happening all the time. If you have looked on Zillow, you can see how many are on the market at the moment. It varies from area to area, but in some areas it is as many as 1 in 10. Some find a buyer within a month, others are on the market for 6 months or a year. Most of those that have been rented out by the current owner will have future bookings; in other words, that is a LOT of bookings. It is quite normal. Having initial bookings makes the property more attractive to a new buyer who also wants to rent it out. That new owner will probably want to update and refurbish it and replace anything that is worn, so it is a better villa than you were expecting.
Between booking and arrival, lots of things can happen, all of which are outside our control. Villa owners are just ordinary people. Their circumstances can change due to illness, accidents, bereavement, redundancy etc. The villa might suffer hurricane damage or be affected by a sinkhole. There could be terrorist incidents. The owner's MC might change, meaning the standard of maintenance drops. You can reduce the likelihood of the unforeseen happening in the meantime, by booking as LATE as possible. By booking very EARLY, you are eliminating just one risk - that villa being booked by someone else. It is great for us villa owners if you book early, as your deposit money sits in our bank account earning interest instead of yours! There is a trade-off between these risks.
If you cancel this booking now, what will happen? First you will lose your deposit, as legally you have simply changed your mind. Then you will book somewhere else that is not on the market today. But there are 424 days to go. That is 424 days in which that owner could decide to sell, and you are back in the same situation. In fact there is plenty of time for this to happen several times over - possibly a 1 in 10 chance, based on Zillow data. You could still end up booking again this time next year.
If you wait for the result of the sale, what will happen? If the new owner takes on the booking - no problem - you have been worrying unnecessarily. If the new owner does not honour the booking, you will get a refund of the deposit, so you are not worse off financially (your travel insurance provides added assurance of this). You will just have the inconvenience of needing to book again. There are thousands and thousands of villas - arguably too many - it is not a problem.
US guests don't book 2 years in advance - it is more like 2 or 3 months. For example, I have a guest who is staying at the end of February this year (a repeat booking by parents who are supporting their son's college sports team). The email from them this morning tells me they still don't know if there are 4, 6 or 8 of them coming, with only 5 weeks to go! My advice is the optimum time to book for Easter 2018 is around November 2017, before the US guests start to get organised.