Villa has been sold!

[Floridatilly]

We have booked a villa via 360homes, it was a personally owned villa, not under management.
We have just had an e mail to say that the villa has been sold, the new owners will honour the booking and he has already transferred the money over to the new owners whom will be in touch with codes etc soon. (the villa’s full payment & security deposit was paid a good few weeks ago).
I feel physically sick!
This is our last time in Florida for a while due to costs and we have had a rollercoaster of a year so NEED a good holiday.

A couple of years ago our villa got sold but that was 3 months in advance and the management company sorted out another villa out etc.
Do we now have to trust this new owner? One of the main reasons I booked this villa is due to the fantastic reviews on how clean it is and we’ll kept etc
Will it still be cleaned to the same standard etc
I am worried we will turn up to no villa at all!
Any advice?

[Ridersmom]

I think owner should have contacted you before the transfer. I think you should have been given the option of cancelling, If this is for your trip in 15 days, ask when the closing on the property is. If the villa was just sold, the actual transfer may not have occurred,

I think villa owner you rented from has fallen short as an owner. Informing you two weeks in advance is unfair.

[coggie]

The first thing I would do is to get email and phone details of the new owner and /or the new management company.
Once you have those then you can then deal direct with the new people to clarify and confirm everything

[Floridatilly]

Thank you. I will e mail him back and request some details. He has given names but that’s it.
We are onsite for one week then in this villa for 3 weeks, we upped our budget for this villa too.
I am so shocked, had no idea it was for sale and shocked our payment has been transferred without our knowledge.
My anxiety levels are through the roof! I am a worrier and stress head at the best of times. I feel sick.
I will e mail him now x

[Guest]

A few different thoughts swirling around in my head on this one, in no particular order:

* Keep calm!
* Unless they've had really bad guests, the timescale is nowhere long enough for a villa to have gone too far from 'well kept', so I don't think that in itself is a cause for worry.
* You will probably feel better if you talk to the new owners, as has been mentioned.
* There is very little availability for two weeks' time ... so I wouldn't cancel unless absolutely necessary.
* If there are any problems with the villa - let the new owner know right away. Don't wait half the holiday, or suffer in silence, or let them know via a review.
* That's two villas where the owner has sold. You've been unlucky ...
* ... but also when you book next time ask the owner their plans. Only way I would sell is if something unspeakably dreadful happened.

[Floridatilly]

I have sent an e mail expressing my fears so I will wait for response, refreshing my inbox every 2 mins lol
Seriously though I doubt I will rest now. I will update as soon as I find anything out.
You hear such horror stories, if this is a con and we have lost all that money then we simply can’t go.

[Guest]

Keep calm!

Try and put it to the back of your mind for a bit. Think nice thoughts about your holiday and go and do some other holiday preparations.

[DonnaD]

I think if it was a con you would have turned up to no villa. I can't see any reason to tell you it had been sold if it hasn't. If they have already transferred your money over it sounds to me like completion has already happened. Chances are with such short notice the new owners might still be using the old management company even if they intend to change eventually. I doubt you will actually notice any change.

I would try and speak to the new owners for reassurance but then try not to worry. Already sold to new owners who want to let it is much more secure than when it was on the market months ago and could have been sold to someone wanting to move in.

[Floridatilly]

Ok, I can breath a bit better now. Ex owner e mailed back straight away and gave new owners e mail.
I e mailed him and he e mailed back promptly, ownership only transferred yesterday and he is getting around to all his guests (but I beat him to it lol)
I do feel a lot better and both ex owner and new owner probably think I am stark raving mad/crazy lady lol but I do stress so much.

[Guest]

The ex-owner will be used to it!

The new owner, still probably glowing with pride and joy, thinking villa ownership would be easy, will soon learn quickly!

One thing I can definitely tell you about Florida villas is that from time to time things go wrong. It's how you sort them out.

About an hour ago, I've had two things go wrong today at different villas ... within minutes of each other. One was easy and sorted with a phone call within a couple of minutes.

The other one was a small leak, which I got my property manager to within 10-15 minutes and he plugged it straightaway. We will have some cosmetic work to do after the guest leaves in a couple of days, but nothing major by the sounds of it.

While we can help on the forum, there's often no substitute for getting in touch with the owner or management company and getting the ball rolling asap. There's always the chance something will go wrong, but there's very little that can't be fixed.