Help! The villa I have booked is up for sale

[The Golfer]

Just remember the new owner of a villa has no obligation to honor any bookings, the current owners saying it will be sold with existing bookings will not turn the sale down if the new owner wants to live in the villa or just keep it private for friends and family.

Sorry to put a damper on it but unfortunately it's a fact of life

[Lemag]

Thanks for the replies-

Ianc- you post makes complete sense, and I can certainly see why booking later has its advantages. However, due to the fact our booking is over Easter and one of the busiest times, I would worry leaving it as late as November. Surely all the nicest and most competitively priced villas will be booked? I suppose this is the major disadvantage of booking everything DIY to save money.

I have had a response from the villa owner. He said they are just testing the water and won't be selling until after summer 2018 as his family want a last holiday there first.

I've no idea what to do...

[Lemag]

Originally Posted by The Golfer

Just remember the new owner of a villa has no obligation to honor any bookings, the current owners saying it will be sold with existing bookings will not turn the sale down if the new owner wants to live in the villa or just keep it private for friends and family.

Sorry to put a damper on it but unfortunately it's a fact of life

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Yes, exactly my worry. I seriously doubt a new owner would honour the price I've agreed with the existing owner. It's a real worry. I've had some great replies from Dibb owners, so I think we need to spend the weekend thinking about our options!

[missymouse]

I have been in a similar situation as you, last weekend the villa owner I had booked for this Easter emailed me to say he had sold the villa...within a few hours the new owner had emailed me and stated she was taking in all of the bookings at the price that was agreed. I did need to get the deposit back from the old owner and then I sent the payment over to the new owner and received all the documents back during the week. It is a worry however I did look for villas in between the old and new owner contacting me and there where lots of villas still available... try not to worry as even as if they sell at a later stage there are plenty of options available and the new owner may take on all of the bookings.

[Lemag]

Originally Posted by missymouse

I have been in a similar situation as you, last weekend the villa owner I had booked for this Easter emailed me to say he had sold the villa...within a few hours the new owner had emailed me and stated she was taking in all of the bookings at the price that was agreed. I did need to get the deposit back from the old owner and then I sent the payment over to the new owner and received all the documents back during the week. It is a worry however I did look for villas in between the old and new owner contacting me and there where lots of villas still available... try not to worry as even as if they sell at a later stage there are plenty of options available and the new owner may take on all of the bookings.

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Thank you so much for your reply, you've made me feel a lot less worried. I think my biggest concern was not being able to find another villa at short notice! I'll have to see how it plays out and just hope the owner is upfront with us if the villa is sold before our stay!

I'm glad you got sorted okay- I'm beginning to understand why people pay more for a package holiday!

Thanks

[TEL N KEL]

I have been in this situation, owner contacted me to tell me villa was being sold and they had a buyer who wanted to use it as there home.

The owner spoke to other villa owners ( As villa owners tend to know other owners ) next day they had arrange for me to move to a new home 5 minutes from where I was supposed to stay, same price same standard home, my deposit was transferred between them both. I did not have to do anything then got a call from new villa owner.

The fact you say the phone was answered saying the office is closed tells me you were ringing a letting agent and not direct to an owner.
If this is the case and the worst happens I think you will find the letting agent will get you relocated

[Lemag]

Originally Posted by TEL N KEL

I have been in this situation, owner contacted me to tell me villa was being sold and they had a buyer who wanted to use it as there home.

The owner spoke to other villa owners ( As villa owners tend to know other owners ) next day they had arrange for me to move to a new home 5 minutes from where I was supposed to stay, same price same standard home, my deposit was transferred between them both. I did not have to do anything then got a call from new villa owner.

The fact you say the phone was answered saying the office is closed tells me you were ringing a letting agent and not direct to an owner.
If this is the case and the worst happens I think you will find the letting agent will get you relocated

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Thanks for the reply. The office was for his uk business (in something completely unrelated), but he did reply straight away to emails.

I think we will just have to wait and see what happens. If he's true to his word then the sale won't happen until after we stay anyway. If he does sell in the meantime (which I suspect he would do if offered the right price!) I just hope he tells me in enough time to find another villa!

As someone said earlier, I could change to another villa (lose my deposit) and then still be in this position again!

Thank you for all the replies and help.

[Evil queen]

We've been in this situation twice. The first time we only found out when the owner we had booked with contacted us with the new owners details! It worked out well, they existing bookings at the same price and we had no issues. The 2nd time was for the same villa but we found out earlier but only as we came across it as you have done. We contacted the owner who had always been really responsive previously but the silence was deafening. I think if they had discussed it properly with us then we may have considered leaving our booking but we never received any further contact from them. Luckily they'd said they didn't need a deposit from us as we were frequent customers so we didn't lose out financially and so eventually after several attempts to contact them we emailed and said we would not be continuing with our booking. We managed to find another villa- on really short notice, and all was fine. I think what I'm trying to say is it boils down to communication and gut feeling. See what response you get and if you don't feel happy with it then look for something else.

[Guest]

we have a villa deposit paid for this june a 3 week stay. firstly they were on a reputable site but due to charges only accept bank transfers I feel like I have done a lot of checks but I also found the villa up for sale approached the owner and they said just testing to see interest but NOW they have removed the house advert from the site? What does this all mean? Should I arrange a different accommodation or go with the 65 reviews left in the 10 years on the site and the fact I have spoken to "the owners" over the phone they have taxes all paid up...oh I just don't know! :-( stressful.

[Lemag]

Originally Posted by Typ31

we have a villa deposit paid for this june a 3 week stay. firstly they were on a reputable site but due to charges only accept bank transfers I feel like I have done a lot of checks but I also found the villa up for sale approached the owner and they said just testing to see interest but NOW they have removed the house advert from the site? What does this all mean? Should I arrange a different accommodation or go with the 65 reviews left in the 10 years on the site and the fact I have spoken to "the owners" over the phone they have taxes all paid up...oh I just don't know! :-( stressful.

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I know, it's such a worry isn't it. The trouble is (as someone above pointed out), we could cut our losses and loose our deposit to book something else and then the same thing happen again! Think I'm going to sit it out for now and decide nearer the time...

Funnily enough our villa owner said he was just 'testing the market' as well!