One time too many

[toofargone]

Greeting everyone. My group of 16 have just returned from our trip to Seagrove. You are blessed to have such a beautiful area to call home or a second home.

Everything was perfect, except for one aspect of our trip.

We rented a place right on the beach, as you can expect rather pricey (private pool, 6br, all the perks). We have not rented from this owner before but have stayed in the area on four previous occasions. He called the individual we rented from the last couple of years and did not even require a security deposit ($1000) because of the great feedback.

Well, during our week, the homeowner stopped by at least twice a day! A couple of times to check the mail, other times for various maintenance issues, a few time to get something out of the garage, etc. It was always something.

We felt he was just checking up on us, and as you might imagine this became increasingly frustrating for us and in a way dampened our enjoyment of this wonderful home. We are three brothers, married with children. What was he worried about?

Do you feel I am overreacting?

Flame away!

 

[John R]

not by venting here. how you address this with the homeowner could lead to overreacting. if you like the house enough to want to go back, you need to tell the homeowner that his coming by seemed to be like he was checking on you and therefore intrusive. if you wanted to hang with homeowners, you could have stayed at a b&b. he need to keep his distance.

 

[Mango]

No, you are not over-reacting. We have 2 places in the same development in Sowal, and when one house has guests, we don't usually tell them we are there. We do occasionally need to go in our sheds which are outside the units ( do not have to go through the house) and we wait until we see our guests are not around before we go into it to get tools or supplies.
Once or twice we have been seen, but we try not to invade their space while they are there. If seen, most people say hello and converstaion usually goes towards - need anything? and give some suggestions for funn things to do etc., but we keep it short and sweet, and they don't see us again.
We are not close enough for them to see us, so they don't know we are on grounds. I want people to feel like it's their house.

We rent homes for vacation in other areas, and we have had similar experiences with owners snooping around. We didn't like it, and I wouldn't do it to my guests.

 

[aquaticbiology]

sounds to me like he was regretting the waiving of the security deposit - if you had paid it he could have just withdrawn the money and stroked it

of course that guy might have used it to install hidden video cameras!

 

[toofargone]

By the end of the week we had already decided we will never rent from them again. There are plenty of rentals available that will treat us better with more respect of our privacy.

 

[Beach Runner]

As the owner of a beach house that is on the rental market, I think what the owner did was a terrible no-no. Not to say that I wouldn't like to have a webcam to spy on my guests after some of the severe damage they've inflicted on our home recently (like paint everywhere, as was the case when we arrived last Monday, that was not noticed by the rental management company's inspector ). But you just have to resist the urge. It's a severe invasion of privacy. If you're such a control freak that you feel the need to do more than stop by once, welcome your guests, yet not enter the property, you shouldn't rent out your property. The only alternative I see is providing daily maid service as a deterrent to house abuse.

 

[Kurt]

Your information is interesting and hopefully helpful. As nice as the owner might be, you should have let him know as soon as it became a problem, even at the risk of offending. If he is a nice guy he would have appreciated the feedback.

You are not overreacting if that's the way you feel. Sounds like the guy lives close by and is used to keeping a close eye on his property. Maybe he needs more to do. It should be an unusual occurrence to ever see an owner.

Please let us know some of the things you enjoyed.

 

[goin' coastal]

I do not think you are over reacting at all. In the past we rented a large house in Seaside in the off season for half price since we only used one bedroom(just 2 of us). The agency always sent someone over to check for something????? To make sure it was only 2 of us. I knew what they were doing --we had nothing to hide. It would have felt better if they had just been honest and told us it was a requirement.

More than once would have felt invasive. We were recently in the area in a home we are trying to sell. There were guests in our rental home and we dropped a new dvd player I promised. I wanted so badly to get in the owners closet for things to spruce up the other house. I would not ask as I felt it was a violation and they had paid for this week and privacy. After they phoned and ask about extending the stay , I did ask could we get in for a few minute . Our owners closet is right inside the door and I did not need to walk through the house.

After the damage I had last spring not reported by the agency I can understand why homeowners are nervous, but this is way beyond reasonable. I see why you would not want to rent this home again. It is better to take a deposit and leave folks alone.

 

[goin' coastal]

As the owner of a beach house that is on the rental market, I think what the owner did was a terrible no-no. Not to say that I wouldn't like to have a webcam to spy on my guests after some of the severe damage they've inflicted on our home recently (like paint everywhere, as was the case when we arrived last Monday, that was not noticed by the rental management company's inspector ). But you just have to resist the urge. It's a severe invasion of privacy. If you're such a control freak that you feel the need to do more than stop by once, welcome your guests, yet not enter the property, you shouldn't rent out your property. The only alternative I see is providing daily maid service as a deterrent to house abuse.

Sorry, to hear about your damage--it feels really bad! Hard to understand why housekeeping does not report it?????? The daily housekeepers( or at least 2Xweek) is not a bad idea if affordable!

 

[Beach Runner]

Sorry, to hear about your damage--it feels really bad! Hard to understand why housekeeping does not report it?????? The daily housekeepers( or at least 2Xweek) is not a bad idea if affordable!

Thanks. I literally threw up because it upset me so badly. I just might look into maid service.