Checklist will safeguard condo rental

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Posted on Sun, Mar. 05, 2006
Checklist will safeguard condo rental My wife and I became "snowbirds" recently by renting a condo for two weeks on the west coast of Florida. We joined what must have been hundreds of thousands of winter-fleeing Americans who descend each year upon Florida, Arizona, Southern California and the South Padre Island shores of Texas to take up residence in a one- or two-bedroom apartment for stays of two to eight weeks. The spacious condo, with its kitchen facilities and separate living room, is obviously more comfortable and economical than a hotel for that length of time. We had a fine vacation. But we discovered that there are rules for renting a short-stay condo in America that badly need to be discussed. . Condos have a habit of breaking down. The loo doesn't flush, the dishwasher goes dead, the ceiling fan breaks from its moorings and crashes down onto the dining-room table. Unless the owner from whom you rented has supplied you with the name of a maintenance person who is familiar with the property (and possessing a key for it), you'll find the repair process a bit unsettling. Though there are reasons for renting directly from a condo owner, I felt relieved that we had arranged our condo rental with a management company that had a seven-day phone number for emergencies and had repair personnel on staff. If your own rental is not made through such a real-estate firm, then be sure to ask the condo owner to provide you with alternate means of obtaining free-of-charge repairs. . Condos usually don't permit you to make long-distance phone calls. Nearly every owner of a condo who rents it for short periods to out-of-state "snowbirds" has disabled the phone to permit only local calls. Find out in advance if that has been done. If the answer is yes (and the absence of such long-distance calling is tremendously irksome), be sure you have obtained several telephone cards permitting you to make such calls; or else be sure you have brought a cell phone with you. And make sure your cell phone will work at the location you've rented; numerous off-shore vacation islands in America are equipped with telephone transmitters that work with only certain brands of cell phones but not with all. What a shock to learn that your trusty cell doesn't work on XYZ island! Condo kitchens rarely have the utensils for elaborate cooking. If you plan to cook in on occasion, be sure you obtain an inventory of the utensils and other kitchen aids with which your condo will be supplied. It's no secret that most condo owners provide you with the minimum: a tiny skillet, no tea kettle, no vegetable peelers or other specialized devices. If you're a heavy cook, you'll greatly regret having failed to pack those items in your luggage, and you'll grit your teeth at having to purchase them for such temporary use from a nearby store. Some condos might look swell in the pictures, but are awkwardly located. Inquire carefully about the location of commercial centers serving the condo complex in which you'll stay. In our case, the location was perfect: exactly 1 mile from a big general store down the road. That meant that every morning, to pick up the paper and down a coffee and bagel, I had a reason and an easy opportunity to get a healthy two-mile walk. We visited other condos too far for easy walking that required a 10-minute drive to commerce, which is too far in the course of a vacation stay. The substantial reservation deposit (and separate security deposit) required for condo rentals puts you at risk. One renter we know developed a serious illness a week before the start of her condo rental, and thus lost those heavy deposits (much more than you'd risk on a hotel reservation). Because you need to plunk down a weighty sum, you should consider taking out interruption or cancellation insurance for any condo rental, a precaution far more important than vacations normally require. But don't get me wrong; I loved our condo vacation. It was dreamlike to sip cocktails on our screened-in porch and watch the sun set over the beach and sea below. It was relaxing beyond measure to simply prepare a sandwich in our own kitchen and then have it with a beer on the same porch at lunch. It was stressless to arise in the middle of the night and read a novel by the light of a living-room lamp, without disturbing our sleeping partner in the bedroom. We'll rent a winter condo again next year, but we'll take some of the precautionary steps outlined above.