All Forum Posts by: Jeff Morse

@Raymond B. - I thought I didn't it correctly, but apparently not.  :)

Thanks,

Jeff

Great discussion!

@Shawn Pennington - If you're willing to share, I'd love to know how you've automated some of your rental business.  

Jeff

Appreciate it @Sam Alpha!

@Flavio Zanetti 

My frustrations were with regards to getting enough detailed information for the $15k worth of bookings that were already in place at closing. The seller was not as organized as he should have been and the selling agent didn't want to work very hard to get me the information I needed.  In addition to that, it was like pulling teeth to get Flipkey to change the account from the seller to my new PM company.  We were eventually successful, however it took 18 days for us to get Flipkey to agree to get the seller's approval to transfer the funds.

So I lost a lot of hair last month as we worked through what seemed to be one roadblock after another.  Things had been getting better, but just this last week, we had two more challenges come up.

Turns out, even though Flipkey had approval to transfer the funds at closing, per their policy, they still sit on the booking funds until 24 hours after the guest arrives.  Once they confirm the guest has arrived, the funds are released.  Unfortunately, for my bookings, the funds were released into the seller's account, not my PM's account.  This was pretty nerve racking, because now the seller had over $2000 of my money in his account, and since he lives in the UK, I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out.  My PM company repeatedly reached out to Flipkey, but was getting nowhere.  Fortunately, after nearly a week, the seller was able to successfully transfer the funds into my bank account.  Whew!  Dodged a bullet!

Now for today's saga!  I just found out that the guest info I received at closing for the 1/19 - 1/28 booking was incorrect.  The name, phone number and email address I was giving were wrong.  I'll spare you the details, but the bottom-line is, the guest wasn't able to check-in and ended up cancelling his reservation through Flipkey, resulting in nearly $1400 of lost revenue.  Woohoo!  Good times!!! 

Before you ask, I've been corresponding with the seller on various things, and he's been very helpful, so I know this was an innocent mistake.  Plus all of the other information he's given me has been correct.   

I know I'm typing fast and not giving a whole lot of details.  But the bottom-line is, there are a LOT of details with regards to vacation rentals, and I'm learning a TON!  

I'll end this on a positive note.  Even though we've only owned the home for 6 weeks, we've already secured 7 bookings.  Things are moving right along, but man, what a ride it's been!

Jeff

@Susan Gillespie 

Just sent you a PM.

@Jason Duprat @David Ramirez 

I just purchased a vacation rental near Orlando, in Kissimmee, Fl.  The transaction was difficult, (due to the seller and his agent's lack of responsiveness), but my Realtor was excellent throughout the whole process.  There were a couple times when I got so frustrated, I felt like walking on the deal.  But thankfully my agent talked me "off the ledge" and we closed on the home last month. 

I highly recommend this Realtor and his team.

Anyway, if PM me if you'd like his contact information.

Jeff

Well it only took 18 days, but I believe we finally got this resolved.  Flipkey finally took some initiative and decided to email the previous owner and ask for permission to transfer the funds.  One simple email is all I've been waiting on!  Man, it's been a stressful day!

@Account Closed - I agree with you and that's what I was going to do.  I wasn't looking forward to telling them, "Sorry you can't stay in my house.  Merry Christmas!"  :)

@Aly L - You're post cracked me up!  Thank you!  I needed that on a day like today.

@Nate Garrett and @Brant Richardson 

Thanks for the reply.  I was concerned about the company using my house as a "bait and switch" scenario.  

I'm "wound a little too tight right now", as I've had some major frustrations during this transaction.  Just when I thought the worst was over, today I'm faced with the choice of ruining approximately 30 people's Christmas vacation plans or allowing them to stay in my home for free.  It was my agents and my understanding that Flipkey had everything they needed from the previous owner to deposit the funds in my account, and today I find out, they don't.  The previous owner is in the UK and his listing agent was very unresponsive as we neared the closing date, so it could be very difficult now to resolve this before the guests arrive on 12/17.  Needless to say, I'm learning a TON though this vacation rental purchase.

I agree with you, that I should move on.  As the PM said, I probably have "more productive uses of my time."

Welcome!