Booking through VRBO

Ya, I wouldn't worry about that too much.

I will say we rented a place down from Flora-Bama last summer and the owner or owner's caretaker tried to hit us with some damages we didn't do.

I don't know if this was part of a scam to have ordinary wear and tear charged to customers or entirely inadvertent, but the owner eventually backed down.

We had a lot of people there and maybe they thought we were college kids getting hammered, but we actually were mostly lawyers getting hammered He then tried to make amends to hope we'd come back in the future.

I have a condo in Orange Beach that is managed by Brett Robinson. Their rentals are listed on their own website and also on VRBO.

As with any case, be careful when you rent anything on line. A buddy of mine rented a place in Destin on VRBO for two families. He was emailed and told the owner would meet him at the place to give him the keys. The two families showed up only to find someone else there. Turned out VRBO had been hacked and the actual owner never received the reservation or payment. Here is the worst part, I asked him if he was able to cancel the credit card payment. He said, "I didn't use a credit card, the email requested that I wire the money using Western Union." Turns out the payment went to somewhere in England. He tried to get his money back from VRBO since he booked through their site. They pushed back a lot and I'm not sure if he was able to get a full refund. To top it off, there were no available places in the area big enough for two families. They ended up having to drive to Gulf Shores to get a place.

Would highly suggest no matter what the lineup is. Live music on the beach is wonderful

As are the "sights" walking around

Google around before booking. Sometimes you can reserve the same house directly from the realty company and bypass the VRBO fees.

You will be fine booking through VRBO and it's the best single site to find listings (although HomeAway, the parent company has a much better site design)

VRBO should change their name though, because in tourist areas most of the listing are from agents so you are still paying agency fees on top of VRBO fees. It's no longer the "cut out the middle man" value it once was. The actual owners using VRBO to rent their properties have responded by increasing their pricing to match the agencies.

I recently booked through vrbo for the first time and had bad luck. I was dealing with a bullshite low end propert mgmt company and not the owner. Ended up getting a call two months before our trip telling us that the owner had sold the unit a few months before and forgot to tell them. LOL

I've probably totaled about 8 weeks of vacations through VRBO and have had nothing but good experiences. Read the reviews to see feedback, many people will comment on the owner.

You can also look into trip insurance.