This is super helpful. Thank you! What types of payment are typically preferred?
I'm too small to accept credit cards so in listings I say I'll take PayPal and personal checks. I'll take a business check from an agent or broker but I don't want bank drafts. Lots of people don't want to mess with taking checks to the bank. I like to take checks to the bank!
tugcccsp has some suggestions, not all of which I agree are necessary, but if a renter does all those things, he'll not often get burned. He might not get the rental either. I will be wary of a renter who comes on too strong, who wants to dictate all the terms of sale -- payment terms, for example -- and at some point, I may tell the renter to go elsewhere. I once had a prospect that wanted to pay me after the rental was over (no escrow so it was not the same thing as RedWeek.com). I tried to explain that once she checked in, I was totally exposed. She was concerned that I would cancel the reservation once I was paid. I explained that to do that was not only bad business but a crime. She didn't budge and I didn't rent the week to her. (She was from New York, which may help explain her stance. So am I.)
I think formal rental agreements are overrated, perhaps an odd position for an attorney by education. I find it difficult to think I'd take someone to court in Tennessee or Georgia over a $900 dispute. But, if someone likes to scan and email documents back and forth, go for it. I also think that a rental agreement that is airtight protecting my interests will probably scare off a lot of potential renters. There are some standard form timeshare rental agreements floating around. I just don't use them.
I understand that renters are a bit skittish about sending non-trivial sums of money to someone they know only by an email address and a P.O. Box so I want to put them at ease. If a renter wants to check me out, I'll help him with whatever he wants to know. Better believe I'm doing the same thing. A street address is mandatory and I check it in Google Maps to be sure it is a residence.
The website where contact is made is important. Websites that require registration scare off scammers. All the more so if there are listing fees. Craig's List is still the wild west but not as wild as it used to be. I rarely get the obvious scammer emails anymore.
