USVI-On-Line

I was given the task of putting together a vacation on St John in November '14 for husband and I, and 3 sons/3 DIL's. Did research for airline tickets (still watching fares), car rental (2 Jeeps reserved for pick up in Cruz Bay) and a villa. Needed 4 bedrooms, close proximity to Cruz Bay, pool and did not exceed the budget. Found Villa Venturoso which seemed to fit the bill and I sent deposit on 5/5. Communicated with owner a few times in May. While searching for reviews for villa my DIL found out that the villa is for sale and has been for the last 4 months. The owner never mentioned this. Am I being a nervous Nellie about this and the fact that I cannot find any recent reviews. Or should I just go make myself a tall PainKiller, look at my packing list, think of sunshine and the beaches on St. John?
Also I did contact the owner and she stated that she doubted if the villa would sell before our visit and if it did the new owners would honor reservation. I think that because I am a newbie at renting a villa I am projecting problems where there none.

New owners have to honor existing rental contracts., that being said I would ask that no showings be allowed during my stay. Although this is probably not a concern because what realtor would chance the place not being in show condition?

No worries really -- any sale contract would include the honoring of any rentals already booked - most buyers are looking to stay in the rental market anyway and look at future bookings as a bonus - also many villas are for sale since the owners find the expenses usually exceed the income especially if the mortgage costs are considered.

Being a Realtor I ask that you do allow (or at least consider) a showing should one be requested (24 hour notice would be given) and you DO NOT have to clean/make beds/do dishes etc for showings - that is pretty much standard for all the villa's we have shown over the years - one villa even had all of their (how do I put this) "adult toys" plugged in and on display - that made for some interesting comments and laughs from the buyers

Pia

When in rome.... unfortunately I would still feel responsible to make it look nice but I also would not want to cost them a showing.

New owners don't have to honor rental contracts. I've seen it happen here several times over the years where renters had a villa lined up, it sold, and the new owner didn't want to honor the contracts. Think about it: what if the new owner wants to live in the villa full time? There is no way he/she/they would spend millions of dollars on a villa and agree to vacate his/her/their permanent residence over and over again just to honor previous contracts.

The current owners can certainly request that the contracts be honored, but when trying to sell, imagine being presented with these two options:
1) the new potential owner offers a good price for the villa but does not want to honor contracts
2) the new potential owner walks
Which option do you think the current owner would choose?

The rental lease is a contract.If the seller was presented with that from the buyer they would need to get out of that with each renter or postpone closing. But they just cantvwalk away from the rental contract. I believe the new owners except the deposits for future rentals thereby binding them to the contracts, either way they know going in that there are pending rentals before they even sign a contract to buy the property.

Pia wrote:Being a Realtor I ask that you do allow (or at least consider) a showing should one be requested (24 hour notice would be given) and you DO NOT have to clean/make beds/do dishes etc for showings - that is pretty much standard for all the villa's we have shown over the years - one villa even had all of their (how do I put this) "adult toys" plugged in and on display - that made for some interesting comments and laughs from the buyers

Pia

What she said... Think if it was you trying to sell, and a potential buyer only had one shot to look at your property - while there were renters there. There was a showing at the property we stayed at in April while we were there - it was no big deal, took like 5 minutes. Why not be helpful to the owner, can't we all benefit from a little help sometimes?

Just my view...if an owner wants to show their house during a time that it is being rented, then the owner ought to reveal that it's for sale before a deposit is made.

Thanks to everyone for responding. I agree with Kathyva , owner should have indicated that villa was for sale during our early emails. I did request of the owner that we receive 24 hour notice of a showing, and owner has agreed. I feel better now and now all I have to do is find flights that match the budgets of the sons/spouses. I think though before I do that I will enjoy a painkiller and think pleasant thoughts regarding my upcoming trip to St. John .

Kathyva - I agree

We rented a house in Peter Bay that was for sale. It wasn't disclosed to me, I learned it when I read the clause in the rental contract stating that if the new owners elected not to honor the reservations, the agency would find us a suitable substitute or refund our money.

At the time, it bothered me but 5 years later, the house is still for sale so I wasted my worry. It seems like most of the island is for sale at some point or other.