Is this a common practice?

I have used the website myself to find rentals on separate occasions. Owners have their own deposit and cancellation policies, just as you explained. Wiring is a common practice when a deposit is required.

I have never had to wire funds when booking places on this site myself - I just emailed the owners in question, providing my name and contact information with my reservation request. That alone was the owner's guarantee of payment. None of them ever sent me a contract or requested a deposit. This is the more traditional method of booking with private owners - the reservation itself is a promise to pay when you arrive at the property (or at the end of your stay.)

Read the contract carefully to determine what amount you will be on the hook for in case you must cancel. If this is not clear, ask. It may be more than the deposit amount, possibly the full amount. Traditionally, if you book, an owner expects full payment whether you show or not, and German law supports this demand - unless there is a signed agreement between renter and owner that cancellation results in some smaller penalty. When I booked my places, I fully expected to pay the full amount of my stay in the event I had to cancel. It would of course be hard for the owner to collect if I had defaulted, but I did not wish to step outside the bounds of law.

An ALTERNATIVE, if you aren't comfortable with the contract/wiring/etc., is to find out whether this owner also can be booked at booking.com, hrs.com, VRBO, or some other traditional booking engine where deposits, cancellation policies, refunds, etc. are already laid out in detail. Use the property address, the name of the property, or the owner's name to search for these alternative booking sites.

Best of luck!

Ok thank you Russ, I appreciate it. I asked the landlord about cancellation and if there's another way to send a deposit. Maybe he will offer no deposit but I do not want to offend if that is the cultural norm

I've used TraumFewo before. TraumFewo itself does not handle payments, and each landlord has different rules for payment/cancellation. Last year I noticed that more owners are offering an opt out, but it's not the norm (may be a carry on policy from the Covid days).

With rentals in general, I've run the full range regarding payment: paid upfront in full for a discount (wire transfer), placed a deposit for some (owner or travel platform), paid cash in full upon arrival. No issues, fortunately.

If the property you are enquiring about is in good standing, I'd give it a go. If there is no cancellation policy, your risk (travel insurance).

You can also check the local tourist board to see if it has the same listing. And this:

https://www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info/

Ok so I did find the listing on that website you linked Gunderson. So does that mean it's a trustworthy and verified landlord?

Bank transfers are very common in parts of Europe among private parties. The banks there make it very easy and essentially at no transaction cost, sort of like writing a check, back in the day, in the US. US banks are really only now catching on, but we tend to use apps, like Zelle or Venmo. The problem is, these apps do not work internationally and both parties must have an account with the app to use.

You can ask your bank about a transfer, it may be easy, or hard, likely will cost you something. Some European vendors will take PayPal and a number of people on here reported using that as an option.

Ok this is good information to know. All signs point to the listing and landlord being legit. He even has his own website for the listing, alongside the traumfewo and the Germany tourism website listing. Thanks for helping me feel at ease about it.

I've never needed to wire money, but other posters here have used Wise for that purpose. Its fees are much, much lower that what a bank would usually charge, as I understand it.

Bank transfers are common in Europe and easy to do.

As mentioned above, the law regarding payments is quite different in Germany to many other countries. When you agree to pay for goods or services that is considered a binding contract, regardless of whether any money has been exchanged. It causes problems sometimes for consumers buying goods online from outside Germany.

As mentioned above, the law regarding payments is quite different in Germany to many other countries. When you agree to pay for goods or services that is considered a binding contract, regardless of whether any money has been exchanged. It causes problems sometimes for consumers buying goods online from outside Germany.

In the case of vacation rentals this is more or less correct.

But for buying goods it is not correct:

1. The online seller needs to have a button which clearly marks that this is binding such as "Jetzt rechtskräfzig kaufen" - or similar. Without this only transferring money does not establish a contract.
2. When buying goods and some services online the buyer has right of withdrawal within 14 days without any reasons. (FernAbsG).

Vacation rentals belong to an exception about "Freizeitbetätigung" to apply this right.

This post is no legal counseling.

I've never needed to wire money, but other posters here have used Wise for that purpose. Its fees are much, much lower that what a bank would usually charge, as I understand it.

As acraven mentioned, Wise's fees are very much lower than what banks charge. I used Wise last year to send payment for a guided tour in Romania, and it was very easy and the fee was very inexpensive. I would strongly suggest trying that. Talk to your potential landlord and see if that would be an option. https://wise.com/us/

I’ve wired 4 times, once thru each of my banks and twice thru Wise ( baclk when it was Transferwise ). Banks were $35-40, Wise was $5. Earlier this week when I was talking to my banker, I asked what the current charge was. Still $40.

I now usually stay at a place I’ve stayed before and they trust me to pay cash when I arrive..