Paris VRBO payment in full up front?

I've never had to pay in full in advance. We've always rented through lodgis.com, a French agency, which has an English website. I just googled and they had thirty one-bedroom listings for May. My hesitation would be rue St. Severin. It's a bit of a tourist heavy, party street, wall-to-wall people in the evenings, restaurants with barkers to attract the tourists..kind of a zoo. Loved it in my twenties, though.

Hello! I have used VRBO a couple times. I never had one issue with any of the owners or the site, but I also never had to pay the entire cost up front. Both times I put down a percentage of the total as a deposit, and paid the rest upon arrival. And both times it was crystal clear beforehand as to whether it was a total or partial refund of that deposit should I cancel.
I can't necessarily say this sounds shady, because I am sure VRBO lets the owners decide how they prefer to handle each rental, versus say AirBnB which demands full payment up front, but that gets held by AirBnB as escrow and doesn't go to the owner until you check-in. Perhaps read this owner's reviews? Check to see if he is on other sites? Perhaps the length of stay is a determining factor? Since it's a busy season he may just be protecting himself from potentially not renting to anyone and being "stuck". Hope it works out!

I have rented places in the US on VRBO and paid in full up front. (We do that every time we go skiing.) And we are renting an apartment in Venice for a month that I will have to pre-pay. I do not think it is a red flag at all. (After all, if you are renting a house or apartment in the US, don't you pay the first month's rent in advance?) I know there are some agencies that do not require full payment well in advance, but it is pretty standard in those cases to pay the full balance due on arrival. And that occasions all kinds of questions about "How do I accumulate that much cash?" Having dealt with that one too, I frankly would rather take care of it ahead of time-as long as I trust the owner. And if I did not, I would not rent from them.

Hi Becky, I've just reserved an apartment in Paris also, and the owner is asking for payment upfront, but the total isn't due until 4 months prior to arrival (with a full, complete refund available 90 days prior to arrival if requested). I put a 30% down payment to hold the apartment and am making payments up until that time. I also am not required to put anything down for an "incidentals" deposit, but I did give her a credit card authorization instead. Usuing Paypal is a good way to ensure that you can get your money back if (knock on wood) things go for the worse. Paypal is pretty good about buyer protection and reclaiming funds (as a small business owner who uses Paypal as a payment processer, I have firsthand experience with it favoring the buyer rather than the seller). I guess you'll have to use your judgement and comfort level to see if you're okay with it. Were there reviews? Were they all positive? Did they discuss how the transaction was handled? I'd be worried if everything wasn't clearly laid out, but that's just me. Good luck!

We just booked an apartment in Paris through VRBO today (September rental). Payment terms are 50% within 7 days of signing the agreement via a wire transfer (which we've never done before) Remaining 50% is due 6 weeks before we start the rental. I guess each owner decides how and when they get paid in the VRBO world.

I have always had to pay a deposit (amount variable) at the time the booking was confirmed for all of my VRBO rentals (Hawaii, France: Paris, Nice, Menton, etc.). The balance was always payable in full before arrival, usually around the 6-week mark. I only received the keys once the final payment cleared. It is not a red flag. I am currently in a VRBO rental, paid in full last November. Most of my rentals in France had to be paid via bank wire transfer. One was by personal cheque, as the owner was a resident of Canada as well and the payment cleared quite ahead of time. It is a leap of trust, so research the owner carefully, as you are doing now.

Hi Becky We were looking at the same apartment, did you end up booking with them?
Lisa