Many folks today are finding that they prefer to go through the homeowner when they rent a vacation home rather than call a real estate agent. The reasons are many. High on the list is the possibility of a better price. Most homeowners lower their price at least a little bit and sometimes a lot if they are renting without an agent. Homeowners renting on their own are saving anywhere from 10 to 33% on realtor fees so they can afford to pass on some of that to the renter. Of course they are doing all the work the realtor would do, plus they would have some listing costs associated with listing their home on the web, so the renter should not expect the entire saving to be passed on them. Another reason to rent through the homeowner directly is that you will get proper and complete answers to your questions regarding the home. The website might also have more information than the real estate agent would supply since the homeowner only has to keep one listing up to date while the agent would have many. You may also get more personalized attention from the homeowner. When we rent our Wildwood condo, we have many times told our renters they could go down the night before or stay as late as they wanted to on checkout day if I didn"t have someone else renting the night before or coming the day they are leaving. I have had many renters come back when I can give them a bit more for nothing with no skin off my nose. I own a place in a large resort in Wildwood and in August the place gets fully booked. I have had a renter decide to go through the realty office because they told me that in case something goes wrong (like the air conditioner dies), then the agent can put them up in another condo in the resort. Well most likely not since the place is booked. So for a lower price, more personalized service, better information, etc. check out the "for rent by owner" sites. There are large sites with rentals everywhere on the globe and sites specific to the area you wish to rent in. When you are looking for a rental in a specific area like Wildwood, simply type in "wildwood rentals by owner" to find the by owner sites for Wildwood. So knock out the middle man and happy rental hunting!