The property was fine - good neighborhood, quiet and peaceful. Amenities were good - large well-equipped kitchen, functional bathrooms, comfortable beds.
Property listing price was split into two payments, one payment at booking, and one at check-in. What ended up being on the final invoice was more than what was shown in the listing - an additional "service fee" was tacked on when the second payment was due at check-in. Besides this hidden service charge, there were three other charges which essentially are additional profit for the owner and vacasa/VRBO: "limited damage waiver fee"; "booking fee"; and a "cleaning charge". So what happens is you see the advertised price for the property on the VRBO website, and you compare that advertised cost to other options - hotels, other by-owner sites, etc. - and when you actually have to pay, the real price ends up being double the advertised price. In this case, the advertised price was less than half what all the additional fees came to. VRBO/Vacasa should require that all listings post the full price up front, so we can all compare apples to apples when looking for a place to stay.