I've been lurking on these boards for a long time and I have decided to come out of hiding. These boards are great and without them our first trip to the world would have been ok but now it's going to be great. We'll be going April 22-May 2. We would love to stay in a vacation home but we're concerned about the cancellation policies. My MIL has had 2 strokes this year so we have to be prepared for anything. From the websites we've looked at if you cancel you lose the deposit and they like you to pay the entire balance 6 weeks in advance of your trip. If you need to cancel you lose that also. Are there any rentals that are more flexible? We're concerned about paying the balance in advance. We'd like to take care of that when we arrive. Any help would be greatly appreciated.