This question has mulitple layers. First being “is it safe to rent a vacation house directly with the owner?”
My answer: Absolutely.
How am I protected? Well, rental property owners are easily identified. By now, public records are found on the internet. Search the address in the county/town/municipality of the property and the owners names will appear. Rent direct owners will be completely transparent. They will likely have their own websites or social media accounts. In the outerbanks, use this link to search: https://maps.darecountync.gov/
Legitimate owners will have you sign a Rental Agreement to protect both you and the owner. The North Carolina Vacation Rental Act has several provisions in it to protect both the owner and the renter. You can view that document in its entirety here: https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/pdf/bychapter/chapter_42a.pdf
Many owners have their properties listed on vacation rental sites such as VRBO and AirBnb. However, if you are able to rent directly from an owner, you will be saving a significant amount of money. And who doesn’t like to save money? In addition, working directly with the owner gives you immediate contact without going through a third party. Another great way to book with an owner is to check out Houfy. Many owners will have lower prices on this site than the others.
Aside from saving you money, you will gain valuable insight by communicating directly with the owne including how responsive they are to your inquiries.
Which brings us to the next question: What about maintenance issues while I’m there? All homeowners have their special list of qualified vendors they can reach out to should there be a house issue. And just like your personal home, there are 24 hour “on call” emergency vendors for such things as plumbing issues.
But what can a management company do better? Well, not much, honestly. Other than maybe having a better advertising reach, most Property Management companies are simply the “middle man” and don’t provide any value to the renter. Owners may choose to use them out of convenience or because the owners simply don’t want a relationship with their guests. But as for why a guest would use a management company over renting direct, the only difference is how much you are going to pay.
The OBX has a strong network of homeowners who support each other. Unless the house you are looking for is extremely large, you should be able to find a better deal and a better experience by booking your next OBX vacation directly with an owner.