Airbnb Management Services, Should You Use Them?

A lot of people will buy properties with the intention of having a third party manage them. Airbnb management services like Evolve, Vacasa, and TurnKey will take care of all the work associated with owning and managing a short-term rental, but they may also eat away at your profits. These services charge 30% or more of your gross rental income! That is a staggering amount, especially when you compare it to a regular single-family rental management rate of 6-10%. Of course, there is a lot more work involved with short-term rentals.

Be Your Own Airbnb Management Service

At first, short-term rentals can be extremely stressful, but as you get used to how Airbnb works and how to handle specific issues as they arise, you can gain confidence and get into a flow. There are a lot of online apps that will automate most of the work when it comes to Airbnb. You can save tons of time by automating your messaging. You can also use a pricing app that is reliable so you can reduce the amount of time you have to focus on your calendars.

But How Can I Manage Myself If I’m Not Local?

One of the perks of Airbnb management services is that they usually have a big local staff in place and handle all the aspects of the on site service for you. Unfortunately, this can also cause issues because they can use their own vendors and allow these vendors to charge you whatever they’d like. Should you decide to use an Airbnb management service, make sure it’s one that will ask for your approval before doing expensive maintenance or repairs.

Find A Good Cleaner That Understands The Guest Experience

You can avoid needing a management service if your cleaner can help you handle some of the tasks. Find a cleaning company that is willing to put out supplies and essentials for guests. It is also helpful if they can report damage to you and send photos of it immediately. That way you can make sure no security deposit claims slip through the cracks. If they provide supplies like toilet paper, shampoo, and paper towels, that’s even better. While its rare to find a cleaning company that offers the whole package, most are willing to work with you to get 95% of the way there for the right price.

Consider A Co-host Instead

If you need someone local to oversee the short-term rental for you, consider hiring an experienced local host to be your co-host. Co-hosts are typically independent hosts that assist other hosts for a fee. You have a lot more room to negotiate responsibilities and compensation when it comes to co-hosts. You can often find service management co-hosting for 15-20%. Some co-hosts will work for as low as 5-10% depending on the number of responsibilities.