Renting out an Airbnb is a great way to generate passive income, but managing a property requires time, effort, and money.
If you’ve decided rental property management isn’t for you, but the cash an Airbnb can bring in is too attractive to give up, consider hiring a rental management service.
In this post, we outline a proven process that’ll help you find an individual or company that’s capable of managing an Airbnb property. Let’s begin!
Key Takeaways
First, set goals so you know what you want to achieve by hiring an Airbnb rental property manager. Next, set a budget.
Once your goals and budget are clear, get referrals and check the review before conducting interviews. When you’ve found the perfect match, have them sign the Airbnb property management agreement.
Guide to Finding a Reliable Airbnb Property Manager
Step One: Establish Your Goals
Establishing your goals is the crucial first step. If you proceed without determining what you want to get out of your Airbnb rental, you’ll be more at risk of hiring an incompetent or dishonest vacation rental property management service.
While every Airbnb property owner has their own unique goals, some are shared by the majority of owners in the Airbnb community.
For example, you may want your Airbnb listing to be the most popular one in your area. To achieve this, you’ll have to secure numerous bookings and plenty of positive reviews.
Similarly, you may want your short-term rental to generate an attractive amount of revenue in a certain period. To achieve this goal, you’ll need to secure several profitable bookings and keep costs to a minimum.
Of course, your goals should be realistic; setting lofty goals won’t help you much. Plus, you may incorrectly regard your rental property manager as ineffective if they aren’t able to reach goals that no vacation rental management service could reach.
Step Two: Set a Budget
Once your goals are clear, it’s time to work out a budget. Running a successful short-term rental has numerous costs, many of which are obvious while some are often overlooked.
Along with the costs of hiring someone to manage your property, you’ll have to pay routine maintenance costs, utility bills, property taxes, insurance, and Airbnb fees. Additionally, if you don’t own the property, you’ll have to make mortgage repayments every month.
Finally, it’s smart to maintain a reserve fund for unexpected costs. Such a fund will come in handy if you have to make emergency repairs or hire legal representation.
It’s important to consider all the costs that are unrelated to management first. Once you have a clear picture of these costs, you’ll know how much you’re able to spend on property management fees.
Step Three: Consider Your Options
When it’s time to find an Airbnb manager, you’ll have a range of options. Specifically, you can hire a co-host, a local Airbnb manager, or a nationwide Airbnb property management company. Naturally, each type of manager has pros and cons.
Co-Host
Airbnb allows its hosts to list one co-host, and this individual—usually a friend, relative, or business partner—maintains the property and handles guest-related matters in the owner’s absence.
Since a co-host is almost always someone the owner knows well, issues involving trust and comfort don’t occur often.
However, if the co-host isn’t a professional property manager who knows the ins and outs of the vacation rental industry, they may lack essential knowledge, the absence of which could lead to bad guest experiences and/or poor property upkeep.
Local-Airbnb Manager
A local Airbnb property manager can help you secure more bookings by ensuring guest experiences are nothing short of spectacular.
Their knowledge of the local area will be invaluable, as it’ll allow them to recommend fabulous attractions, restaurants, etc. to guests, most of whom won’t be familiar with the local area.
However, if the individual is a vacation rental property manager for several properties, there’s a risk that they won’t give your listing the attention it needs to be successful.
For example, you’re new to Airbnb. If your listing isn’t getting much traction, they may focus on a lucrative, established listing instead, as there will be more money in it for them to do so.
Lastly, a local Airbnb property manager’s resources may be limited, in which case they wouldn’t be able to run expensive marketing campaigns. Limited resources may also prevent them from doing “the little things”, such as putting out impressive welcome gifts for guests.
Nationwide Airbnb Property Management Company
Nationwide Airbnb management companies have much to offer. For one, they can find a vetted, experienced property manager for your Airbnb.
Moreover, they have the resources to ensure your property is always in good condition, and their far-reaching marketing campaigns can attract visitors all over.
Also, they’ll use cutting-edge property management software to ensure your listing on Airbnb is always up-to-date, attractive, and unique.
Naturally, all this comes at a cost, and typically that cost is quite hefty. The best Airbnb management companies will want 25%-40% of the property’s monthly income.
Of course, you don’t have to hire one of the top Airbnb management companies, but doing so may ultimately pay off.
Just do some basic math to see if their services will be worth it in the end. If their services will cut your profit down to almost nothing, it’s probably best to go with a local manager for your property.
Step Four: Ask for Referrals
When you’re looking for someone to manage your Airbnb, it’s wise to get advice and recommendations from fellow Airbnb owners who leaped at you. Not only can they recommend professionals who’ve proven to be good at managing Airbnb properties, but they can tell you what qualities to look for.
Most importantly, they can tell you of the pitfalls that should be avoided at all costs. With these insights, you save time and money.
It’s best to get referrals from hosts who’ve hired a management company, as these companies are numerous and all claim to be the best at what they do. Similarly, if you want to hire a local manager instead of a nationwide company, referrals will be incredibly helpful.
Step Five: Check Reviews
Online reviews can help you find a property management company, but these are less reliable than referrals which come from individuals you trust.
Why? Because, unfortunately, there are a lot of fake reviews out there, many of which are posted to attract inexperienced hosts to individuals who are either unscrupulous or operating with the sole intent to scam others.
However, if you manage to come across reviews that can be verified with evidence, consider them. They may give you an idea of what to expect from the person or company you’re interested in hiring.
Step Six: Interview Airbnb Hosts
Once you have a list of potential hires, it’s time to start conducting interviews. But before you sit down with the first candidate, come up with some essential questions. The answers provided will help you determine whether or not the candidate is a good fit for the job.
If you’re unsure of what questions to ask, go online to see what questions have been helpful to others in the past.
Also, when you’re creating your questions, have your list of goals close by. Here are some key questions you should ask when interviewing potential Airbnb managers:
- How many properties have you managed?
- What services do you offer?
- What do you charge?
- How would you handle bookings?
- How would you market my property?
- How would you handle guest relations?
- How would you ensure good communication?
Step Seven: Hire a Property Manager
Upon concluding your last interview, take a few days to consider your options. If you hastily make a decision, you could end up hiring the wrong person or company to manage your Airbnb property.
Once you’ve made a decision, reach out to that person or company and inform them that you’d like to work together. Should they agree, you can go ahead and discuss the next steps.
Step Eight: Sign the Airbnb Property Management Agreement
When you and the person or company you’ve decided to hire agree on terms of employment, all that’s left is signing the Airbnb property management agreement.
If you want, you can have a lawyer look over this document to get a clear picture of your obligations, the manager’s obligations, possible issues that could emerge, etc.
What to Look for in an Airbnb Manager
Experience
Above all else, you want your Airbnb manager to have experience. Specifically, they should have at least a few years of experience managing properties, and it’s best to go with an individual or company that’s managed a handful of properties successfully.
With long experience, an Airbnb manager should know their business quite well, meaning they should know how to respond to certain situations, what guests want, how to find reliable maintenance professionals, and how to market a property effectively.
Reliability
If your manager isn’t reliable, they’ll be a liability—not an asset. So before you hire an independent manager or a person who was recommended by a property management business, ask questions and pose hypothetical scenarios to get a feel for how reliable they’ll be when it counts.
For example, ask them how they’ll deal with an emergency. If their course of action unambiguously leaves you out of the process, look elsewhere; you need someone who can act on their own while keeping you informed at every step.
Business Sense
To be a successful property manager, business sense is a must. Specifically, one must understand basic accounting principles, supply and demand, the value of budgeting, the importance of customer satisfaction, etc.
Also, a good manager knows when to delegate responsibilities to others. For example, if a manager can’t address Airbnb vacation rental maintenance on their own, they need to know how to find competent maintenance experts.
Resources & Resourcefulness
By now, the value of resources should be clear, but let’s stress their importance one more time. If your manager has access to significant resources, your property should get more bookings, which means more money in your pocket.
Resources are especially important when it comes to marketing. Regarding marketing, an effective campaign requires money and skill. Specifically, the manager has to know how to target guests who are likely to book with you, and they must make your listing prominent on platforms that guests use routinely.
But resources aren’t everything, as they need to be resourceful as well. By that, we mean they must know how to handle a range of situations effectively.
For example, if your guest finds that the bathroom shower isn’t working upon arrival, a good manager would have a reliable plumber over there in an hour or less to fix it. They’d also offer a complimentary gift.
These actions would show the guest their business is valued and most likely discourage them from requesting a refund or leaving a bad review.
Communication Skills
Your property manager must have top-tier communication skills. If they don’t, it’ll be hard to trust them. Moreover, guests are likely to get frustrated if they can’t reach your manager in a time of crisis.
If a potential manager says they’re not comfortable with giving you their phone number, consider this a red flag. A good manager ensures they’re reachable at all hours.
Similarly, if a candidate conveys they don’t believe it’s their responsibility to be accessible to guests, pass over them to someone who knows the value of exceptional customer service.
Time Management Skills
For a manager, being able to manage time effectively is essential. If your manager doesn’t respond to you or your guests promptly, likely, they’re likely not taking the job seriously.
Also, if the property isn’t ready when guests arrive, it’s probably the manager’s fault. Sometimes, managers forget to bring in the necessary personnel, only to realize their mistake later—when it’s too late!
Organization Skills
If your manager can’t keep track of bookings, they’re probably unorganized. Similarly, if they don’t follow a suitable maintenance schedule, your property will suffer.
Especially if your Airbnb is a popular spot, you need a manager who has no problem staying on top of everything.
Attention to Detail
To manage your rental effectively, the person or company you hire will have to pay attention to the details. A manager’s attention to detail is usually what distinguishes a property from those that are nearby.
What does paying attention to details look like? For one, they should personally inspect the property, after it’s been cleaned, to ensure everything is spotless and sanitary before guests arrive.
Also, they should do little things to help guests feel like they’re staying in a home away from home. As we mentioned earlier, welcoming gifts go a long way. A fruit basket, scented candles, a gift card—all of these things can show guests that you truly value their business.
Individual Managers vs Property Management Companies
Choosing between an independent manager and a large property management company can be difficult, so we thought it’d be helpful to list some points that are worth considering.
First, a large rental management company will probably have vast resources, which means they could put your listing in front of more potential renters and ensure only well-qualified manage the property, attend to guests’ needs, perform maintenance, etc.
That said, if they don’t see your property as being capable of generating an attractive ROI, they may focus their time, effort, and resources elsewhere.
Also, it may be difficult to get in touch with them, which won’t just be a problem for you but for your guests as well.
However, these short-term rental management companies do have sizable networks of qualified managers, so you could get set up with a manager who stops at nothing to make your Airbnb a success.
Conversely, an independent short-term rental property manager will probably take a more hands-on approach, which means they may follow directions better and work tirelessly to ensure your wishes are implemented.
Of course, if they lack knowledge of the hospitality industry, they may not know how to treat guests properly. Moreover, if they don’t know how to enlist the help of reliable maintenance and cleaning professionals, or if they try to do things on their own, difficult situations could be made exponentially worse.
Lastly, if hire somebody you know, there’s always the chance they won’t do a good job because they figure you won’t dissolve the relationship over work-related issues.
Final Thoughts
To find a suitable Airbnb manager, come up with achievable goals and a budget. Next, consider your options, ask for referrals, and read reviews of promising managers.
Once you have a pool of potential hires, conduct thorough interviews to find the best manager for your rental. After you’ve made your selection, have that person or company sign the Airbnb property management agreement so your working relationship can begin.
