Self-manage or hire a manager: the honest sum.
We are a management company, so read this with healthy suspicion. That is exactly why it also says when you are better off doing it yourself. A client who works out after six months that it gains them nothing is good for nobody.
What you actually pay today
Self-managing feels free because no invoice arrives. But something does go out: your time. Count conservatively on an hour or two per booking in communication, plus coordinating every changeover, plus the moments when something breaks.
At twenty bookings a year you are quickly at sixty to eighty hours. What those hours are worth, you know better than we do. But it is not zero, and they fall at moments you do not choose.
What a manager has to deliver to pay for themselves
At a twenty percent fee your income has to rise by at least twenty five percent before you break even on the same net amount. Everything above that is profit, and you get your hours back on top.
That twenty five percent rarely comes from a higher price. It comes from occupancy: the shoulder season that fills, the enquiries answered within the hour, the second and third channel your property is not on. If a manager cannot tell you a concrete story about where those extra nights come from, that is a bad sign.
When you are better off doing it yourself
- •You live nearby, have the time and enjoy it. Then a manager is mostly a cost.
- •You let a handful of weeks a year to people you know. There is nothing to optimise.
- •Your nightly rate is very low. A percentage of little is little, and the fixed effort per booking stays the same.
- •You want full control over who sleeps there. A legitimate choice, but it costs return.
When it is worth it
- •You live far away, certainly with a second home abroad.
- •Your property sits empty most of the year while costs run on.
- •You notice you reply slowly because you have a job.
- •You are on one platform and have no idea what the others would bring.
- •The paperwork is behind, certainly in Spain where a missing registration number takes your listing offline.
What to check in a manager
Ask for the fee with everything included. A low percentage plus a monthly fee, a setup fee and a margin on the cleaning can work out dearer than a higher percentage that covers it all.
Ask about the notice period too. Anyone confident in their work dares to be cancellable monthly. And ask who your contact is: one person who knows your property, or a general number.
- •Self-managing is not free: it costs you sixty to eighty hours a year.
- •At 20%, your income has to rise 25% to break even.
- •That rise should come from occupancy, not from your price.
- •With a low nightly rate or a handful of weeks, doing it yourself is often better.
- •Always compare the total cost, not just the percentage.
Frequently asked questions
We review your property and your listing and tell you honestly what could be better. No obligation, no cost.
