Owner Resources
Straight answers about who runs your rental
Most of what’s written about short-term rental management is written by software companies that don’t manage anything. It’s accurate enough and useless in a real conversation.
These are the things we think an owner should actually know before signing with anyone — including us.
Start here
If you’re interviewing managers, this is the one thing worth reading first.
21 Questions to Ask Before You Hand Someone the Keys
Twenty-one questions covering money, control of your own house, marketing, guests, and how to get out of the agreement — with what a good answer sounds like, and what should make you slow down.
Every question carries our own answer on the record, so you can see what a real one looks like before you go and ask someone else.
- Money — fees, what they’re calculated on, when you get paid
- Your house — blocking dates, friends and family, your own bookings
- Marketing — where it’s listed, who writes it, the slow season
- Guests — screening, damage, response times, locks
- The agreement — term, cancellation, what you keep on the way out
Insurance for short-term rental and landlord owners
Why a standard homeowner’s policy often falls short once you rent, the questions to ask your insurer, and an easy way to start a quote.
The vocabulary that decides your income
Most confusing management quotes aren’t dishonest — they’re just using words that sound interchangeable and aren’t. These seven decide how much money reaches you.
- Gross booking value
- Everything the guest pays: nightly rate, cleaning fee, the platform’s service fee, and occupancy taxes. It’s the largest number in the transaction and the one least connected to what you earn.
- Net payout
- What survives after platform commission, occupancy taxes, card processing and cleaning come out. Much closer to your actual revenue.
- Fee base
- The number a manager multiplies their percentage by. This matters more than the percentage. Two companies quoting the same rate can charge very different amounts if one calculates on gross and the other on net — so establish the base before you compare rates.
- Pass-through cost
- Something the manager buys for your home and bills you at what they paid for it. Consumables, linens, photography.
- Markup
- The same purchase, billed at more than they paid. Neither one is wrong. Not being able to tell which is which is the problem — so ask which line items carry a margin rather than asking whether any of them do.
- Occupancy or lodging tax
- Collected from the guest and remitted to the city, county or state. It moves through your account but was never your income — which is why it’s worth knowing whether it sits inside the number your management fee is calculated on.
- Trust account
- A bank account that holds owner money separately from the management company’s operating funds. It means your revenue isn’t paying their payroll in the weeks between your payouts.
What we’re working on next
We’d rather publish one thing properly than six thin ones. In rough order:
What management actually costs
The full picture — percentage, base, and everything billed alongside it.
Charlotte’s short-term rental rules
Permits, zoning and taxes, in plain language, updated as they change.
Self-manage or hire someone
The honest math, including the cases where managing it yourself wins.
What a listing needs to beat the market
Photography, copy, pricing and the parts owners usually skip.
Wondering what your home could earn?
No obligation, no pressure to sign anything. We’ll tell you if we don’t think we’re the right fit.