Airbnb Management & Staging Fees - Is This Standard?

Question

We have a house on 3 acres near a neighborhood, and we're considering listing it on Airbnb. After some research, we connected with a local Airbnb manager who took a look at the property and was very complimentary. He quoted a 20% fee for managing each successful booking and suggested we improve the staging of the house, which he would oversee for an additional 10% of the total staging costs.

He provided a list of staging products, and now we’re realizing just how expensive it is to get the house ready for Airbnb. We’re wondering if these fees and processes are standard for short-term rentals. This is our first time with STRs, and we’re willing to learn. If things go well, we plan to manage it ourselves and possibly expand. What steps can we take to ensure a better experience and maximize bookings?

John Underwood · Answer

I wouldn't pay that.

Do you need everything?

If you're not in the area and can't do this, maybe negotiate a flat fee.

Lauren Kormylo · Answer

The 10% is probably for ordering items and being there when goods arrive, unboxing and removal of packing materials, assembling any furniture that needs it, placement and moving things around, putting up artwork, and washing new plates, silverware, cooking pans, coffee carafe, prewashing all sheets, towels, and linens etc.

I completely outfitted my 4 bedroom house from scratch a few years ago, and it was a huge amount of time and work.  And money.  It cost about 30k to buy everything.  10% of that would have been cheap if I had paid someone to do it.

Remember that if you later take over and manage it yourselves, you'll need to start a new account from scratch - your previous reviews with that property manager won't transfer. Bookings are lower in the beginning, when guests don't have reviews to read.  So if that's your goal in the near future, you should start off by just managing it yourself.

Garrett Brown · Answer

20% is the going rate on average for a STR property manager. Are you too busy to get a furnishing checklist (BiggerPockets has one, and there are many) and get everything set up? 10% is probably a little steep, and like John said, a flat fee may be more reasonable.Setting up a proper STR is not cheap, but once you are set up properly, you deal with routine breakage.I recommend managing yourself and saving the 20% personally, getting a rockstar cleaning team and a reliable handy person, using something like Hospitable that can help automate messaging when listing, and reading the book from the bookstore here called Short-Term Rental, Long-Term Wealth. It is a great resource to get started, and I guarantee you can make it happen with some education/solid team.

Sarah Kensinger · Answer

If you want a successful STR then yes, it's standard. If you want to take a risk and possibly come back in a year wondering what to do with a property that is performing poorly, then no it's not necessary.

Michael Belz · Answer

Thank you all for the valuable insights. The short-term rental manager is handling all bookings and creating the listing under his brand. My concern is that when we take over, we’ll need to start from scratch with our own branding. Is there any way for us to be listed as the host now, or do we have to wait until our agreement with him ends? And when we do take over the listing, is there anything we can do at that point to make the transition smoother?

Regarding purchasing the necessary items, my wife has opted to oversee that and find great deals on what’s needed. We’ll consider additional upgrades, like a jacuzzi, once we see how well the property performs. As for the 10% fee for overseeing setup, I understand this is in addition to the cost of hiring someone to physically set everything up.

Andrew Steffens · Answer

Chiming in as a FL based STR PM - 20% is definitely reasonable.  I see higher, and if you pay lower they are making up for it somewhere else (hard to run a low margin business).  As far as staging support, we do not offer that service, instead refer it to some designers.  We can assist with some minor items and bill the labor fee (i.e. hanging TV's, building some furniture, etc).  I would talk to a designer if you can.  Not sure how extensive your furnishing is.  Personally from the business side I would not be charging a % on the items, rather just hourly or a flat rate depending on the size.

Best of luck

Koren Lavi · Answer

Correct. Definitely don’t go off the projected numbers. The comps of actual listings and how much they generate is way more accurate in my experience

Mike H. · Answer

Everyone seems to be saying that the 10% for staging is high but I actually think thats a great deal.  So if you need 20k in staging, the pm is only going to charge 2k to go pick out all the stuff and set it up? Thats a no brainer.  if its 10k in staging, they're going to get it all in place for 1k?  Again, thats a no brainer.Getting units ready for rent is much more time intensive than you think.  Its well worth it if you can get them to do it for 10% of the costs.  Take that and run!

Mike H. · Answer

AirDNA projected numbers are awful.  I don't think they can tell the difference from properties that are booked on other sites besides airbnb.  And I don't think they can differentiate from homes that owners use for their own purposes. But great story on how they almost doubled the projection by having a high end design.

Airbnb Management & Staging Fees - Is This Standard?

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