Best way to transition an active Airbnb from current manager to me?

Question

Hi everyone,

I’m on a process of closing on an active Airbnb. It’s currently being run by a property manager(not a company), but I’m planning to manage it by myself.

I understand that future reservations can’t be directly transferred to me. My thought is to keep the manager for a couple of months while I join as a co-host, then eventually remove her and run it fully under my account, if it’s even possible.

Has anyone here done a transition like this? Is the co-hosting approach the best/cleanest way to handle existing reservations?

Another big question will be what’s a fair compensation amount for the outgoing manager during this short transition. I won’t ask her to do anything but maybe one day, 2-3 hour of final go through at the property to get some tips and property exploration.

Appreciate any advice from folks who’ve navigated this before!

Josh Ball · Answer

You cannot transfer ownership of that current AirBNB listing or VRBO listing. Even if they add you as a co-host for a few months & when you remove them in a couple months, you'll need to start fresh with no reviews. Whoever created that listing originally will always be the owner.

Buy the property, start fresh from the beginning & reach out to AirBNB & VRBO to ask them to cancel the previous bookings with the link to your new listing if the guests want to rebook.

Good Luck.

Andrew Steffens · Answer

This unfortunately is not a creative way to transition. That listing belong to the account owner and cannot be transferred via a cohost. You can either begin self management effective immediately and have all bookings cancelled and hope they rebook with Airbnb CS assistance (we see about a 75% conversion rate) or you can let them manage until the last booking and transfer then via a new listing on your account.

Good luck and congrats!

Collin Hays · Answer

The Property Manager earned those reservations, so they should be compensated for them. If you don't want that, then simply start fresh on your own, and allow the Property Manager to relocate those reservations to properties they manage. That is fair.

This works both ways: We recently added a client who self-managed, and we are allowing them to keep the reservations that they earned without a management fee. They earned the reservations; we did not. It wouldn't be fair for me to impose a management fee on those reservations.

Benjamin Louie · Answer

@Youngwan Ko

Yes, co-hosting is the cleanest way to handle an active Airbnb. Airbnb does not allow transferring reservations directly, so co-hosting ensures continuity for guests while you take over management. Steps:

• Add yourself as a co-host immediately.
• The current manager continues to handle bookings for a set period (e.g., 1–2 months).
• During this period, observe and learn their processes, and start gradually taking over responsibilities like guest communication, cleaning coordination, and listing updates.

Add yourself as a co-host immediately.

The current manager continues to handle bookings for a set period (e.g., 1–2 months).

During this period, observe and learn their processes, and start gradually taking over responsibilities like guest communication, cleaning coordination, and listing updates.

Pete Slaga · Answer

One other consideration is to allow the current PM to book and honor their reservations for the next 90 days. Anything beyond that you can cancel. Since you do not have an agreement with the PM you can technically cancel effective immediately. This is a fair comprimise as the PM will not want to scramble and re-book guests in the next 90 days to another property. You can then create a listing on your end and open up the calendar for day 91 or 92 and beyond.

Jules Aton · Answer

Congratulations on the purchase! It sounds like a reasonable plan if Airbnb and VRBO are willing to do it like that but is the current manager willing to work with you? I'm not sure I'd be inclined to train my replacement especially if they felt they could learn everything I knew in a few hours.

Best way to transition an active Airbnb from current manager to me?

Best way to transition an active Airbnb from current manager to me?

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