By Sarah Whitmore · Rental Management Correspondent
There is a widely held belief among holiday home owners that their property manager is underperforming. In some cases, the belief is correct. In others, the owner's expectations are misaligned with what a property manager can actually deliver. Distinguishing between the two requires a framework that most owners don't have — because most owners never thought to build one before hiring their manager.
Property management fees in holiday rental markets range from 15% in highly competitive markets with simple properties to 35% for full-service management in complex, high-end properties. What does that fee actually buy? And how do you know if you're getting it?
What a property manager is and isn't responsible for
A clear performance contract should specify what's included. Standard inclusions in a full-service management fee: listing creation and ongoing optimisation, booking management (enquiries, confirmations, calendar management), guest communication, key exchange and check-in, cleaning coordination, and basic maintenance response. What's usually excluded: the cleaning fee itself (passed through to guests), maintenance costs above a defined threshold (typically €/Rs/$ 200–500 per incident), and major repairs or capital expenditure.
If you don't have this in writing, your first step isn't changing your property manager — it's sitting down with them and getting it in writing. Performance conversations are much easier when both parties agree on what was supposed to be delivered.
Benchmarks: what good actually looks like
Occupancy rate
Occupancy benchmarks vary by market and property type, but a rough guide: for a well-positioned holiday property in a mature tourism market, a competent property manager should achieve 65–75% occupancy across the full year (including low season). In peak season alone, 80–90% occupancy is achievable for most well-priced properties. If your property is running at 45% annual occupancy, the question is whether that reflects market conditions (easy to check by looking at comparable listings) or management performance.
Useful check: look at your three nearest comparable properties on Airbnb using a tool like AirDNA or checking their calendars manually. If they're running at 70% and you're at 45%, the gap is management. If they're also at 45%, it's the market.
Review score
Your property manager is partly responsible for your review score (through guest communication, check-in experience, and maintenance responsiveness) and partly not (your furniture, mattresses, and amenities are yours). A competent manager in a typical holiday market should maintain a minimum 4.6/5.0 on Airbnb or equivalent. Scores below 4.5 trigger algorithmic suppression on most platforms. If you're below 4.5 and your property is in good physical condition, that's a management problem.
Maintenance response time
For issues affecting guest comfort (broken air conditioning, plumbing problems, internet outage), a professional manager should be able to deploy a response within 4 hours during business hours and within 24 hours outside them. Ask your manager directly: what is your guaranteed response time for maintenance issues affecting guests? The answer, and how confidently they give it, tells you a great deal.
Booking channel mix
A good property manager doesn't rely on a single platform. A listing on only one OTA (Airbnb or Booking.com) creates platform dependency and platform fee exposure. A managed property should be listed on at least two to three platforms, with an attempt at direct bookings via a property-specific page or enquiry channel. If your manager only lists on one platform, ask why.
How to evaluate your contract before switching
Before giving notice to your current manager, read your management agreement carefully. The clauses that most frequently cause problems:
Notice period: Most agreements require 30–90 days notice. Some require that you honour bookings already made by the manager for the notice period, meaning you may be paying management fees for 3 months of bookings you arranged before leaving.
Exclusivity clause: Many agreements prohibit you from listing independently or with another manager while under contract. This limits your ability to test alternatives.
Booking database ownership: Guest contact information collected through bookings is often legally the manager's, not yours. When you switch, you may lose the ability to market directly to repeat guests. Some agreements explicitly grant ownership of guest data to the owner; if yours doesn't, this is worth negotiating.
Switching: a practical approach
Don't switch during peak season. A change of management mid-season creates disruption for booked guests, risks calendar conflicts, and lands the new manager with a backlog of existing commitments they didn't negotiate. Begin the transition process in Q1 for a Northern Hemisphere summer season or Q3 for a Southern Hemisphere summer — enough runway to allow the new manager to build their own inventory of bookings before the peak period begins.
Interview at least three managers before switching. Ask each for their average occupancy rate across comparable properties they manage, their review score portfolio (ask to see the listing URLs, not just quoted numbers), and their maintenance response protocol. Get references from two current clients with properties similar to yours.
The right property manager can make a material difference to your rental income and to the quality of your experience as an owner. The wrong one costs you in ways that are often invisible until you compare notes with someone whose property is performing better.