Tips for Maintaining Positive Homeowner Relationships in Short-Term Rentals

Updated: November 8, 2024

While hosts own the vacation rental, property managers are the on-site caretakers. However, property managers often overlook maintaining positive homeowner relationships. A strained relationship will tarnish your reputation in the market while impacting revenue for STR hosts. 

That said, keeping the communication lines open is key for a healthy host-manager relationship. From property damage and disputes with guests to timely reporting, various factors should be discussed with the vacation rental owner to streamline the property management process. If not, it will create tension in your owner relations.

5 Effective Tips for Maintaining Positive Homeowner Relationship

Vacation rental host satisfaction requires a multifaceted approach. Here are the critical areas that property managers must focus on to create a long-lasting and happy relationship with the homeowners.

1. Set and Follow Contractual Obligations

A well-structured contract is the core of every successful partnership between homeowners and property managers. This agreement promotes transparency while protecting each party’s interests.

Draft a comprehensive property management contract outlining the agreement’s timeframe, service fee, Airbnb cleaning checklist, maintenance duties, STR insurance coverage for hosts, expense reimbursement, revenue management strategies, cancellation clause, and other relevant tasks. Besides, adding critical disclosures from the start reduces the chances of future conflict.

“Include disclosure about potential conflicts of interest in the property management agreement.” – said Rafael P. Aquino, Co-founder of Managedbyaffinity property management company.

So, make it a thumb rule to clarify roles and responsibilities for both parties on the get-go. With the service agreement, both parties will have a common ground for future expectations and conflict resolution. There will be minimum chances of misunderstandings in the days ahead, ensuring a productive professional relationship.

Above all, a property manager should strictly follow this legally binding contract to maintain a positive homeowner relationship. If not, the host will soon part ways with you.

2. Handle Challenges and Disputes Calmly

Like any business partnership, occasional disputes and disagreements occur in the host-property manager relationship. Both parties should stay calm to handle and resolve conflicts without jeopardizing their relationship.

Hosts hire a property manager to make their life easier, not more difficult.

Think and practice what you’d like to say before disclosing bad news, such as property damage by the guests. It’ll also help you get clarity and answer questions with confidence. Being open-minded about how the host may approach issues will make it easier to avoid misunderstandings and reach mutually agreeable solutions. 

Staying composed while listening to the host’s concerns builds trust and effective partnership.

As Chandra Gibson suggested on LinkedIn, be an active listener to reach the right solution.

3. Timely Property Upkeep

An adequate maintenance plan will keep vacation rental owners satisfied and happy. You should diligently monitor maintenance tasks, including quarterly/monthly inspections, security checks, scheduling deep cleaning, and coordinating cleans between guest stays. This proactive approach ensures timely upkeep for the STR home while preventing potential issues as soon they arise.

As My Broker Matt explained, “Good property managers won’t call or text you about the water tank leakage issue. Instead, they’ll manage and get it fixed for you.” That’s the reason hosts hired you.

A well-maintained property leads to a well-maintained relationship with your host. Moreover, maintaining the vacation rental cleaning process also contributes to a positive Airbnb experience for guests and five-star reviews.

4. Update Owners About Performance Metrics

Demand for an STR home constantly fluctuates due to different market variables, such as vacation rental seasonality drops, desirable amenities, Airbnb competition, and local events. Regularly informing homeowners about the status of their property fosters trust.

As a property manager, you must update the hosts about the KPIs you tracked using the PriceLabs solution, including the Average daily rate (ADR), Average Length of Stay, RevPAR, and occupancy rates. This tool will also help you make informed decisions about minimum stay restrictions, orphan days, and last-minute and far-out pricing based on the current KPIs of your STR home.

With real-time data, property owners and managers will stay on the same page about the revenue management strategy, preventing future disputes and misconceptions.

5. Honest Communication for Continuous Improvement

Clear communication is essential to align the homeowner’s expectations with your proper management strategies. Talk about everything with hosts, including dynamic pricing strategies, maintenance issues, scheduled inspections, and updating Airbnb listing descriptions.

Moreover, active engagement with hosts will help you boost your Airbnb occupancy rate and earnings.

Let’s say you want to change your revenue optimization strategy and need to discuss it urgently with the host. First, you’ll quickly analyze the previous and potential earnings using Revenue Estimator Pro. The tool will also allow you to download the detailed report as a PDF and share it with homeowners to set realistic income projections for them.

This transparent communication builds trust for homeowners, ensuring that you both are working towards the same goal. When you calculate revenue estimate, it also shows hosts your vested interest in improving vacation rental profits.

Additional Tip: Strike a delicate balance between communicating too much or not enough. Hosts are also busy and don’t want to be flooded with information they don’t need.

FAQs

1. What is a property manager’s greatest responsibility to the owner?

Conducting inspections, identifying maintenance issues, optimizing revenue strategies, and keeping guests happy are integral for any property manager to bring more income for STR hosts.

2. What type of report would a property manager likely provide to an owner?

A well-structured property management report includes STR’s operational, financial, and performance details.

3. What is the contract between the owner and manager?

A contractual agreement’s primary purpose is to lay out the terms and conditions for STR property management. This contract aligns a host’s expectations with the responsibilities and duties delegated to managers. It also covers the fees and agreement timeline for their STR management services.

Final Thoughts

Property managers and owners are in a professional partnership. Thus, maintaining positive homeowner relationships is vital to addressing concerns, optimizing property performance, and nurturing long-term partnerships. 

Good service will also lead to contract renewal between you and a vacation rental owner, so always be transparent with them.

About PriceLabs

PriceLabs is a revenue management solution for the short-term rental and hospitality industry. It was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL. Our platform helps individual hosts and hospitality professionals optimize pricing and revenue management, adapting to changing market trends and occupancy levels.

With dynamic pricing, automation rules, and customizations, we manage pricing and minimum-stay restrictions for any portfolio size. Prices are automatically uploaded to preferred channels such as Airbnb, Vrbo, and 110+ property management and channel integrations.

Every day, we price over 400,000+ listings globally across 150+ countries, offering world-class tools like the Base Price Help and Minimum Stay Recommendation Engine. Choose PriceLabs to increase revenue and streamline pricing and revenue management. Sign up for a free trial at pricelabs.co today.