The 25% property management fee was killing my STR profits

[Luis Guerra]

Hello everyone,

I've been managing my short-term rental (STR) in the Orlando area for a few years now. Initially, I handed over the management of my property to a company, giving up 25% of my earnings for them to handle everything from guest relations to cleaning and maintenance. This worked well at first, but I started noticing "ghost" charges for random repairs and services: $45 for a door knob replacement, $85 for wall repairs, $65 for a toilet leak, etc. It became too difficult to trust that the extra work being performed was actually needed.

So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I opened a new host account to handle guest interactions myself, hired a local handyman for emergencies, and found a cleaning person who could also act as my eyes and ears for any required handyman services. I'm happy to report that this approach has been working out great! My total property management cost has dropped from 25% to about 10% per month, with $0 in extra "ghost" fees.

This success has inspired me to consider starting a handyman/cleaning business in the Orlando area to help other Airbnb hosts like myself. I’m seeking advice on how much to charge for these services. I was thinking that the cleaning fee could simply be covered by whatever the host is currently charging their guests, and the maintenance fee could be a set monthly amount to cover basic needs such as pool cleaning/maintenance, lawn care, pool deck cleaning, and minor touchups.

What do you all think about this? What would be a fair price to charge for this service? Please keep in mind that this business model assumes the host is willing to handle guest interactions themselves.

Thank you for your insights and suggestions!