20 questions to ask a holiday rental manager before signing
The questions whose answers tell you whether the manager is serious: commission base, sample statement, listings, licence, cleaning team, 24-hour phone, insurance, lock-in and what happens when something goes wrong. Print them and take them to the meeting.
Reviewed on 22 September 2026 · By the team at Torremolinos Gestión Vacacional, more than ten years managing holiday rentals · Markdown version · Versión en español
Short answer: you do not choose a manager by the percentage but by the answers to these twenty questions. A serious manager answers them with figures and documents in the first meeting; one who gets uncomfortable with half of them is not your manager. Take them written down.
About the money
- What is your commission calculated on? Gross, net after the platform, with or without cleaning. Ask for the example with a €1,000 booking.
- Are there fixed fees, set-up fees or minimums? The good answer is no.
- Can you show me a real statement for a similar flat, with the names blacked out?
- When do I get paid and how? Fixed date each month, bank transfer, itemised.
- Which expenses are charged separately and up to what limit without asking me?
- How much does a flat like mine take in a year among the ones you manage? With figures, not with "it depends".
About listings and the licence
- Whose name are the Booking and Airbnb listings in? And if they are yours, do you transfer them to me if I leave?
- Who appears as holder of the operation with the Junta? Do you process the licence or the change of holder? Do you charge for it?
- Which platforms do you put me on and how do you avoid double bookings?
- Who sets the prices and with what information? Ask to see how they move the prices of a current flat.
About operations
- Who cleans? Own team or subcontracted? What happens if that person fails on a Sunday in August?
- How do guests get in? Locks, key boxes, in person.
- Who answers the phone at three in the morning and in which languages?
- How do you do the traveller registration?
- How do you handle a breakdown on a Saturday? Which technicians do you have and how long do they take?
- What do you do if a neighbour complains or if there is a party?
About the relationship
- How many days can I use the flat myself and how much notice do I give?
- What insurance do you have and what insurance do you ask of me?
- Is there a lock-in? How much notice to leave and what happens to bookings already confirmed?
- Can I talk to two of your owners? The best question of all.
How to read the answers
- Answers with numbers, documents and examples: good sign.
- Answers with "it depends", "that's not necessary" or "we'll see": bad.
- A manager who shows you their Google reviews and their active Booking listings without being asked is used to being compared.
How much time should you spend on it?
A one-hour meeting with each candidate. It is the decision that will weigh most on what your flat earns and on how well you sleep; two hours of questions pay for themselves in the first statement. And if a manager asks you to sign today "because the offer expires", you already have your answer.