What STR Property Managers Actually Charge and What It Really Costs Your Bottom Line

“The fee is 25 percent,” a property manager in Gatlinburg told one Tennessee host during an initial call. What he did not explain was the onboarding fee, the cleaning markup, the maintenance coordination charge on every repair invoice, or the monthly technology fee. By the end of year one, she had paid the equivalent of 39 percent of her gross revenue.

The effective rate hosts actually pay to full-service STR property managers averages 35 to 45 percent of gross revenue. Not the 20 to 30 percent on most company websites. On a property producing $40,000 per year, that gap is worth roughly $6,000 in annual income that does not show up in the brochure.

Data from STR host forums, published contracts, and accounts from operators who moved from managed to self-managed properties reveals a consistent pattern. The base percentage is the entry point for the conversation. It is not the total cost.

This is not a story about dishonest property managers. It is a story about a fee structure built during an era when STR oversight tools were expensive and difficult to use, and one that has not been meaningfully renegotiated since. Hosts signing PM contracts today are often paying 2019 prices against 2019 justifications, in a market where software tools have eliminated most of those justifications for the right host in the right market.

Here is what the fee structure actually looks like, what it costs, and how to evaluate whether the deal makes sense before you sign.

The Advertised Rate and the Real Rate Are Not the Same

The major national PM companies publish their base rates clearly:

• Vacasa: Custom quotes, typically 25-35% of gross revenue depending on market and property type
• Evolve Vacation Rental: 10% (Core plan), 15% (Plus plan), custom Pro tier
• Turnkey Vacation Rentals: 15-25% plus a $90 monthly guest supply fee
• Local and boutique operators: 20-35%, with wide variation by market

These numbers are real. They are also incomplete.

The base percentage typically covers listing management, guest communications, booking oversight, and revenue optimization. What it does not cover, and what the contract addenda and fee schedules clarify when hosts read them carefully, is the ecosystem of charges surrounding those core services.

Documents from PM contracts reviewed for this piece show a consistent set of additional charges that appear below the headline rate. They vary by operator, but the categories are predictable.

Onboarding and Setup Fees

Most full-service operators charge a one-time fee to onboard a new property. The range runs from $200 to $1,000, with national operators typically at $400 to $600. This covers photography, listing creation, smart lock installation coordination, and initial property assessment.

Some operators waive this fee during acquisition periods or embed it into the first month billing. Hosts who do not review their first statement line by line may not notice it until the year-end summary.

Cleaning Fee Markup

Here is where the fee structure gets complicated. Most PM companies do not employ their own cleaners. They coordinate with third-party cleaning vendors and pass the cost through to hosts. But sources from host discussions on BiggerPockets and Reddit reveal markups of 10 to 15 percent on cleaning vendor invoices.

On a property that generates $4,000 per year in cleaning costs (roughly $120 per turnover at 33 turnovers annually), that markup adds $400 to $600 per year. It does not always appear as a separate line item. It appears as the cleaning charge itself, which hosts see as a total rather than as a vendor cost plus a coordination markup.

Maintenance Coordination Fees

Maintenance is where the hidden cost accumulates most reliably. PM companies that handle maintenance billing do so in one of two ways: a flat hourly coordination fee ($20 to $45 per hour) or a percentage markup on contractor invoices (10 to 20 percent).

A $500 HVAC repair from a local contractor becomes $550 to $600 after the PM coordination fee. A $1,200 deck repair becomes $1,320 to $1,440. Over a year with $3,000 to $5,000 in typical maintenance expenses, the coordination fee adds $300 to $1,000 before the host receives the invoice summary.

Sources reveal this pattern in host forum discussions. One host documented that after switching from PM to self-management, she discovered her prior PM had been billing $45 for doorknob replacements, $85 for minor wall repairs, and $65 for toilet adjustments. She handled each subsequently for $10 to $25 in parts with a handyman hired directly.

Technology and Supply Fees

A growing category of PM fees is the recurring technology or guest supply charge. Turnkey charges $90 per month. Other operators charge $50 to $150 per month for software access, digital guestbook maintenance, or consumable supply replenishment. This adds $600 to $1,800 per year to the base rate before a single guest checks in.

The Numbers in Practice

On a property generating $40,000 in annual gross revenue, here is what the total cost looks like under a typical full-service PM contract at a 28 percent base rate:

In years two and beyond, without the onboarding fee, the effective rate settles around 33 to 34 percent. Still 5 to 6 points above the advertised 28 percent. And 13 to 14 points above what a self-managed operator using current tools spends on operations.

Run the same $40,000 property under self-management and the math looks different. Direct cleaning at actual vendor cost ($4,000), repairs without markup ($4,000), property management software including a dynamic pricing tool ($600 per year for a mid-tier setup), and amortized photography ($150 per year). Total operating costs: roughly $8,750.

That leaves $31,250 in net operating income before mortgage, taxes, and insurance. The PM model produces approximately $26,000 to $26,500 on the same gross. The difference is $4,750 to $5,250 per year.

Before you buy any property where a PM is in the plan, you need to know what that deal looks like at the effective rate. The StaySTRA Analyzer lets you run any market and see what net revenue actually looks like after PM fees are applied, so you know whether the numbers still work before you sign anything.

When Full-Service PM Is Actually Worth It

The fee gap is real. It is not always the deciding factor.

There are three scenarios where full-service PM delivers value that justifies the effective rate:

Remote and Rural Markets

Cabin markets in the Smokies, rural lake destinations, and mountain properties more than two hours from a major metro present a genuine operational challenge. Turnover coordination, emergency maintenance, and guest access issues require local infrastructure that most self-managing hosts cannot build remotely without significant effort and established relationships.

In these markets, a PM company with local vendor relationships, on-the-ground staff, and operational presence may genuinely save more in avoided crises than the 5 to 10 point fee premium costs. Data indicates that guest satisfaction scores on remotely managed properties without local PM support are measurably lower, which affects future booking velocity and pricing power.

Large Portfolios

A host managing five or more properties faces coordination complexity that scales faster than revenue does. The economics of professional management look different at that scale. The PM company systems, staff, and processes allow the host to focus on acquisition and capital decisions rather than day-to-day operations.

For investors who treat STR as a portfolio business, professional management can be the lever that enables growth without proportional time investment.

Genuine Lifestyle Preference

Some hosts pay the PM premium not because they cannot self-manage, but because they choose not to. That is a legitimate decision. The fee is not a mistake in that context. It is the cost of delegation.

Where the fee becomes a problem is when hosts sign PM contracts because they do not know another option exists. Not because they have evaluated both paths and chosen PM deliberately. Based on forum data and accounts from operators who switched, most PM contracts in accessible markets are signed out of default rather than deliberate comparison.

If you are evaluating your first STR purchase or reconsidering an existing PM arrangement, the complete buying guide walks through underwriting a deal at both the full-service PM rate and the self-managed rate so you can compare the numbers before committing to either path.

The Hybrid Alternative

The gap between full-service PM and self-management has closed substantially since 2020. The software tools that make remote self-management viable are cheaper and more capable than they have ever been.

A hybrid model, often called co-hosting, typically works like this: a property management software platform handles reservations, automated messaging, and calendar synchronization across platforms. A local co-host or property supervisor handles in-person tasks. The host coordinates cleaning directly with a local vendor at actual cost.

Total cost structure for a functional hybrid setup:

• PMS and channel management software: $40-$60 per month
• Dynamic pricing tool: $15-$20 per month
• Local co-host or property supervisor for in-person oversight: 5-10% of gross revenue
• Direct cleaning at vendor rate, no markup

All-in, a hybrid model costs 12 to 18 percent of gross revenue. Compare that to 33 to 40 percent for full-service PM. On a $40,000 property, the annual difference is $6,000 to $8,800 in retained income.

It requires more active host involvement than a fully managed arrangement. The host maintains vendor relationships, reviews booking data, and stays close enough to the operation to catch problems before they become guest complaints. For hosts in accessible markets with available local service infrastructure, the hybrid model captures most of the operational benefit of full-service PM without the fee structure that came with it.

The specific platforms that make this model work are covered in detail in the co-host software tools guide for 2026, including what actual per-property costs look like at the tools level.

Seven Questions to Ask Before Signing a PM Contract

If you are evaluating a PM contract now, or reconsidering one you already have, these are the questions that surface the effective rate:

1. What is the total management cost, including all recurring charges? Ask for the effective all-in rate, not just the base percentage.
2. Do you mark up cleaning vendor invoices? Ask for the markup percentage. Ask to see a sample cleaning invoice alongside the actual vendor contract rate.
3. How is maintenance coordination billed? Ask whether there is a flat hourly charge or a percentage markup on contractor invoices, and at what rate.
4. What are the full onboarding and setup fees? Get the complete list in writing before signing.
5. Are there technology, supply, or compliance fees not included in the base percentage? Ask for a sample monthly statement from a comparable property they currently manage.
6. What is the early termination fee and notice period? Most contracts require 60 to 90 days notice and charge 2 to 3 months of the base management fee.
7. Can I see three months of statements from a current client property at a similar revenue level? A PM confident in their fee structure will share this. One that is not will decline.

These seven questions give you the data to calculate the effective rate before you sign. Run your specific market through the StaySTRA Analyzer to see whether the deal pencils at the effective PM rate. What cash-flows at 25 percent may look different at 38 percent.

We do our best to keep our reporting accurate and up to date, but situations evolve and we are only human. Always verify current details directly with local officials and sources before making decisions.