A management agreement is the one document that decides how much of your Airbnb income you actually keep, how easily you can leave, and what happens to your listing when you do. Most owners skim it. This guide walks through the clauses worth reading twice.
It is written for Sunshine Coast and Noosa owners but the principles apply across Queensland. It is general information, not legal advice. If a contract is long, complex or involves a lot of money, pay a solicitor to read it.
Why the contract matters more than the pitch
Managers sell on occupancy, photos and reviews. The contract is where the numbers are defined. Two managers quoting "18 per cent" can leave you with quite different net returns depending on what the 18 per cent is calculated on, who keeps the cleaning fee, and what extras sit outside the headline rate.
Before you look at any clause, ask for a worked example: a sample owner statement for a similar property over a busy month and a quiet month. If the manager cannot or will not produce one, that tells you something.
The clauses to check
1. Term and exit
Look for three things: the initial term, whether it auto-renews, and what it costs to leave.
| Feature | Owner-friendly | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Initial term | Month to month, or 6 months | 12 to 24 months with no break clause |
| Renewal | Continues month to month | Auto-renews for another full term unless you object in a narrow window |
| Notice to exit | 30 to 60 days | 90 days or more, or "end of current term only" |
| Exit fee | None | A percentage of projected revenue, or a fee for "transition" |
| Future bookings | Honoured at agreed fee, then handed over | Manager keeps all bookings taken before exit date, or charges a cancellation penalty for each |
The future-bookings question is the one owners miss. If you give notice in October, there may be Christmas and Easter bookings already in the calendar. The agreement should say what happens to them: whether the manager services them at the normal fee, hands the guest details to you or the new manager, or cancels them (which will damage the listing).
2. How the fee is defined: gross versus net
This is the single biggest number in the contract, and the word "revenue" hides a lot.
- Gross booking value is what the guest pays, including cleaning fee, Airbnb guest service fee and GST if any.
- Net revenue or host payout is what actually lands after platform commission, and often after cleaning fees are stripped out.
A 20 per cent fee on gross can cost you noticeably more than 20 per cent on net. Ask the manager to state, in the contract, exactly which line of the Airbnb payout the percentage applies to. The fairest position for you is a fee on accommodation revenue only, after platform commission and excluding the cleaning fee.
Also check:
- Is GST added on top of the management fee? It usually is, so an "18 per cent" fee is 19.8 per cent to you if you are not registered for GST.
- Are there minimum monthly fees, listing setup fees, onboarding fees, photography fees or "technology" fees? Get them listed in one schedule.
- Are linen, consumables and guest welcome items charged at cost, at cost plus a margin, or bundled?
3. Owner use and blackout dates
Most owners want to use the property sometimes. The clause should state:
- How much notice you need to give for an owner stay.
- Whether there are blackout periods where owner use is restricted (Christmas and school holidays are common).
- Whether you pay a cleaning fee after your own stay.
- Whether there is a minimum-availability or minimum-revenue clause that penalises you for blocking too many nights.
A manager who wants a guaranteed peak-season calendar is not unreasonable, since that is where the year's income is made. But the trade-off should be explicit, not buried.
4. Damage, security deposits and insurance
Airbnb's own protections are limited and the claim process can be slow, so the agreement needs to answer:
- Who lodges damage claims with the platform, and who wears the shortfall if a claim is refused?
- Does the manager collect a bond or security deposit for direct bookings, and where is it held?
- What insurance does the manager carry (public liability, professional indemnity)?
- What insurance are you required to hold? Standard home and contents policies often exclude short-term letting. Specialist short-stay landlord insurance exists and some managers require it.
In Noosa, an approved short-stay property must hold public liability insurance of at least $10 million as a condition of the local law approval (Noosa Shire Council, Short Stay Letting). Make sure the contract says who arranges that and whose name is on the policy.
5. Trust accounting and how guest money is held
In Queensland, a licensed property agent or resident letting agent who receives money on your behalf must hold it in a trust account under the Property Occupations Act 2014 and the associated Administration Act (section 169, Keeping trust accounts). Trust accounts are audited and the money is legally separate from the manager's own funds.
Not every short-stay manager operates as a licensed agent. Some structure themselves so that Airbnb pays you directly and they invoice you a fee, which sidesteps trust accounting entirely. Others receive the payout into their own business account and forward your share.
None of these is automatically wrong, but you should know which model you are in. Ask:
- Does the payout come from Airbnb directly to my bank account, or via the manager?
- If via the manager, is that a trust account? Who audits it?
- What happens to my money if the manager's business fails?
A manager who is licensed with the Queensland Office of Fair Trading and uses a trust account is generally the safer structure for an owner.
6. Payout timing and statements
The contract should specify:
- How often you are paid (monthly is common; some pay fortnightly or per booking).
- The cut-off date and the payment date (for example, "revenue to the last day of the month, paid by the 10th").
- What the statement shows. At minimum: each booking, nights, gross, platform fee, cleaning fee, management fee, other charges, and net to owner.
- Whether you get access to a live owner portal.
Long gaps between the guest paying and you receiving the money are a cash-flow cost to you and a benefit to the manager.
7. Who owns the cleaning fee
Cleaning fees are set on the listing and paid by the guest. There are three common models:
- The cleaning fee is passed through to the cleaner at cost. Fair, transparent.
- The manager keeps the cleaning fee as revenue and pays the cleaner from it. This can be fine if the fee is competitive, but check whether the management percentage is also charged on top of it.
- The manager bills you for cleaning separately, and also keeps the guest's cleaning fee. This is double-dipping and should be renegotiated.
Get the model written down and ask for the actual per-clean cost. Indicatively, a standard turnover clean on the Sunshine Coast is quoted by local operators in the range of roughly $80 to $150 for smaller properties, with larger homes and linen costing more (Lane Property, Sunshine Coast management guide). Treat that as a rough benchmark only.
8. Listing ownership: who keeps the reviews
This is the clause most likely to hurt you later, and the one most often absent.
An Airbnb listing, its reviews, its Superhost status and its search ranking belong to the Airbnb account it sits on. If your manager creates the listing on their account, all of that stays with them when you leave. You start again from zero reviews with a new manager or on your own.
The owner-friendly arrangement is:
- The listing is created on your Airbnb account.
- The manager is added as a co-host with the permissions they need.
- The same applies to Booking.com, Stayz and any other platforms.
- On termination, the manager is removed as co-host and the listing continues uninterrupted.
Some managers will not agree to this because their business model relies on portability of the listing to their brand. That is their choice, but you should price it into your decision. Losing 80 five-star reviews is a real cost.
Also check who owns the photography and the listing copy. If the manager paid for photos, they may reasonably keep them. If you paid, they should be yours.
9. Termination for cause and dispute resolution
Beyond the ordinary notice period, the contract should let you terminate quickly if the manager:
- Fails to pay you on time.
- Breaches trust accounting obligations.
- Loses a required licence or approval.
- Causes the property to breach council conditions (relevant in Noosa, where the approval holder wears the fines).
And it should say how disputes are handled: negotiation first, then mediation, then court or tribunal. Avoid clauses that require you to pay the manager's legal costs regardless of outcome.
10. Compliance responsibilities
Council rules on the Sunshine Coast and in Noosa put real obligations on operators. In Noosa, an approved property needs a nominated 24/7 contact person within 20 kilometres who responds to complaints within 30 minutes, a compliant sign displaying the hotline number, and records kept for two years (Noosa Shire Council, Short Stay Letting).
The agreement should name who is the contact person, who keeps the registers, who renews the approval and who pays the annual fee. If the manager will act as contact person, that is one of the more valuable services they provide. Put it in writing. See our separate guides on Sunshine Coast short-term rental rules and Noosa's short stay local law.
A short checklist to send back to the manager
Before signing, ask for written answers to these:
- What exactly is the management fee calculated on?
- Is GST added to the fee?
- What are all other fees and charges, in one list?
- What is the term, notice period and exit fee?
- What happens to bookings already in the calendar when I leave?
- Whose Airbnb account does the listing sit on?
- Who keeps the cleaning fee, and what does a clean actually cost?
- Is guest money held in a trust account?
- When and how am I paid, and what does the statement show?
- Who is the nominated contact person for council purposes?
A good manager will answer all ten without fuss. Hesitation on questions 6 and 8 is the biggest warning sign.
Compare managers on the Sunshine Coast
StayManaged lists Sunshine Coast and Noosa managers side by side with their fee models, service levels and contract terms so you can ask the right questions before you sign.