Finding and signing owners
A management business starts with an owner who says yes. These guides cover finding that first owner without a track record, and the agreement you sign together.
In short
What this topic covers
Most owners do not search for a co-host. They already let their property long-term, leave it empty part of the year, or run a listing themselves and are tired of the messages and cleaning. Finding clients therefore starts with knowing who these owners are and where you meet them: your own network, local property groups, owners whose listings are clearly underperforming, and people who inherited or bought a second home. What persuades them is rarely a sales pitch. It is a concrete picture of what their unit could earn, what you will do, what it costs them and what happens if something goes wrong.
Once an owner is interested, the management agreement turns that picture into terms. It should say which services you provide, what your commission is and which amount it is calculated on, which costs are passed on, who owns the listing account and the reviews, who is responsible for damage and insurance, and how either side can end the arrangement. Anything left vague is something you may end up arguing about later, when money is involved.
The first guide in this topic covers how to find and approach owners when you have no track record yet. The second lists the clauses to discuss with a lawyer before you sign, so both sides know where they stand.
Guides
Start with the first guide
- GuideOwners
How to find your first Airbnb management client when you have no track record
Where first owners actually come from in Belgium and the Netherlands, what to say when you have nothing to show yet, and the outreach rules that keep you out of trouble.
- Airbnb lists its Co-Host Network in 12 countries, and neither Belgium nor the Netherlands is one of them.
- Specific beats generic: name the owner’s listing, their rate and their empty dates, then offer a simulation instead of a portfolio.
- In Belgium, marketing emails and text messages to private individuals need prior consent; in the Netherlands the consent rule covers most business addresses too.
- GuideOwners
Airbnb management agreement clauses
The clauses that decide who pays, who is liable and what happens when it ends, with the detail that matters in Belgium and the Netherlands. A checklist to take to your lawyer, not a contract to copy.
Terms and tools
Terms you’ll meet in this topic
- Management agreement
- Management commission
- Commission base
- Owner report
- Gross booking value
- Co-host
- VME / VvE
Revenue calculator
Work out what one unit earns in a month and how the money splits between owner, co-host and platform, with the fee and VAT included.
About HostPro Academy
The team behind this guide
These guides are written by the team behind HostPro Academy, a training programme for building a short-term rental management business. The finding and signing owners part of that programme is covered in level 3 and lesson 4.3.