How to choose the best Perth Airbnb manager

Perth managers differ most on how they charge, how they handle the WA rules and how close they are to your property. Start with four questions.

What does the fee cover? Full-service management should cover the listing, pricing, guest messages, check-ins, cleaning between stays and maintenance. Some companies add an onboarding fee or charge for extras. Ask for a list of everything you would pay.

Where will your property be listed? A listing on Airbnb alone misses guests who book through Booking.com and Vrbo. Ask which platforms the company uses and whether calendars are synced.

Will they handle the STRA register and the 90-night limit? In Perth metro, the number of nights an unhosted property is let decides whether it needs development approval. A manager should track this for you.

How local is the team? Perth is spread out, from Fremantle to Scarborough. Ask who covers your suburb and how fast they can reach the property.

If you are still deciding whether to let short term, our guides to what a Perth Airbnb can earn and the best areas for Airbnb in Perth are the place to start.

Airbnb management companies in Perth compared

Houst

Houst manages short stays across greater Perth, including the CBD, West and East Perth, Northbridge, Subiaco, Leederville, Mount Lawley, South Perth, Scarborough, Cottesloe and Fremantle. It lists properties on Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Google.

The fee is a single commission: from 14% of rental revenue for full-time management and from 20% for part-time. There are no setup fees and no monthly charges. Pricing, photography, guest vetting, check-ins, cleaning coordination and an owner dashboard are included, and the team guides owners through STRA registration. Full detail is on our Perth management page.

Hometime

Hometime is an Australian company with a Perth office in Osborne Park. It lists service areas including Cottesloe, Fremantle, Joondalup, Kings Park, the Perth CBD, Scarborough and Subiaco, as well as parts of the South West such as Margaret River and Dunsborough.

Hometime does not publish its fees on its Perth page and asks owners to contact it for a quote. Our Houst vs Hometime comparison goes through the two models side by side.

MadeComfy

MadeComfy lists Perth, Mandurah and Margaret River among its Western Australia locations. It lists properties on Airbnb, Booking.com and Stayz, and puts weight on its corporate travel network. It does not publish a fee on its homepage. Our Houst vs MadeComfy comparison covers how it works.

Local operators

Smaller Perth companies often focus on a few suburbs or buildings. Before you sign, check which platforms they use, how they track the 90-night limit and what their guest reviews say.

How the fees compare

Perth managers use two main fee models.

• Commission only. One percentage of booking revenue covers the service. Houst works this way, from 14% for full-time management.
• Onboarding fee plus commission. You pay a one-off amount to set up the listing, then a percentage of each booking. Ask each company whether it charges one.

Cleaning is the other cost to check. Some managers charge the guest a cleaning fee on top of the nightly rate. Others take cleaning from the owner's share. The difference shows up in your payout, not in the headline rate.

A worked example

Houst's Perth figures for a two-bedroom, one-bathroom property are an average nightly rate of A$228.52 at 75% occupancy, or about A$62,558 a year in revenue. These are Houst portfolio and industry benchmarks, and your property will differ.

• Revenue: A$62,558
• Houst commission at 14%: A$8,758.12
• Left before other costs: A$53,799.88

Run the same sum for every company you are comparing, using their rate and any onboarding fee. Our guide to Airbnb management fees explains what usually sits inside the percentage.

What Houst covers in Perth

Houst's fee covers the full service. That includes listing setup and optimisation across Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Google, professional photography, dynamic pricing, guest vetting, 24/7 guest communication, check-ins, linen and toiletries, cleaning and turnovers, maintenance coordination and a host dashboard with your bookings and income.

Pricing is set around Perth's calendar. Demand peaks over the warmer months from about October to April, when the beaches, festivals and events bring the most visitors. Business travel and interstate visitors keep the cooler months steadier than in many cities.

See the Houst Perth page for coverage by suburb, or get an estimate for your address.

Questions to ask before you sign

• What is the total cost? Ask for the commission, any onboarding fee, and who pays for cleaning, linen and maintenance call-outs.
• Which platforms will my property be on? Ask for the full list and whether calendars are synced.
• How do you track the 90-night limit? Ask how the company counts booked nights for an unhosted Perth metro property, and what happens as you approach 90.
• Who completes the STRA registration? The owner or tenant has to start it, and a property manager can finish it on your behalf.
• What do owners and guests say? Read owner reviews and the guest ratings on properties the company already manages in Perth.
• How do I leave? Ask for the notice period and any fees for ending the agreement.

Perth rules to check first

Every residential property let for stays of less than three months in Western Australia must be on the state Short-Term Rental Accommodation register before it is advertised or takes bookings. This applies whether or not you live there. Operating without registration can bring significant penalties.

In the Perth metropolitan area, an unhosted property let for 90 nights or less in a 12-month period does not need development approval. Above 90 nights, it does. Hosted stays, where you live on the property, are exempt from planning approval. Outside Perth metro, each local government decides.

Apartments and townhouses in a strata scheme can be used for short stays unless a by-law prohibits it, so read your building's by-laws first. Our guide to STRA registration and the 90-night rule in Perth covers the detail.

Getting ready for the warmer months

Perth's busiest stretch runs from about October to April. A property that is registered and listed early has time to collect its first reviews before the peak, and a manager needs a few days to photograph it, set up the listings and set prices.

If you plan to use the property yourself over Christmas, block those dates early. For an unhosted Perth metro property, plan the year's nights against the 90-night limit, or get development approval first.