If you're collecting quotes for Airbnb or vacation rental management in Fort Lauderdale, you'll mostly hear 20–30% of your rental income. But the percentage alone doesn't tell you much. What it's calculated on, what it includes, and what gets billed on top matter just as much.
We're Dreamhaus Management, a locally owned short-term rental management company, and we charge 15%. When owners hear that, they usually ask what the catch is. It's a fair question, so here's the honest answer first, followed by a plain-English guide to comparing any manager's fees, including ours.
What you get with Dreamhaus Management
We'd rather earn a smaller share for years than a bigger share for one season. You make more, you stay, and we both build something long term.
You keep more of every booking. On a home earning [$80,000] a year, the gap between a 25% fee and ours is [$8,000] back in your pocket, every year.
We're down the street, not three states away. Dreamhaus Management is locally owned and run from Fort Lauderdale, with homes across Wilton Manors and Oakland Park. Our team is in your home regularly, not just when something breaks, so a slow leak or a struggling AC gets caught before it turns into an expensive repair or a bad review.
Bespoke hospitality for every guest. No two guests get the same stay. A family in town for a graduation, a couple celebrating an anniversary, a group here for Pride: each gets communication and touches built around why they came. No templates and no copy-paste messages. That level of care earns five-star reviews, and five-star reviews earn your home more bookings at better rates.
Our own cleaners, run by our own cleaning manager. Many managers hand turnovers to outside cleaning companies juggling dozens of other clients, and on a tight same-day turnover your home isn't their priority. Our cleaners work for us, so they know your property, and a dedicated cleaning manager holds them to one standard: on time, inspected, and photographed after every clean. Those photos mean damage is caught the same day, with the proof needed to recover the cost from the guest.
Our own maintenance team. When the AC goes out on a Saturday in August, we don't start calling around for a vendor. Our maintenance team is already on it.
Technology built to outperform, not just compete. We pay premium prices for the top tier of software in our industry, the kind many smaller managers skip to save money. You see the return in your income:
Smarter pricing. Rates adjust daily, and we watch them constantly, adjusting for what's happening locally: the boat show, Pride weekends, spring break, a slow week that needs a push.
Wider reach. Your home is distributed across a wide network of booking channels, far beyond a single Airbnb listing, so more travelers see it and more of them book.
Access to our direct-booking guests. Your home is offered to our own base of travelers who book with Dreamhaus Management directly, not through the platforms, including past guests who come back to us again and again. Not every management company can offer that.
Property health software we built ourselves. We created our own software to track the health of every home we manage, and it's tailored to your specific property. Every issue is logged, so we spot patterns early, like an AC that has needed service twice this summer, before they become a breakdown. Because we built it in-house, you won't find it at any other management company.
You don't have to be involved. Our onboarding gathers everything we need up front. After that, we handle it. No string of texts asking where the water shutoff is.
Your own owner app, in real time. Every booking, along with any stays you've reserved for yourself, shows up in your app the moment it happens. No waiting and no emailing us to ask how bookings look. Then, every month, you get an itemized invoice with all income and expenses.
Your home is yours to use. Want to stay at your own place? If the dates are open, book them in the app. No request, no approval, no questions asked.
So why charge less? Because we're playing the long game, and the long game works in your favor. A lower fee means you keep more every month. And because we plan on years with your property, not months, your home gets managed as well as it possibly can be: sharpening your pricing, building your reviews, protecting your asset.
You get a luxury-level operation for less than most managers charge for an ordinary one. The only catch? You'll wish you'd called sooner.
What to expect from a Fort Lauderdale vacation rental manager
Every management company runs a little differently. Here's what a strong full-service manager should deliver, and how we raise the bar:
| What a strong manager should deliver | How Dreamhaus Management raises the bar | |
|---|---|---|
| Booking reach | Listings on the major platforms, kept accurate and optimized | Over 85% occupancy, portfolio-wide. Wide channel distribution plus our own direct-booking guests keep calendars full. |
| Pricing | Dynamic pricing that adjusts for season and demand | Software sets the price. A local expert perfects it. Intelligent pricing that never stops working, reviewed daily by someone who knows this market and adjusts for what software can't see. |
| Guest communication | Fast, professional responses around the clock | Bespoke communication, under 5 minutes. AI gives us speed, and real people make every conversation tailored to the guest. Never a call center. |
| Cleaning | Reliable turnovers with quality checks | Our own team, with the receipts to prove it. In-house cleaners led by a dedicated cleaning manager, with photos and a damage check after every clean. |
| Maintenance | Quick coordination when something breaks | Our own people, on our timeline. An in-house maintenance team that already knows your home, so fixes never wait on a vendor's schedule. |
| Property care | Regular attention so small issues don't become big ones | We see problems coming. Regular in-person visits plus property health software we built ourselves, tailored to your home. Issues get fixed before they cost you a booking or a review. No other management company has it. |
| Owner reporting | Clear statements showing income and expenses | Everything, in real time. Your own owner portal with live booking data, plus a clear, itemized monthly invoice. No chasing anyone for updates. |
| Owner stays | A simple way to use your own home | Your home, your call. Book open dates yourself, no approval needed. |
Like what you see? Let's run the numbers on your home. ( Get a free revenue estimate here )
Still shopping around? Smart. Whoever you hire, here's how to read a management quote like a pro, and what we'd want to know if we were in your shoes.
How to read a vacation rental management quote
Every quote comes down to three numbers: the percentage, what it's calculated on, and what gets billed on top. Most owners only compare the first one.
1. The percentage
Here's what Fort Lauderdale managers typically charge, and what that actually buys you:
| Service level | Typical fee | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Co-hosting | 10–15% | Help with messaging and listings. Cleaners, repairs, and supplies are still on you. |
| Full-service | 20–30% | Hands-off ownership. The manager runs everything, day to day. |
| Premium and luxury | 30–40%+ | Full-service for high-end homes, often on the water. |
Which puts our 15% in perspective: a co-hosting price for boutique, hands-on management that goes beyond full-service. Not full-service in the call-center sense. Full-service in the we-know-your-home-by-heart sense.
Some companies charge a flat monthly fee instead. To be fair, that has an upside: you know exactly what you'll pay every month. But it also means the manager gets paid the same whether your home books ten nights or twenty-five. No stake in how your home performs, and no real reason to push harder. With a percentage, your manager only does well when your home does. That's the incentive you want working for you.
2. Compare dollars, not percentages
Not every 20% is the same 20%. Managers calculate their fee in different ways, and no single method is the right one. Some apply their percentage to nightly revenue only. Others apply it to everything the home earns, cleaning fees included. The method changes what the percentage means in dollars, which is why comparing percentages side by side can mislead you. Compare dollars instead.
Here's the same month of bookings, calculated both ways:
| Fee | On nightly revenue ($6,000) | On total income ($6,900) |
|---|---|---|
| 25% | $1,500 | $1,725 |
| 20% | $1,200 | $1,380 |
| Dreamhaus Management: 15% | — | $1,035 |
Same percentage, different dollars, and neither method is wrong. What matters is the bottom line: whichever way a typical fee is calculated, it costs more than ours.
Ours is calculated on total income, cleaning fees included. It keeps things simple: one percentage, applied to everything, with nothing to untangle on your statement.
3. What gets billed on top
The management fee isn't always the whole bill. Some managers charge extra for specific services on top of their percentage, and those charges add up. Before you sign, ask about each of these:
When you get started
Onboarding: Is there a fee to set up and launch the listing?
Photography: Who pays for professional photos?
Every month
Maintenance: Is there a markup on repair and vendor invoices?
Supplies and linens: Are they billed separately, and at cost?
Technology: Is there a monthly charge for pricing tools, smart locks, or monitoring?
Down the road
Owner stays: Is there a fee, or an approval process, to stay in your own home?
Leaving: What does it cost to end the contract, and how much notice is required?
One easy way to see the full picture: ask each manager for a sample owner statement from a real month. It shows every fee in context, so you can compare managers side by side.
Ask these before you sign anything
Fees get all the attention. These are the questions that actually decide how your home gets run, and most owners don't think to ask them until the contract is already signed. Ask them early. Ask every manager you talk to. Including us.
Whose account will my listing live on? Many owners assume their home should be listed under their own account. It's worth a closer look. A listing on an established management account starts with years of reviews, strong host status, and a track record the platforms already trust, which often means better search placement and faster bookings from the first week. A listing on your own account starts from zero, but the history stays with you. Ask a prospective manager to walk you through both options, what each would mean for your home's first year, and what happens to the listing if you ever part ways.
What happens to future bookings if we part ways? Reservations don't move automatically from one listing to another. The usual path is for whoever holds the current listing to contact those guests and invite them to rebook on the new one, which only goes smoothly when both sides cooperate. Ask how a manager handles a transition before you ever need one.
Who's responsible for staying compliant? Short-term rentals in Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors, and Oakland Park each come with their own local rules, which can include city registration, inspections, occupancy limits, and parking and noise requirements, on top of state licensing. Rules change, and missing one can mean fines or a suspended registration. Ask a manager which registrations and renewals they handle, how they stay on top of rule changes, and how they enforce occupancy and noise rules with guests. Then read the management contract closely to see who is liable for what if something is missed.
Which taxes are collected for me, and which are on me? Vacation rental income in Florida carries state and county taxes on top of the nightly rate. Booking platforms collect and send in some of these automatically, but what they cover can vary by platform, and direct bookings aren't covered at all. Ask which taxes are collected on each booking channel, who files the rest and how often, and how it all shows up on your statements. Tax mistakes tend to surface months later, with penalties attached.
What insurance protects my home and my guests? The major booking platforms each offer their own damage and liability protections for stays booked through them, and they aren't identical. A good manager should be able to explain what each platform covers, where the gaps are, and how they file a claim when something goes wrong. If a manager takes direct bookings, ask what protects those stays, since there's no platform behind the reservation. And ask how your own property insurance fits in: some managers help owners put the right short-term rental coverage in place, while others leave it entirely to you.
Does my home fit where this company is going? Ask about the company's vision: what kinds of homes they want to manage, where they see the business in five years, and how they define success for an owner. Then ask how they'd run your home specifically: what they'd change in the first 90 days, how they'd position it, and what kind of guest it should attract. You're looking for a manager who sees your home as a long-term asset worth investing in, not just another door on the roster. If the conversation feels more like a pitch than a plan, that tells you something.
Can you share real numbers across your whole portfolio? Ask for average occupancy, nightly rate, and guest rating across every property, not just a showcase listing, and ideally for homes similar to yours. Together, these tell you what your home could realistically earn with that manager. Occupancy shows whether they keep the calendar full. Nightly rate shows whether they price with confidence or discount to fill gaps. Guest rating shows whether the experience they deliver will protect your home's reputation over time. Any manager promising big revenue should be able to back it up with numbers like these.
A great manager will answer every one of these without blinking. We're happy to go first.
Let's talk numbers
You've read the fine print. Now let's put real numbers on your home.
Tell us about your property in Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors, or Oakland Park, and we'll send you a free revenue estimate: what it can realistically earn, and exactly what you'd pay us to get it there. No pressure. No hard sell. Just numbers, and an honest take on whether we're the right fit.
Let's run the numbers on your home. ( Get a free revenue estimate here )
Dreamhaus Management is a locally owned vacation rental and Airbnb management company based in Fort Lauderdale. We're down the street from owners across Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, and Hollywood, with homes in Miami too.
