This is a common concern among property owners—you’re far from alone if you feel this way as well. Owners who know their property is not performing to its peak potential yet struggle to invest in changes that can improve performance are feeling a classic psychological phenomenon known as loss aversion, a concept popularized by Nobel Prize-winning behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman. In plain English? We humans tend to feel the pain of losing money much more strongly than the pleasure of gaining it.
So when your rental isn’t generating the income you hoped for, it’s only natural to hesitate before taking on what feels like yet another expense—especially when you’re already just scraping by.
But here’s the mindset shift: the right vacation rental manager manager isn’t just an expense that eats into your revenue. The right manager should help you grow your revenue, not just slice up the same underperforming pie.
A Good Manager Should Pay for Themselves—And Then Some
If your property is underperforming, bringing on a sophisticated property manager should be seen as an investment, not a cost. A good manager should deliver a clear return by dialing in your marketing, optimizing your pricing, elevating the guest experience, and running operations more efficiently.
Yes, you’ll pay a commission—but you should also be taking home more, not less.
That said, there may not always be enough incremental upside to justify the investment into a vacation rental manager, so its important to conduct your diligence.
How We Do It at Vinifera
At Vinifera, we start every relationship with a comprehensive, complementary property performance analysis. Before we ever agree to manage a home, we:
- Study local market trends
- Analyze competing listings
- Comb through every guest review you’ve received
- Identify clear, specific opportunities to boost your revenue
We then model out exactly what your true earning potential could look like—after fees, expenses, and our commission are factored in.
If the math doesn’t add up, we’ll tell you. But we won’t leave you empty-handed. Even if we’re not the right fit, we’ll share up to six actionable recommendations you can tackle on your own to start improving performance immediately.
The Bottom Line
We only take on properties where we believe we can add meaningful value—and we think every vacation rental owner should ask this same question before hiring any manager:
Can you show me, clearly, how you’ll help me earn more—not just do less?
If a manager can’t answer that, they shouldn’t be in your corner.
Written by Anish Patel, Head of Owner Relations at Vinifera Homes (anish@viniferahomes.com)
