By Arami VHR Team · Updated November 2026 · 4 min read
Before choosing a holiday-home manager, request a written explanation of the proposed charges and services. Put the proposals beside each other and ask the same questions of each operator. This guide is a comparison checklist, not a Dubai fee survey or an Arami price list: no universal management rate is assumed.
Write down what you want the manager to take responsibility for: pricing, listing presentation, guest communication, cleaning coordination, maintenance and owner reporting. Then ask the operator to mark what is included, what is optional and what remains your responsibility. Resolve gaps before you compare the price.
If a proposal uses a percentage, ask which amount it applies to. Is the calculation based on the booking total or another defined amount? Ask how discounts, cancellations, refunds and separately collected charges would appear. These are questions for the specific offer; do not assume every operator uses the same calculation.
Request an explanation that follows a booking from the guest payment to the owner statement. Have the operator identify each deduction and who receives it. If an example is supplied, check that its assumptions match the proposed agreement rather than treating it as a forecast of your own income.
Ask how cleaning, utilities, maintenance and supplies are handled in the proposal. For each item, record who pays, whether it is already included in the estimate and how you will see it on a statement. Do not infer the answer from a headline fee or an informal assurance that everything is taken care of.
Discuss how repair spending is approved, what happens when a guest reports an urgent issue and how you receive the supporting information. Ask about the process rather than inventing a spending threshold. If the agreement leaves responsibility unclear, request clarification in writing and take disputed terms to a lawyer.
A gross booking estimate and an owner payout estimate answer different questions. Ask each manager to state the period covered, the assumed booking mix, empty nights and the costs included. Compare proposals over the same period with the same apartment details and intended owner-use dates.
Ask when statements and payouts are provided and how you can question an entry. Request a sample reporting format before signing. Treat any earnings estimate, including an AI valuation, as a planning tool with assumptions to review—not a promise of future bookings or a guaranteed owner payout.
Keep one written comparison covering the fee basis, included services, separately charged costs, repair approval, reporting, payout timing and exit arrangements. Ask who your day-to-day contact will be and how an unanswered issue is escalated. Keep the answers with the proposed contract.
Review the notice and handover terms as carefully as the ongoing charges. If legal, licensing or contract questions arise, confirm them with DET, DLD or a lawyer as appropriate. Choose based on the responsibilities and terms you understand, not only the lowest headline number.
This guide does not quote an unverified market-wide rate. Request a written proposal for your apartment and compare the fee basis, included services and separately charged costs.
Ask the operator to confirm each item in the specific proposal. Do not assume cleaning, utilities or maintenance are included unless the agreement clearly says so.
Compare responsibilities, reporting, cost assumptions and contract terms on the same basis before deciding. A headline fee alone does not explain the proposed owner payout.