got my first co-hosting inquiry last week and I have no idea what to charge for the setup phase

the owner has a condo in Scottsdale that's never been on airbnb. she wants me to handle everything from day one, photos coordinated, listing written, pricing set, guest comms, turns managed. the ongoing piece I can get my head around, 18 or 20 percent of gross depending on what she nets per month and whether that holds up when occupancy dips in july and august. the part I can't figure out is the work before dollar one comes in. I spent about six hours last week just doing comps in her zip code and poking at her existing furniture situation over video call. haven't touched the listing yet. if she decides not to move forward I just ate that time. so I'm trying to figure out if a setup fee is standard, what a defensible number looks like for a one bedroom in a mid-tier market, and whether that fee comes back out of first month's earnings or sits separate. I've seen people mention $500 flat, I've seen $1,200. I don't know what's actually in those numbers or what happens when the owner pushes back and says the fee should disappear into the commission.

2 replies

harriet_boonePS4APRO7

the framing of "does it disappear into commission" is the exact negotiation you want to avoid having, because once you're in that conversation you've already lost ground. i'd set the setup fee as a separate, non-refundable line item, not a credit, not a deduction from month one. the moment it becomes recoverable it becomes a hostage.

for a one-bed in scottsdale i'd be at $750-$900 for setup, not $500, because scottsdale comps take real time and the july-august trough you mentioned is exactly the kind of thing you need to model carefully before you ever write a line of copy. if she pushes back hard, i'd let her push all the way down to $600 and hold there. below that you're signaling that your pre-launch time has no floor and that sets the tone for every conversation you'll ever have with her about scope creep.

the six hours you already spent without a signed agreement is the real problem here and i'd fix that before the fee question. i've seen LP deals where the operating partner had loose pre-close arrangements with vendors and it created ambiguity about what was owed at launch, same dynamic. get a one-page letter of intent or a simple consulting agreement signed before you do another hour of comp work, with the setup fee spelled out explicitly as due upon execution, not upon go-live.

teresa_iglesiasSG4APRO9

setup fee is not a favor you're doing her, it's a filter. i charge $750 for a cold start on a one-bed in a market like scottsdale, non-refundable, and it has nothing to do with the ongoing split. the owners who push back on that number before we've even signed are always the ones calling me at 11pm about a broken ice maker.

the six hours you already ate is a lesson, not a template. going forward, discovery call is free, comp pull and site visit is not.