Signed a 24 month co-hosting agreement, owner sold three of the five units in month four

This is a land guy's mistake made in a service business, so I'll own the shape of it.

Five units, one owner, all within a fifteen minute loop. Fee was 15 percent of collected nightly revenue portfolio wide, 24 month term, and here is the clause I read and shrugged at: owner may terminate or withdraw any unit on 30 days written notice. I told myself the 24 months protected me. It protected nothing, because the term bound me and the withdrawal right let the book shrink to zero one unit at a time.

Against that I hired. Part time turnover coordinator at $19 an hour, 25 hours a week, about $2,050 a month, plus $340 a month of channel and pricing software for five listings. Gross was running $17,300 a month, my fee $2,595. So I was clearing maybe $200 a month plus my own labor, and I was fine with that because I was buying a base to add owners onto.

Month four the owner listed three units for sale. Buyers wanted them vacant, so calendars went dark from May. My fee dropped to about $1,450 a month on the two that were left. The coordinator's hours were a commitment, the software tier was annual, and I could not replace three units in six weeks. I cut her to twelve hours, the turn quality slipped, review average on the two remaining units went from 4.9 to 4.6, and the one other owner I had picked up in the meantime left in August citing the reviews.

Nine months in I was down roughly $6,900 against plan, and I'd trained and lost a coordinator who was actually good.

What I'd do differently. A minimum monthly fee per unit, so the fee floor doesn't move with a sale. A withdrawal fee when a unit leaves the book inside the term. 90 days notice, not 30, because 30 days doesn't cover a hiring cycle. And I don't hire fixed labor against revenue that can walk on a month's notice. Cleaners and coordinators go on per turn pricing until the book has more than one owner in it.