Published
What short-stay management costs in Sydney, and what the fee should cover
Two managers quoting the same percentage can cost an owner very different amounts. The difference is never in the headline — it is in what sits outside it.
The headline percentage is not the cost
Management fees in Sydney are usually quoted as a percentage of revenue. That percentage is the part everybody compares and the part that matters least. What matters is what the percentage includes, what is billed separately, and what base it is calculated on.
Ask three questions of any quote. Is GST on top or inside? Is the fee charged on gross booking revenue or on revenue after channel commission? And what is billed to you outside the fee — cleaning, linen, restocking, callout fees, marketing, photography, a monthly platform charge?
What should be inside the fee
Listing creation and channel distribution. Pricing and calendar management. Guest communication, screening and after-hours response. Coordinating cleaning and maintenance. Owner reporting. Handling reviews, disputes and platform claims. None of these are extras; they are the job.
What is legitimately outside it: the cleaning itself, linen, consumables, and the trades who fix things. Those are costs of running the property, not of managing it, and an honest manager shows them as deductions on the statement rather than folding them into a percentage you cannot audit.
Setup is a separate number, and it should be quoted in writing
Getting a property ready costs money before a single booking exists: furnishing where needed, photography, safety items, registration, listing build. A manager who will not put that number in writing before you commit is asking you to sign a blank cheque.
MetaWise quotes onboarding from AUD 1,000 plus GST, in writing, against the specific property. A property that needs furnishing, photography and registration from scratch costs more than one already running — and we would rather say that than discover it later.
How to compare two quotes properly
Take a realistic annual gross figure for your property. Apply each manager's fee on their stated base, including GST. Add every charge that sits outside the fee for a year. Compare the two totals, not the two percentages.
Then ask for a real owner statement with the owner's details removed. If the deductions on it do not sum exactly to the payout, or the booking detail behind a figure cannot be produced, the percentage was never the thing to worry about.
Our own rates are published rather than quoted on request: 20% + GST for full management and 15% + GST for the lighter tier, with a third arrangement for buildings and portfolios. They are on the pricing page with what each covers.