Six contract terms that matter more than the fee.

Updated November 2026

1. Term length and notice

A 12-month initial term is normal. What matters is how it ends. Some agreements auto-renew for another full year unless you give notice in a narrow window around the anniversary; miss the window and you are in for twelve more months. Look for the notice period (30, 60 or 90 days), whether notice can be given at any time or only at the anniversary, and whether the manager can end it on the same terms you can.

Ours: 12 months, and either side can end it with 60 days' written notice.

2. Exit fees

We have seen early-termination fees of about $1,000 and agreements that only end on the anniversary. An exit fee is not automatically unreasonable; a manager spends real money onboarding a home. But it should be stated as a number, it should fall away after the first term, and it should never be a surprise. If there is one, ask what it buys you: do you get your photos, your listing and your guest history back?

Ours: none. 60 days' notice, and we hand over the calendar.

3. Who owns the listing, the photos and the reviews

This is the clause owners regret most. On Airbnb and Vrbo a listing lives on an account. If the listing was created on the manager's account, the reviews belong to that listing, and when you leave, some managers keep it. Your home starts over at zero reviews with a new manager. Some agreements also treat the photos as the manager's property.

Ask three questions. Whose account is the listing on? Who owns the photos? When the agreement ends, will the listing and its reviews be transferred to you or to your next manager? Get the answer in the agreement, not in an email.

Ours: your home keeps its history. Bookings already on the calendar are handed over cleanly when either side ends the agreement.

4. Rate-cut authority

Dynamic pricing means the nightly rate moves every day; that is normal and good. The clause to find is how far down it can move without you. We have seen agreements that let the manager cut rates up to 20% inside 14 days of a stay with no approval. That is a reasonable tool in the right hands and a way to fill a calendar cheaply in the wrong ones.

Ask who sets the floor, whether there is a floor at all, and who reviews the pricing and how often. "Software" is not an answer; someone has to look at what the software is doing.

Ours: pricing is reviewed every day by an owner of the company, against our own market data. Our homes run 30% or more ahead of their comps, which is the only reason to trust anyone with your rates.

5. Exclusive agency

An exclusive-agency clause means every booking pays the commission, including the guest you found yourself or the family friend who books every August. Some agreements go further and bar you from renting the home through any other channel at all.

Exclusivity is fair in one sense: the manager is pricing and running the whole calendar, and a side channel breaks the calendar. What you want is clarity on owner-sourced guests and on your own use. Which brings us to the next clause.

6. Owner use and repair approvals

Owner use should be in writing: how many weeks, which weeks, how much notice, and whether a peak-week block is allowed. Repair approvals should have a number: the manager can spend up to $X without asking, and must ask above it. Both are discussed in Can I use my own vacation rental?

Ours: family weeks set in writing before the calendar opens; you approve anything over $500; emergencies and anything that would mean refunding a guest are fixed first up to $1,000, and you hear about it right away.

What the state requires in the agreement

North Carolina's Vacation Rental Act (G.S. 42A) governs vacation rentals and the people who manage them. It requires a written rental agreement with guests, requires advance payments to go into a trust account within three banking days, limits disbursement to no more than 50% of the rent before the guest's occupancy, requires a written agency agreement between the manager and the owner, and requires advance rent to be transferred within 30 days when the manager changes. If a manager has no written agency agreement to show you, that is the answer.

Managing a vacation rental for a third party in North Carolina is real estate brokerage activity and requires a licensed broker (G.S. 93A). Host Carolina operates under NCREC firm license C43098 with a licensed Broker-in-Charge. Ask any manager for theirs.

Read the rest with these questions

• Is the fee on the nightly rate, the rate plus guest fees, or gross? (What management costs in NC.)
• Who collects and remits the occupancy and sales tax? (Who files occupancy tax.)
• What does the monthly statement show: every booking and fee, or a payout?
• When are owners paid?

Our terms are on the home page and apply everywhere we work, from Boone to Beech Mountain and the Charlotte area. If you want to know what the home should be booking before you sign anything, start with the revenue check.

See what your home should earn

Put in your address and you will see your market range in about a minute, no phone number needed. Or call or text (828) 478-8024 and an owner of the company answers.