Dubai has dozens of Airbnb and holiday home management companies, and most of their websites say the same things. The difference between a real operating partner and a glorified listing agent only shows up in the details. Here are the nine questions that surface it before you sign.
1. How exactly do you charge, and what is included?
Get the model in writing: commission, flat fee, or hybrid, and a line-by-line scope. The headline percentage means little if photography, linen, and guest support are billed on top. We break the models down in how much Airbnb management costs in Dubai.
2. Do you take a commission, or a flat fee?
A commission manager earns more when your rate is higher but carries none of the vacancy risk. A flat-fee manager keeps the upside from better pricing with you. Ask which way the incentive points before you assume it points at your returns.
3. How do you set and change my nightly rate?
The single biggest lever on your revenue is pricing. Ask whether rates move daily, what data drives them (events, lead time, the competitive set), and whether a human reviews them. "We price competitively" is not an answer. A real operator can show you a rate calendar.
4. Who answers the guest at 2am, and how fast?
Guest response speed drives your review scores, and reviews drive your ranking and rate. Ask for the median response time and where the team sits. A Dubai-based team on local hours will always beat a remote inbox with a timezone gap when a guest is locked out at midnight.
5. Are you handling my DET permit and Tourism Dirham?
Every Dubai holiday home needs a permit from the Department of Economy and Tourism, and the Tourism Dirham has to be filed monthly. Confirm whether the manager handles this or leaves it to you. If they go vague here, that is a red flag. See our DET permit guide.
6. How do you handle cleaning and maintenance, and what is the markup?
Ask directly: is the guest cleaning fee the same as what the cleaner is paid, and do you mark up vendor invoices? Markups on cleaning and maintenance are where "low" commissions quietly get topped up.
7. What reporting will I actually see?
You should get one statement, in real time, showing every booking, payout, and cost per unit. If reporting is a monthly PDF that arrives late, you have no real visibility into your own asset.
8. Can I see real numbers from comparable units?
Be wary of headline claims with no basis. A credible manager will model your specific unit honestly, including the downside, rather than promising a number that assumes 95% occupancy at peak rates all year.
9. Who is accountable when something goes wrong?
One number to call and one team that owns the outcome beats a chain of subcontractors pointing at each other. Ask who owns pricing, guests, cleaning, and maintenance. If it is four different vendors, you are the integration layer.
The short version
Pick the manager whose incentives match yours, who prices daily, answers guests fast, handles compliance, and shows you the numbers in real time.
That is the standard CORE was built to meet: a flat per-unit fee with no commission, daily pricing, a Dubai-based guest team, DET compliance handled, and one dashboard for everything. If that is what you are looking for, see how CORE manages Airbnb units in Dubai.