Who will actually rent out your apartment
An apartment does not rent itself out. Who manages it moves your yield further than the view from the window does, and it is the part of the transaction most buyers examine last when it deserves to be examined first. Here are the three formats, what each one costs, and the clauses in the agreement that decide how the year goes.
Three formats, three different lives
A hotel programme run by the developer or an operator
The property functions as part of a room inventory: one booking engine, a service standard, marketing under a brand. You do nothing at all, and that is the main advantage. Income is usually distributed by an agreed split, or pooled across the participating units.
The trade-offs are real and worth knowing in advance. Your own use is limited, most often to a set number of nights a year and sometimes excluding high season. And you do not set the price; the operator does, according to its own revenue strategy.
This format suits an owner who wants a hands-off asset and is comfortable with the operator making commercial decisions. It suits a family planning to spend six weeks a year in their own apartment considerably less well.
A local management company
More flexible. You keep control of the calendar and can come whenever you want. The fee on short-term rental is normally 20-30% of revenue. Quality varies enormously between companies, which is why one is checked with the same care as a developer.
For most of my clients this is the right answer. It keeps the upside with the owner, it keeps the information transparent, and it leaves the apartment available to the person who bought it.
Letting it yourself
In theory the most profitable arrangement. In practice, a job. Replying to guests at any hour, cleaning, linen, breakages, check-ins and check-outs. From another country it is close to impossible, and living here it becomes full-time work rather than passive income.
I am not against it. I am against budgeting for it as though it costs nothing, because the hours you spend are a real cost even when no invoice is issued.
What to check in the management agreement
- The fee, and what it is calculated on: gross revenue or the amount remaining after costs
- Which costs are deducted on top: cleaning, linen, consumables, marketing
- How often income is remitted, on what dates, and what the reporting looks like
- How many nights a year you may use the apartment yourself and how far ahead you must book them
- The term of the agreement and the exit conditions: can you terminate, and with what notice
- Exclusivity: are you obliged to let only through them
- Who pays for wear on furniture and appliances, and who decides when they are replaced
None of these is unusual to ask about, and a professional company will have answers ready. The one that most often needs negotiating is the exit clause, because a three-year exclusive agreement with no break is a long time to be tied to a company you have not worked with yet.
The building's rules outrank the contract
Before you calculate anything from daily letting, confirm that daily letting is permitted in that building and does not conflict with the condominium rules. This is checked before purchase, not after, and it is one of the first items on my list for any property bought for rental.
A signed management agreement does not override a house rule. If the building restricts short stays, the model changes to long-term letting and the numbers change with it, which is a very different conversation to have before the deposit than after.
Short lets or long lets
Daily letting produces a higher rate and higher costs. Long-term letting produces less income but predictability and almost no operational effort. In the areas where expats and families live, long-term letting sometimes wins on the net figure alone, simply because there are no void periods and no short-let management fee.
Which one works depends on the location as much as the apartment, and the areas behave quite differently from each other. That is the subject of where to buy in Phuket, and the two decisions are best taken together rather than in sequence.
How management shows up in the yield
With a 20-30% fee charged on turnover, annual occupancy at 60-70% and a low season that is genuinely quiet, the management choice is not a detail at the edge of the calculation. It is one of the three largest inputs in it.
That is why I build the yield figure around the actual operator for the actual building rather than a market average. The method is in how to calculate net rental yield in Phuket, and the running costs that sit underneath it are in the cost of owning property in Thailand. Where a developer offers a guaranteed return instead of ordinary management, the comparison is a separate exercise: guaranteed rental yield in Thailand.
What good management looks like in practice
- A monthly statement you can read without calling anyone, showing nights, rates and every deduction
- Income remitted on fixed dates rather than when someone gets round to it
- Photographs and a condition report after each season, not only when something breaks
- A named person who answers, rather than a general inbox
- Willingness to show you last year's numbers for other owners' units in the same building
None of that is a premium service. It is simply what a company that keeps proper records already produces internally, and asking for it in the first meeting is the fastest way to tell the professional operators from the rest.
Changing manager later
You are not married to your first choice, and it is worth knowing that before you sign. A local management agreement can usually be ended with notice, the apartment handed over with an inventory, and a new company appointed within a season. Owners do this and it is unremarkable.
A hotel programme is different, because the apartment is part of an operator's inventory and the arrangement is normally tied to the building rather than to you. In that case the format is effectively fixed for the life of the programme, which is one more reason to decide between the two before the reservation agreement rather than after handover.
This is also why I read the exit clause as carefully as the fee. A fair fee on a contract you cannot leave is worse than a slightly higher fee on one you can.
Management is what turns an apartment into a working asset, and it deserves the same attention as the property itself. The good news is that Phuket has companies that operate honestly and show real numbers, because the island has been doing this for long enough that the professional operators are established and easy to identify. I work with several of them continuously and I introduce clients directly, with no fee sitting in between. The contacts I give personally, matched to your specific building and the way you intend to let it.
- Rentals on the island — if you would rather live here first and look around
- Investment property selection — net yield calculated on specific units
- Projects I work with — developments where I hold direct terms from the developer
Legal, visa and tax work is not mine — it belongs to partners I use constantly
I am an investment strategist: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and run the transaction. Anything that needs a legal, immigration or tax qualification goes to specialists I have worked with for years.
- Thai lawyers — document and contract review, land title, registration at the Land Office, wills, powers of attorney, corporate questions
- Visa partners — choosing and filing the right route for your situation: investment-based, LTR, Thailand Privilege, retirement, DTV
- Tax specialists — reporting in your country of tax residence, treaty credit for Thai tax, declarations on foreign assets
- Company formation in Thailand — when a structure is genuinely needed and lawful
- Rental management and concierge — letting the property, transfers, yachts, events
I introduce partners personally, matched to your actual question, so that you speak to the specialist who handles it rather than to a general inbox. Message me and I will make the introduction.
Frequently asked
What does a management company charge in Phuket?
What is a hotel rental programme?
Can I rent out my Phuket apartment myself?
Lyubov Fortunova
Investment strategist and founder of Fortunova Capital Group. I have lived on Phuket for more than five years and run every deal myself: I select the property, calculate the net return, check the developer and hold the process together until the keys are handed over. Lawyers, visa and tax specialists come from my own circle.
“I count net, not dreams”
Could you recommend a management format for the unit I am buying and introduce me to a company you have worked with?
I answer personally, within the working day, in any time zone. No calls unless you want them. A question about the article is free and commits you to nothing.
