Chapter 1

Airbnb Co-Host Agreement: Free Template for Vacation Rental Owners

No matter how much you try to be there for your guests, there will be times when a request catches you at a bad time. Maybe you live far from your property, are on vacation yourself, or are caught up in other tasks when you get that notification that requires you to drop everything and go to your vacation rental.

Of course, you are always aiming to provide the best hospitality possible, but sometimes it can come as a bit of an inconvenience to you. Too bad you can’t have anyone help you with running your rental on Airbnb, or can you?

Actually, you can! Airbnb allows vacation rental owners to have a co-host to assist them in taking care of their home and guests, so the responsibility of always being available for guests does not have to fall entirely on one person. Adding a co-host can help make running your vacation rental less stressful. Sounds good, right? Let’s dig into what it means and how you can benefit from it!


What is an Airbnb co-host?

An Airbnb co-host is a family member, neighbor, trusted friend, or someone hired by the owner that helps them manage their rental and guests. They can act as the primary host of a stay or can jump in with help if called upon.

That being said, co-hosts should always be available for contact by the host via phone or email because their job is to help share hosting responsibilities. The owner should communicate with their co-host about when they should be on alert for a possible request.

By default, the listing owner is considered the primary host of the vacation rental, but if they wish, the owner can add up to 3 co-hosts per listing and designate one of them as the primary host for the entire stay. That means that the co-host can also act as the sole point of contact and host for specific reservations.

co-hosts cleaning

Co-host vs. hosting teams

There are a couple of ways to split hosting responsibilities on Airbnb, with the main ones being co-hosting and hosting teams. It’s important to know the difference between them, so you can ultimately decide if you want a co-host or a hosting team to help you with your rental.

A hosting team manages both the online listing and guests for an owner and is often made up of a business or group with that the owner has a contract. A co-host is more casual than a hosting team. A co-host usually has a personal relationship with the owner and will step in and cover for the primary host occasionally.

A hosting team will also be shown as the primary host of a listing because they own and manage the full Airbnb account on behalf of the owner. A co-host is listed as a co-host on a listing, and they will only be designated as the primary host when done so by the account owner.

Hosting teams also tend to have more permissions to perform in-depth functions such as accessing transactions and payment history because they have a larger role in running the vacation rental than a co-host. A co-host only has a limited set of permissions from the owner and oftentimes does not have access to transactions.

As a vacation rental host on Airbnb, you can choose an option for sharing hosting responsibility that works for you. It all depends on how much control you want to give up to your partner.

Airbnb co-host responsibilities

A co-host can be very hands-on with running your vacation rental, or they can simply act as an aide when needed. It’s up to the primary host and owner what permissions and duties the co-host has.

Some ways that co-hosts can help include:

It’s important to note that co-hosts don’t have permission to access anything that has to do with the owner’s private affairs, such as the listing owner’s payout, taxpayer information or activity when traveling as a guest.

Of course, all of these responsibilities are completely optional, and the owner and co-host should decide what is expected of them when helping out. Some owners will want more help than others, so it depends on the needs of the vacation rental owner.

How to add a co-host to your listing

If you’ve decided that you want a co-host for your Airbnb listing, then you can follow these three easy steps to add someone as your co-host.

  1. Go to listings on Airbnb and select which listing you wish to add a co-host.
  2. Click “Co-hosts,” and from there, select “Invite a friend.”
  3. Enter your co-host’s email address and press “Invite”

Et voilà! That’s all you need to do to officially add a co-host on Airbnb. You can have up to three co-hosts per listing, and they can be the same or different people on your different listings.

to do list

Why you need an Airbnb co-host agreement

Having a co-host for your Airbnb listings can really help alleviate some of the stress of being a host. Depending on what you decide, your co-host can take on some of your managerial and hospitality duties.

Co-hosting is a job within your vacation rental business, and every job should have a written and signed contractual agreement to go along with it. Your Airbnb co-host agreement should explicitly state and outline the responsibilities of the job along with payment structures, expenses, liabilities and any other additional details of your vacation rental.

The Airbnb co-host agreement brings security to both the owner and the co-host because all of the details are in the print. There’s no worry about someone screwing the other one over because the contract will outline expectations and how to hold people responsible if those expectations are not met.

It also protects your vacation rental property from being neglected because it can get more care from more than one person. It can also help your business get the best ratings and bookings if guests feel catered to and as if the host is always available.

Co-hosts are valuable assets to a rental business, but you can only utilize them successfully with a contract. Protect yourself, your business and your co-host through the use of a co-host agreement.

What your Airbnb co-host contract should include

As mentioned earlier, you have to make sure to have all of the terms laid out in writing about what is expected from the co-host, how the work is divided, what each party is being paid, etc.

It’s important to have everything worked out in the contract in order to avoid misunderstandings and management problems during a stay. A co-host is supposed to make running your vacation rental business easier, not cause more bumps in the road, so make sure your contract is airtight and covers everything.

Signing a contract

Hosting responsibilities

First off, it should be explicitly stated who owns the property, the property address, who is the co-host and the point of contact. There are many responsibilities that come with hosting, such as the ones listed above, and it should be explicitly stated in your Airbnb co-host agreement who takes care of which responsibilities.

As a host, you should know what you want to take care of and what you want to pass off to someone else. You should also decide if the co-host is going to be actively working during each stay or if they are just going to be occasionally taking over as the primary host if you are away or busy yourself.

There are some things that cannot be managed fully by the co-host, such as payment and transaction history and taxes, so be sure to mention that as well in order to not confuse roles. It should be clear who is the host and who is the co-host to ensure fair treatment and a fair agreement.

Earnings

If someone is helping you with your business and taking some of the responsibilities off your back, then they should receive compensation for their work. Of course, the amount of compensation is adjusted to fit the decided-upon workload of host and co-host responsibilities.

If you decide that the co-host is there to help with some of the welcoming and cleaning work and the host does the rest, then maybe you can split the profits 30/70%. If you want the co-host to completely take over as primary host during a stay, then they might get to keep the entire revenue from that stay.

It should also be written when payment will happen. Maybe the co-host gets paid after each stay, or maybe they get paid at the end of every month. Maybe you agree to pay the co-host whenever you get the transfer from Airbnb.

The earnings amount and payment time should be in writing on the agreement to make it clear what and when each party should expect to receive payment.

Expenses

When you get a utility bill, need home maintenance or have to pay rent, who is going to cover the costs?

Ideally, payments for the vacation rental should be covered by rental revenue from hosting, but when the profits are split between more than one person, who does the responsibility fall on? Are the owners withholding money from the co-host each month to help pay for it, or should the responsibility fall on the property owner because the rental does belong to them?

Expense payment needs to be discussed prior to welcoming guests with a co-host because no one wants to unfairly have to pay. The expenses should be proportional to the workload and how the profits are divided between the owner and the co-host.

House Maintenance

Liability and safety

You can do all you can to prevent accidents from happening in your vacation rental, but there will be a point when an accident does happen. It’s important to know beforehand who holds responsibility for the accident when it occurs and how payment is handled if something needs to be fixed.

Also, if you have vacation rental insurance, you should work out the coverage for each person and if the payment falls on one of the hosts or the guests. Payment to the insurance company each month also needs to be worked out in the expenses portion of the agreement.

To try to prevent accidents from happening, you should know what safety regulations are in place and who is responsible for checking and updating compliance measures in the rental unit. Your Airbnb co-host agreement needs to be airtight for all occurrences.

Download our free Airbnb co-host agreement

An Airbnb co-host agreement assures you that everything will be in order during a stay. You and your co-host will know exactly what they have to do to run the vacation rental business smoothly.

You can’t work with a co-host without a contract, so download our free Airbnb co-host agreement, which lays out everything for you, today. Divide and conquer managing your vacation rental business.



Disclaimer: Lodgify is an Airbnb Preferred Software Partner. This guide, including any claims or statements within, is solely from Lodgify and is not endorsed by, directly affiliated with, authorized, or sponsored by Airbnb in any way.