Property Management Glossary
The definitive guide to short-term rental terminology. Master the language of hospitality.
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96 definitions found5-Star Rating on Airbnb
A 5-star rating on Airbnb is the only score that actively helps…
Advance Booking for Rental Property
An advance booking for rental property is a reservation confirmed and paid…
Airbnb Co Host Guide
An Airbnb co-host is a secondary account holder you add to your listing who can manage day-to-day operations, guest messaging, check-in coordination, review responses, and calendar updates, with…
Automated Guest Messaging for Short Term Rentals
Automated guest messaging for short-term rentals is a system that sends pre-written…
Average Daily Rate in Short Term Rentals
Average daily rate (ADR) is the average revenue your short-term rental earns per booked night, calculated by dividing total rental income by the number of nights actually occupied.
Blackout Date
A blackout date is a specific date or range on your listing…
Booking Buffer
A booking buffer is a blocked period between consecutive reservations that prevents…
Booking Conversion Rate
Booking conversion rate measures the percentage of guests who view your listing and complete a reservation, calculated by dividing confirmed bookings by total listing views over a given period. Most…
Booking Lead Time
Booking lead time is the number of days between the date a…
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Booking Window
Booking window is the time between a guest making a reservation and…
Break-Even Occupancy Rate
Break-even occupancy rate is the minimum percentage of nights a short-term rental…
Cash Flow in Property Management
Cash flow in property management is the money left over from your…
Check-In Window in Rentals
A check-in window is the specific block of time during which guests…
Check-Out Procedure
Your $150-per-night asset is completely vulnerable the second a guest leaves.
Co Host Property Management
Co-host property management is an arrangement where a property owner brings in…
Comp Set in Vacation Rentals
A comp set (short for competitive set) is the group of listings…
Contactless Check In for Hotels
Contactless check-in is a guest arrival process where your Airbnb or Vrbo guests access the property independently, without any in-person meeting, using a keypad code, smart lock, or lockbox instead…
Corrective Property Maintenance
Corrective property maintenance is the process of repairing a fault or failure…
Direct Booking
A direct booking is a reservation made directly with you, the host…
Direct Booking Website
A direct booking website is a property page you own outright, where…
Early Bird Discount for Vacation Rentals
An early bird discount for vacation rentals is a reduced nightly rate offered to guests who book a set number of days or weeks before their arrival date, giving hosts guaranteed revenue and a filled calendar in exchange for a lower price per night.
Economic Occupancy
Economic occupancy measures the percentage of potential rental income your listing actually…
Gross Booking Revenue
Gross booking revenue is the total amount guests pay at booking, including the nightly rate, cleaning fee, and platform charges, before deductions for host payouts, OTA commissions, or refunds.…
Guest Journey
A guest journey is the complete sequence of interactions between a traveler…
Guest Messaging
Most guides frame it as a convenience feature.
Guest Satisfaction Score
A guest satisfaction score is a numeric rating that measures how well…
Guest Screening Process
A guest screening process is the set of steps a host takes…
Guest Service Fee
A guest service fee is a percentage-based charge that booking platforms like…
Host Fee
A host fee is the percentage or flat charge a short-term rental platform deducts from your payout before transferring funds to you as the property owner.
House Manual
A house manual is a written guide left at your property that…
House Rule for Renters
A house rule for renters is a written policy that sets specific behavioral and operational expectations guests must follow during their stay at your property.
Hybrid Property Management
Hybrid property management is a model where you handle some operational tasks…
iCal Sync
An iCal sync is a real-time calendar connection that lets two or…
Instant Book Listing
With an instant book listing, a guest can choose dates, pay, and…
Keyless Entry for Rental Property
Keyless entry for rental property is an access control method that lets…
Last-Minute Discount
An empty night costs you the full nightly rate.
Length-of-Stay Discount
A length-of-stay discount is a percentage reduction in your nightly rate that…
Linen Turnover
Linen turnover is the process of removing, laundering, and replacing all bed…
Listing SEO for Airbnb
Listing SEO for Airbnb is the practice of structuring your listing's title, description, amenities, and booking behavior so Airbnb's search algorithm ranks it higher in guest search results, directly affecting how many views, inquiries, and bookings your property receives at any given price point.
Local STR Compliance
Local STR compliance is the ongoing process of meeting every permit, tax…
Lodging Tax
A lodging tax is a government-imposed charge on short-term accommodation rentals calculated…
Long Term Rental
A long-term property is leased to a single tenant for 30 days or more typically under a formal agreement with a fixed monthly rate rather than a per-night price.
Low Season in Short Term Rentals
Most hosts treat low season as a revenue problem to endure.
Maintenance Request
A maintenance request is a formal record that a guest, co-host, or…
Master Lease in Rentals
Master leases in real estate appear across property types, from single-family homes…
Mid Term Rental
A mid-term property is rented for 30 to 180 days, sitting between a nightly Airbnb booking and a traditional 12-month lease.
Multichannel Distribution for Vacation Rentals
Multichannel distribution for vacation rentals is listing your property on two or more booking platforms simultaneously, such as Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com, so guests can find and book your rental…
Net Operating Income (NOI) for Short-Term Rentals
Net operating income for short-term rentals is gross rental income — including…
Net Rental Income
Net rental income is what remains from your property's bookings after subtracting every operating cost, platform fees, cleaning, maintenance, insurance, and management fees, from total collected…
NOI for a Rental Property
Net operating income (NOI) is the annual revenue your rental property generates…
Notice Period for Vacation Rentals
A notice period for vacation rentals is the minimum number of days'…
Occupancy Rate
Occupancy rate measures the percentage of available nights at a short-term rental…
OTA Short Term Rentals
An OTA (online travel agency) is a third-party booking platform that lists…
Owner Statement
An owner statement is a monthly financial report a property manager sends…
Peak Season in Vacation Rentals
Your Panhandle beach listing isn't just busy in the summer; its peak…
Pet Policy in Short-Term Rentals
A pet policy in short-term rentals is a written set of rules…
Pre-Approval on Airbnb
A pre-approval on Airbnb is a host-initiated action that signals to a…
Preventive Property Maintenance
Preventive property maintenance is a scheduled, proactive approach to inspecting and servicing your Airbnb or short-term rental property before problems occur, rather than waiting for something to…
Property Management Agreement
If you've ever wondered what is a property management agreement you're not…
Property Management Owner Portal
A property management owner portal is a secure, web-based dashboard that gives…
Property Management System
A PMS is a software platform designed to help property owners, managers, and operators simplify the day-to-day operations of managing real estate, hotels, or rental properties.
Quiet Hours Policy for Apartment Bookings
A quiet hours policy is a written rule in your listing that…
Remote Property Management
Remote property management is the practice of overseeing a short-term rental property's bookings, guest communication, maintenance coordination, and financial tracking from a location other than the…
Rental Arbitrage
Rental arbitrage sometimes called vacation rental arbitrage when applied specifically to tourist…
Rental Cleaning Fee
A rental cleaning fee is a simple, one-time charge.
Rental Security Deposit
A rental security deposit is a refundable sum collected from a guest…
Rental Turnover
Rental turnover is the process of preparing your short-term rental property for…
Rental Yield
Rental yield measures how much annual income your short-term rental generates relative…
Request to Book
A request to book is a guest-initiated inquiry that requires your explicit…
Response Rate for Short-Term Rentals
Response rate is the percentage of guest inquiries and booking requests a host replies to within 24 hours, calculated over a rolling 30-day window on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.
Review Management in Rentals
Review management in rentals is the ongoing process of collecting, monitoring, and responding to guest reviews across booking platforms so your listing's reputation accurately reflects the experience you deliver.
RevPAR
RevPAR, or Revenue Per Available Room, is a key hospitality performance metric…
RevPAR vs ADR
RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) measures overall revenue efficiency by combining both…
Same-Day Booking
A same-day booking is a reservation made by a guest on the…
Same-Day Turnover
A same-day turnover is a property reset completed between a departing guest's…
Seasonality in Short-Term Rentals
Seasonality in short-term rentals is the predictable fluctuation in demand, nightly rates…
Self Check In
Self check-in is a guest arrival method where visitors access your property independently, without you or a co-host present, using a smart lock, key lockbox, or door code sent in advance. On Airbnb,…
Short Term Rental
A short-term rental is a furnished residential property rented to guests for stays typically under 30 nights, listed on platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, or Booking.com and priced per night rather than…
Short Term Rental Cancellation Policy
A short-term rental cancellation policy is the set of rules governing whether a guest receives a refund, and how much, when they cancel a confirmed booking at your Airbnb, Vrbo, or Booking. Most…
Short Term Rental Dynamic Pricing
Short term rental active pricing is an automated rate-adjustment method that changes…
Short Term Rental Listing Optimization
Short-term rental listing optimization is the process of improving every element of…
Short-Term Rental License
A short-term rental license is a government-issued permit that legally authorizes you…
Shoulder Season
A shoulder season is the period between a property's peak demand window…
Superhost on Airbnb
Miss any single threshold and the badge disappears at the next review…
Turnover Cost
Turnover cost is the total dollar amount spent between a guest checking…
Unified Inbox for Vacation Rentals
A unified inbox for vacation rentals is a single messaging interface that pulls guest conversations from every booking channel, Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and direct-booking sites, into one place, so…
Vacation Rental
A vacation rental is a privately owned property, a house, condo, cabin…
Vacation Rental Calendar Sync
Vacation rental calendar sync is an automated process that pushes availability updates across every booking platform where your property is listed, This way, a reservation made on Airbnb at 9 p.m.…
Vacation Rental Cancellation Policy Guide
A vacation rental cancellation policy is the set of rules governing whether…
Vacation Rental Channel Manager
A short term rental channel manager pushes updates to every connected platform…
Vacation Rental Damage Waiver
A vacation rental damage waiver is a small, non-refundable fee, typically $10…
Vacation Rental Marketing Strategy
Vacation rental marketing strategy is the set of decisions that determines where your listing appears, who sees it, and why they book your property over a competing one at a similar price point.…
Vacation Rental Noise Monitoring
Vacation rental noise monitoring is the practice of using decibel-sensing devices inside…
Vacation Rental Revenue Management Guide
Vacation rental revenue management is the practice of adjusting your nightly rates…
Vacation Rental Welcome Guide
A vacation rental welcome guide is a document, digital page, or printed booklet that gives arriving guests every operational detail they need to use your property without contacting you. It covers…
Vendor Management in Rental Properties
Vendor management in rental properties is the process of sourcing, contracting, scheduling…