By Athina · October 2026
Many managers put your home on their own account. It looks convenient, until you want to leave. What to check before you sign.
In Dubai, you can hand your holiday home to a manager in two ways. Either the manager puts your home online on their own account, often under their own operator licence. Or your listing stays in your own account and the manager works on it as a co-host. On paper the result looks the same: guests book, the home is cleaned, you get paid. The difference shows the day you want to change something.
Two ways to set it up
On the DET portal, applicants choose whether they apply as an individual homeowner or as a licensed operator managing homes for others. On Airbnb, a listing has one listing owner, and co-hosts can be added to help run it. Which route you take decides who holds the listing, the reviews and the guest history.
The downsides when the listing is in the manager's name
- Your reviews are not yours. The ratings your home earns build up on the manager's listing. If you leave, you may have to start again with a new listing and no reviews.
- Switching becomes harder. Notice periods, a listing you cannot take with you and a gap between two managers all cost you bookings.
- Less visibility on the money. Guests pay the manager's account first, so you only see what is reported to you, not the payout itself.
- Photos and texts may stay behind. If the manager made them for their listing, check whether you can reuse them.
- Your home builds their brand. That is not wrong in itself, but it is worth knowing who benefits from the reputation of your home.
What changes when you stay the listing owner
According to Airbnb, the listing owner is the only one who can set up or edit co-host payouts, and can change a co-host's permissions or remove a co-host at any time. A full-access co-host can still run the calendar, pricing, reservations and guest messages. In other words: the manager does the work, and you keep the keys to your own listing.
Five questions to ask before you sign
- In whose account will my home be listed, on every platform?
- If I stop, what happens to the listing, the reviews and the photos?
- Will I see the platform payouts themselves, or only your statement?
- Under whose name is the holiday home permit, and what happens to it if I leave?
- What is the notice period, and are there exit fees?
How Athina works in Dubai
We support owners online, on their own listing. Your listing, your reviews, your guest history and your DET permit stay in your name, also if you ever decide to stop. This is general information, not legal advice: for your own situation, check the current DET rules and your building's rules.
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