What a call with us covers, the questions owners usually ask, and how to get the most from fifteen minutes. There's a section below for each kind of call.
What we cover on a call about your Edinburgh short let
Most calls take about 15 minutes. That's enough to cover the things that matter, as long as we use the time well. This is roughly how it goes.
- Your home. Where it is, how many bedrooms, how many it sleeps, and anything a guest would notice first: the stair, the view, parking, a garden.
- Your plans for it. All year, summer only, the Fringe, or while you're away. Whether you'd like to use it yourself at times.
- Your licence position. Whether you have one, which type, and if not, whether planning is likely to be needed. In Edinburgh this is often the most important part of the call.
- What it could earn. A realistic picture for homes like yours, including the quiet months, not just August.
- What it would cost. Our fee, onboarding, the licence, any certificates the home might need, and the running costs that stay with you.
- Your questions. Anything at all, including the awkward ones.
- What happens next. Usually a written plan, and a visit if you'd like one. Nothing is decided on the phone.
If you'd rather read than talk, a free plan for your home covers the same ground in writing, by 11am the next working day. If you only want a quick range first, the Airbnb income calculator takes a minute.
Calls are with Luis or someone else from our small team, not a call centre. You can read about the three co-founders and the wider team on our about page.
Questions Edinburgh owners ask on the first call
The same questions come up on most calls. Here are the short answers, so you can spend the call on what's particular to your home.
What does it cost?
Full management is from 15% + VAT of net booking revenue for one to four homes, which is 18% including VAT, with lower rates for larger portfolios. New owners who sign a one-year agreement by 31 December 2026 pay 10% + VAT for their first four months, on every tier. Onboarding is a one-off fee from £400 + VAT. Every number is on the pricing page.
Can I still use my home?
Yes. You block the dates you want in your owner login, and we let the home around them.
Who answers the guests?
Our guest team, from 9am to midnight every day, with a 24/7 emergency line. You won't get guest messages unless you want them.
How long until it's live?
It depends mostly on the licence. If your home is already licensed, your plan gives a go-live date once we've visited. If not, we'll tell you the route and how long it usually takes.
What about the neighbours?
Guests are ID-checked before they get a code, quiet hours start at 10pm, a Minut sensor measures noise levels without recording, and neighbours can WhatsApp us until midnight if something is urgent. Our neighbours page sets it all out.
Can you guarantee an income?
No, and we'd be wary of anyone who did. We'll give you a realistic range from real data, month by month, and show you every cost.
What if it isn't right for my home?
We'll say so. Sometimes a long let or a few weeks under a temporary exemption is the better answer. Our guide Short let or long let? helps with that decision.
How to prepare for your call: a short checklist
You don't need to prepare anything. But if you have a few minutes beforehand, these will make the call more useful and the plan afterwards more accurate.
About the home
- The postcode and the floor it's on, and whether there's a lift
- Bedrooms, bathrooms and how many it could sleep, including any sofa beds
- Parking, outdoor space, and anything that makes it stand out
- Whether it's furnished, and roughly what state the furniture is in
About the paperwork
- Your licence number, if you have one, and when it expires
- Which safety certificates you have: gas safety, EICR, PAT, fire risk assessment, legionella assessment, EPC
- Whether your mortgage lender and insurer know about short letting
- Anything in the title deeds about letting, if you've seen them
If you're not sure about any of these, that's normal. Our licence requirements checklist lets you tick off what you have, and you can mention the rest on the call.
About your plans
- The dates you'd like to let it, and any you want to keep for yourself
- How involved you'd like to be: statements only, or a say in more
- Any contractors or a cleaner you'd like to keep
If it's already let
A link to your listing helps us see what guests see. If you have a manager, the last 12 months of statements let us give you a proper second opinion. If you'd like an opinion on the listing before the call, send it for a free listing review.
Calls about switching short-let manager in Edinburgh
Some calls come from owners who already have a manager and aren't happy. The usual reasons are statements that are hard to follow, one price all year, calls that go unanswered and costs that arrive without warning. If that's you, the call works a little differently.
What helps us give you a straight answer
- Your last 12 months of owner statements
- Your current contract, so we can check the notice period, any exit fee and who owns the listing
- A link to the listing
- A note of the things that bother you most
With those, we can tell you on the call or soon after what the home earned, what similar homes earned, and where the money went. It's a second opinion, with no obligation to move.
What we'll explain about a handover
- Future bookings. Bookings already made are honoured. Depending on whose account the listing sits on, they either move to us or your old manager hosts them until the handover date.
- Your reviews. If the listing is on your own account, they stay with you.
- Your licence. It stays yours, but the council must be told about a change of manager before it happens. We build that into the handover plan.
- Keys, certificates and contractors. What to ask for in writing, before you give notice.
Our page on switching manager sets out the four-step handover, and our free guide Is your short-let manager working for you? gives you questions to ask your current manager first. Sometimes those questions fix things without a move, and that's fine too.
Calls about short-term let licensing and planning
If you don't have a licence yet, most of the call will be about the route to one. In Edinburgh it's the part owners find hardest, and the part where an early answer saves the most money.
What we'll work out together
- Which licence fits. Home sharing, home letting, secondary letting, or a temporary exemption or licence for a few weeks.
- Whether planning applies. The whole of Edinburgh has been a short-term let control area since 5 September 2022. A whole home that isn't your main home usually needs planning permission, or a Certificate of Lawfulness if it was already a lawful short let.
- What the home needs. Certificates, alarms, a fire risk assessment, a floor plan and insurance.
- What it will cost. The council's fee, any certificates and our support fee, all listed separately.
- How long it usually takes. So you can plan your first dates realistically.
The council doesn't refund its fee if a licence is refused, so we'll always check planning before anything is paid.
Where to read more before the call
- Edinburgh's licensing and planning rules, in plain words
- The home letting licence, for your main home while you're away
- Secondary letting and planning, for a home you don't live in
- Temporary exemptions, for the Fringe or Hogmanay
- Licence renewal, if yours is coming up
- Licence costs in full
If your home is in Musselburgh or North Berwick, mention it early. East Lothian has its own licensing process, and Edinburgh's Visitor Levy doesn't apply there.
Calls for owners with several homes or a portfolio
If you have several homes, or plan to, choose "Several homes" on the form so we know before we call. The questions are different from a single-home call.
What we'll cover
- Your tier. 15% + VAT for one to four homes, 13.5% + VAT for five to nine, 12% + VAT for ten to nineteen, and a tailored rate for twenty or more. The new owner rate of 10% + VAT for the first four months applies on every tier, for owners who sign a one-year agreement by 31 December 2026. See the pricing page for the full detail.
- Onboarding. The one-off fee is from £400 + VAT per home by size, with discounts when several homes come on together.
- Licensing across the portfolio. Each home needs its own licence, and renewals fall on different dates. We track them all.
- Mixed uses. Some owners combine short lets with student lets or HMOs, letting the summer months and returning to students for term. Our guides on summer lets for student landlords and short lets for HMO landlords cover the rules.
- Reporting. A clear monthly statement, and an owner login showing every booking and payout.
Buying with short lets in mind
If you're thinking of buying, a call before you commit can save a lot. Planning, title deeds, the stair, the council tax position and the realistic earnings all matter. Our guide on buying a short-let property in Edinburgh sets out the checks, and the council tax premium article explains the change for second homes from January 2027.
Calls for owners letting their home while away
Some calls come from owners who live in their home and are heading away: a secondment abroad, a long trip, or a few months working elsewhere. Letting your own home is a different kind of short let, and the call covers different ground.
What we'll talk through
- Your dates. When you leave, when you're back, and any visits home in between. We let the home around them.
- The licence. Letting your main home while you're away usually means a home letting licence, which normally doesn't need planning.
- Your things. We help you set up a locked owner's cupboard or room for personal belongings, and guests use the rest. After every stay the home is checked against the photos.
- Keys and access. A lockbox or smart lock, with codes only sent to guests whose ID we've checked.
- Repairs. We book them and check them, and agree anything larger with you first, wherever you are.
- Coming home. Block your return dates in your owner login, and we stop letting around them.
Our page on letting while abroad and our free guide Letting your home while you're away cover the detail. If time zones make a phone call awkward, WhatsApp works just as well.
After your call: the plan, a visit and deciding in your own time
The call is the start of a conversation, not the end of one. Here's what usually happens afterwards, and at what pace.
- Your plan. A written plan made for your home: earnings month by month on the dates you'd let it, the licence route and every cost. One PDF by email, with a short WhatsApp note.
- Time to read it. Take as long as you need. Show it to your partner, your accountant or your solicitor. Ask us anything that isn't clear.
- A visit, if it fits. Joanne or someone from our team comes to see the home and checks the plan against the real thing.
- The licence, if needed. For a home letting licence or a temporary exemption, we prepare and submit the application with you. We don't prepare secondary letting or planning applications.
- Your agreement and onboarding. Photos, listings, pricing, a compliance check, a Minut noise sensor and the first clean.
- Your first statement at the end of the first month.
We don't follow up with pressure or countdowns. If you decide it isn't for you, or not yet, that's a perfectly good outcome of a call.
If you'd rather not wait for a call
- Send us a WhatsApp or text on +44 7898 116933, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm
- Read What every Edinburgh host should know, our longest free guide
- Read what owners say on our reviews page
- See other ways to reach us on the contact page
Whichever you choose, it's the same small team at the other end.
Book a 15-minute call with one of the co-founders, or get a free plan for your home: what it could earn, the licence route and every cost.