There is a question that is increasingly appearing among vacation rental managers: “How much is my company worth?”
You don’t have to be thinking about selling tomorrow for this question to be important. In fact, a company that is preparing to be sellable is often a more organized, more profitable, and less founder-dependent company.
This topic is especially relevant in 2026. SCALE will hold The Exit Door in Barcelona on October 23, a specific meeting about the buying, selling, and valuation of short-term rental companies. And this is not a theoretical conversation: HomeToGo has announced that it is executing a consolidation strategy for European managers and has already acquired portfolios of contracts in Spain, Italy, and Switzerland; GuestReady, for its part, bought Lightbooking this year and significantly strengthened its presence in Spain.
The conclusion is simple: there are buyers looking at this market. But not all managers are worth the same, even if they manage the same number of properties.
The most common mistake: thinking that value depends on the number of properties
Having 50, 100, or 300 properties under management is impressive, but for a buyer, that figure is just the beginning.
Two companies with 100 properties can have completely different values if one generates stable margins, renewable contracts, diversified owners, and clear processes, while the other depends on two major clients, operates with minimal margins, and needs the founder to resolve everything.
That’s why, before talking about multiples, it’s important to look at what is really being bought.
1. Real and normalized profit
The first serious question is not how much the company invoices, but how much operating profit it generates repeatedly.
In a professional valuation, it is often necessary to normalize the accounts. This means separating personal expenses, extraordinary costs, one-off investments, out-of-market salaries, or non-recurring income.
Simple example:
- Annual revenue: €600,000
- Declared operating expenses: €510,000
- Operating result: €90,000
But if within those expenses there are €25,000 of extraordinary costs that will not recur, the normalized profit could approach €115,000. And if, on the contrary, the founder works full-time without a market salary, that cost would need to be deducted before valuing.
The valuation starts by cleaning the income statement.
2. The quality of contracts with owners
A buyer does not just buy reservations. They buy the right to continue managing properties in the future.
That’s why issues like the following are very important:
- duration of contracts;
- ease of termination by the owner;
- automatic renewals;
- exclusivity;
- historical cancellations;
- percentage of properties that have been in the portfolio for several years;
- dependence on personal relationships of the founder.
A portfolio of 80 properties with solid contracts can be more attractive than one of 150 where owners can leave tomorrow at no cost and only stay because they personally know the manager's owner.
3. Concentration: how much you depend on a few owners
This is one of the risks that can quickly deteriorate a valuation.
Imagine a company with 100 properties:
- Company A: the top five owners represent 18% of revenue.
- Company B: two owners represent 55%.
Even though both generate the same revenue, the second has a much higher risk. If it loses one of those two clients, the result changes suddenly.
A buyer usually wants to know what percentage of income depends on the top 5, 10, and 20 owners.
4. Margin per property, not just total income
Growing does not always create value.
If each new property contributes very little margin, requires a lot of staff, or generates constant issues, growth can even worsen the quality of the business.
That’s why it’s important to know, at least:
- management income per property;
- operating cost per property;
- contribution margin;
- cost of acquiring new owners;
- owner cancellation rate;
- team hours needed per property;
- issues and extraordinary costs.
A financial buyer wants to know what happens when the company goes from 50 to 100 properties: does the margin improve due to scale, or does the structure need to be doubled?
5. Dependence on the founder
This point is often uncomfortable, but it is fundamental.
If all decisions, important owners, suppliers, issues, and negotiations go through one person, the buyer is not acquiring an autonomous company. They are acquiring a business that depends on that person remaining involved.
The more documented the processes are, the clearer the team is, and the better the knowledge is distributed, the lower that risk.
6. Quality of financial data
A company can be profitable and still lose value because it cannot demonstrate it.
If revenues, commissions, advances, payments to owners, expenses, taxes, and bank accounts do not clearly match, the buyer will need to exercise more caution.
The financial due diligence usually seeks precisely that: to verify that the result presented truly exists and can be reconstructed reserve by reserve, property by property, and month by month.
At Gatavia, we emphasize this point because a good valuation needs traceability. It is not enough to show a final figure.
7. Technology, automation, and scalability
Software does not create value by itself, but an organized and automated operation can.
A buyer analyzes whether there are clear processes for:
- reservations and reconciliation;
- payments to owners;
- invoicing;
- reporting;
- issue management;
- pricing;
- cleaning and maintenance;
- acquisition and onboarding of new properties.
The important thing is not to have many tools, but for the business to be able to incorporate new properties without costs growing at the same rate.
8. Regulatory and geographical risk
Geographical concentration also matters.
A manager with its entire portfolio in a single city subject to uncertain regulation may have more risk than another with a diversified portfolio across several markets.
The buyer will want to understand what percentage of the properties depend on licenses, moratoriums, urban planning limitations, or significant regulatory changes.
What multiple applies to a vacation rental company?
There is no universal multiple.
In fact, using a generic number without analyzing the business can give a false sense of precision.
A public example helps to understand this. HomeToGo announced in May 2026 that it had acquired portfolios of contracts from three local agencies in Spain, Italy, and Switzerland, about 200 units in total, at an approximate multiple of 1x EBITDA. It is important to emphasize that these were portfolios of contracts integrated into Interhome, not necessarily complete companies comparable to any independent manager.
In January 2026, GuestReady announced the acquisition of Lightbooking for approximately €1.2 million, incorporating more than 200 units. A reliable multiple cannot be deduced without knowing EBITDA, debt, operational structure, and other conditions.
These cases serve one purpose: to demonstrate that the market exists and that buyers are looking at profitability, scale, contracts, and integration capacity.
A practical way to calculate your value range
Before talking to a buyer, it is advisable to build three scenarios:
Conservative scenario
Use the most prudent normalized profit and apply a low valuation assumption.
Central scenario
Use a sustainable profit, adjusted for the real cost of the team and the historical cancellation rate.
Optimistic scenario
This only makes sense if there are solid contracts, increasing margins, low concentration, scalable processes, and demonstrable growth.
For example, if after normalizing the accounts a manager obtains €120,000 of EBITDA, these calculations allow understanding the sensitivity:
- at 1x EBITDA: €120,000;
- at 2x EBITDA: €240,000;
- at 3x EBITDA: €360,000.
This does not mean that those multiples are what you deserve. It is simply a way to see how much the value changes when the perception of risk and quality of the business changes.
What documentation should you have prepared
If you want to know how much your company is really worth, you should be able to gather without too much effort:
- income statement for the last 24-36 months;
- details of income and margin per property;
- contracts with owners;
- new and removed properties;
- concentration of income by owner;
- team structure and salaries;
- software and supplier costs;
- debt and commitments;
- future reservations already contracted;
- occupancy indicators, ADR, RevPAR, and margin;
- documented operational processes.
The important question is not just how much it is worth today
The question that creates the most value is this:
What would need to change in the next 12 months for my company to be worth more?
Sometimes the answer will be to increase the portfolio. Other times it will be to reduce concentration, improve margins, professionalize reporting, review contracts, or remove the founder from the center of all decisions.
That’s why a useful valuation should not end in a number. It should end in a concrete list of decisions.
How Gatavia can help
If you manage a portfolio of accommodations and want to know where the financial value of your company lies—or what is reducing it—we can review the income statement, cost structure, margin per property, concentration, and quality of information before a sale, partner entry, or growth process.
You can start with the Gatavia Check to detect deviations and weak points in the data. If you need an analysis prepared for a specific decision, check our Financial Reports. And if you want to work month by month on margin, cash flow, structure, and growth, you can learn about the Assisted Financial Director service.
Frequently asked questions
Does the number of properties determine how much a manager is worth?
No. Size matters, but so do margin, contract stability, owner concentration, scalability, and dependence on the founder.
What is normalized EBITDA?
It is an estimate of recurring operating profit after adjusting for extraordinary items or costs that do not reflect the normal operation of the business.
Can I value my company with just a multiple?
It is not advisable. The multiple is the final result of many risk and quality factors. Applying it without reviewing contracts, margins, recurrence, and concentration can produce a misleading valuation.
What should I do if I don’t plan to sell?
Measure these indicators anyway. A company less dependent on the founder, with better margins, better data, and stronger contracts is usually a healthier company even if it is never sold.
Sources
- SCALE Exit Door 2026 — event dedicated to buying, selling, and valuing short-term rental companies, Barcelona, October 23, 2026.
- HomeToGo Q1 2026 / EQS — consolidation strategy and acquisitions of European portfolios at approximately 1x EBITDA.
- PhocusWire — acquisition of Lightbooking by GuestReady for €1.2 million and more than 200 units.