The checks that kill half of what you are offered

Consents — do these first, they are free

Deals in this model rarely fail on the numbers. They fail on permission, and by then the property is furnished and the guests are booked.

• Written consent to sublet from the owner — and, if the owner is a leaseholder, from the freeholder too
• Lender consent where the property is mortgaged, in writing, naming short-term letting specifically
• The lease itself — subletting, short-term occupation, business use and private-dwelling clauses are separate and all four matter
• Licensing — mandatory in Scotland, certification in Northern Ireland, and check local schemes in England and Wales
• Planning — any Article 4 direction covering the address, and the London 90-night limit
• Insurance — who holds what, and whether the owner's insurer knows about the arrangement

Numbers — model the bad month

Take a defensible nightly rate and occupancy, then subtract everything: platform commission, cleaning per changeover, linen, consumables, utilities, council tax or business rates, broadband, software, management, and a replacement provision. What is left has to cover the fixed monthly payment to the owner and then produce a return.

Then run it again on your weakest month. If the weakest month does not cover the fixed payment, it is not a deal — it is a working deal for eight months and a loss for four, and you carry the void either way.

The two figures people get wrong are occupancy, usually about ten points optimistic, and changeover frequency, usually counted weekly when short stays make it far more often. Our deal assessment guide sets out the full method.

The contract with the owner

Read for the things that decide what happens when it goes wrong, not the headline rent.

The term and any break clause. Who is responsible for repairs, and the boundary between yours and the owner's. What happens if the owner sells. Whether the agreement can be assigned. What notice either side must give. What happens to your fixtures and furnishings at the end.

And the deposit and rent review mechanics, because a rent review clause on a fixed payment you cannot pass through is a squeeze you cannot escape.

The exit, planned before the entry

Furnishing is the largest cash outlay and it is sunk if the agreement ends early. Work out what you lose if the deal ends at month six, not month thirty-six.

Understand what happens to forward bookings if the head lease fails. Under our investor agreement, if the head lease ends or subletting consent is withdrawn we can suspend or terminate immediately, and the relocation costs, refunds and platform penalties sit with the operator. That is standard across the sector and it is worth reading before signing rather than after.

Ask yourself honestly: if this property produced nothing for three months, could you pay the owner anyway? If the answer is no, the deal is too big for the reserve.

The questions to ask whoever is selling you the deal

A sourcer or packager presenting a deal is producing a sales document. That is what it is for, and it should be read as one.

Which specific comparable properties produced the nightly rate. Whether the occupancy figure is a twelve-month average or a peak. Whether cleaning is costed per changeover or per week. Whether the setup cost is in the first-year figure at all. And what the last three deals they sourced actually earned in their first twelve months.

Someone with a track record answers that last one immediately. Someone forwarding a listing cannot.