Compare · Owner Options
DIY vs Mr Property Siam: The Honest P&L
A side-by-side look at the numbers for self-managing your Samui villa vs hiring a full-service operator.
You can run your Samui villa yourself from anywhere in the world — plenty of owners do. The question is whether you’ll net more than you would by hiring a full-service operator. Below is the honest breakdown, based on the P&Ls of villas that have moved from DIY to our management in the last three years.
The DIY stack (what you’d build)
- Airbnb + Booking.com listings (you maintain)
- Channel manager: Hostaway (~USD 24/month)
- Cleaner team: 2–3 staff, ~THB 18,000–25,000/month retainer
- Gardener: part-time, ~THB 8,000/month
- Pool tech: 2 visits/week, ~THB 4,000/month
- On-island “fixer” for check-ins/emergencies: ~THB 10,000–15,000/month or per-job
- Accountant for monthly VAT & corporate tax filings (if you hold via a Thai company): ~THB 4,000/month
- Your own time: ~12–20 hours/week for messaging, pricing, staff WhatsApp, maintenance coordination
Fully-loaded DIY cost (excluding your time) for a 4-bed villa: ~THB 45,000–60,000/month.
The full-service stack (what we provide)
- Seven OTAs + direct site via Hostaway
- Dynamic pricing, tuned weekly
- 24/7 guest messaging team (Samui + Bangkok)
- Uniformed villa manager for in-person check-in & daily walk-through
- In-house housekeeping + laundry
- Scheduled preventative maintenance: aircon, pool chemistry, garden, pest, termite, water tanks
- On-call trades network: plumber, electrician, internet, appliance repair
- Monthly owner statement, annual tax pack, live owner portal
- Professional photography refreshed annually
- Guest concierge: transport, chef, spa, excursions
Our fee: 18–25% of rental revenue (tiered). No listing fee, no sign-on fee, no exit fee.
Real P&L comparison — 4-bed Chaweng Noi hillside villa
| Line (annual, THB) | DIY | Full-service |
|---|---|---|
| Gross rental revenue | 2,400,000 | 3,180,000 |
| OTA commissions (avg ~15%) | (360,000) | (477,000) |
| Channel manager (Hostaway) | (10,000) | (included in mgmt fee) |
| Cleaning / laundry / linen | (240,000) | (included in mgmt fee for standard rotation) |
| Garden + pool tech | (144,000) | (included) |
| On-island fixer | (150,000) | (included) |
| Photography, listing refresh | (30,000) | (included) |
| Management fee (20% of gross) | — | (636,000) |
| Utilities (water, electric, internet) | (180,000) | (180,000) |
| Insurance + misc | (60,000) | (60,000) |
| Net cash to owner | 1,226,000 | 1,827,000 |
| Net uplift | — | +THB 601,000 / +49% |
| Your time cost | ~780 hours/year | ~10 hours/year (portal, approvals) |
The revenue lift comes primarily from: (a) multi-channel distribution expanding demand, (b) dynamic pricing lifting ADR, (c) higher review scores improving placement, and (d) direct / repeat bookings removing OTA commissions entirely. These four mechanics typically lift gross revenue by 25–40% on previously DIY villas, which pays for the management fee several times over.
Our take
DIY works if you’re on the island full-time and enjoy running a small hospitality business. From abroad, full-service management nearly always nets more money and all of your time back. Ask us for your specific villa’s projection at consultation, or try our earnings projection article.
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