Switching Airbnb managers in Nashville without losing your reviews

You can switch Airbnb managers in Nashville without losing a single review, as long as the listing lives in your own Airbnb account. In that case you remove the old manager as a co host, add the new one, and the reviews, ratings and future bookings never move. If the listing sits in the manager's account instead, Airbnb will not move it to yours, and that is the part worth sorting out before you give notice.

Here is how to tell which situation you are in, what to ask your current manager for, and how to time the handoff so Nashville guests and Metro Codes barely notice.

Who owns your Airbnb listing?

Everything turns on one question: whose account created the listing?

The listing is in your account, and the manager is a co host. This is the easy case. Airbnb calls you the listing owner. The manager is a co host with some level of access, often full access. You can remove a co host whenever you like, and your reviews stay with the listing.
The listing is in the manager's account. Many larger companies run every home from one company account. The reviews were earned by your house, but on Airbnb they sit inside the manager's account. Airbnb's help center says plainly that an account cannot be transferred to a different host and that reservations cannot be transferred to a new host or account. In practice, if you leave, you usually start a new listing with no reviews.

How to check in five minutes

Log in to your own Airbnb account and open Listings. If your Nashville home shows up there and you can edit it, it is yours.
Open the listing's co host settings. If your manager appears as a co host, you are the owner.
If you have no Airbnb account at all, or the listing is not in it, the listing belongs to the manager.

One thing that confuses owners: the "primary host" shown to guests is not the same as the owner. Airbnb lets a co host with full access set themselves as the primary host, so a manager's name and photo on the listing page does not mean they own it.

If the listing is in your account

This is a clean switch. The order matters a little.

Read your contract first. Look for the notice period, any termination fee, and what happens to bookings already on the calendar.
Add the new manager before you remove the old one. That way there is never a gap where nobody is answering guests. Airbnb's co host settings let you choose full access, calendar and messaging, or calendar only.
Move the co host payout. Only the listing owner can set up or change co host payouts, so turn off the old manager's share and set up the new one. Airbnb pays a co host's share after the guest checks in, so agree in writing who gets paid for stays that straddle your switch date.
Remove the old manager. Once the new team has the calendar, inbox and pricing in hand, take the old co host off the listing.
Check every other site. Vrbo and Booking.com accounts are often set up by the manager. Find out whose name is on each one before you assume they move as easily as Airbnb.

Airbnb's own pages on co host permissions and payouts and managing co hosts walk through the screens.

If the listing is in the manager's account

Your options are narrower, but you are not stuck.

Ask before you give notice. Some managers will add you as a co host or help you rebuild. It costs nothing to ask while the relationship is still friendly.
Ask for your content. The photos you paid for, the listing description, the house manual, and the guest review history in a spreadsheet. Get the photo license in writing if a photographer the manager hired took them.
Expect a reset, then a recovery. A new listing starts with no reviews. In Nashville, where guests compare dozens of homes for the same bachelorette weekend, that usually means pricing a little under the market for the first stretch and asking every early guest for a review.
Use your other channels. If your Vrbo or Booking.com listing is in your own name, it is worth checking whether it can stay with you even when Airbnb cannot.

Whatever happens, the reviews are not the whole value. Your permit, your repeat guests, your cleaner and your calendar matter just as much, and those are mostly yours to keep.

The Nashville part: your permit and responsible party

Switching managers does not change your Metro short term rental permit. The permit is tied to the owner, and Metro's operating rules say that changes in ownership cancel a permit. Changing who manages the home is not a change in ownership, so do not let anyone talk you into retitling the house into a new LLC as part of the switch. If you are thinking about that for other reasons, read our guide to Nashville short term rental permits and talk to your attorney first.

What does change is the responsible party. Metro requires the name and phone number of the local responsible party to be posted in the unit, and that person has to answer calls around the clock during every stay. When the new manager takes over:

Replace the posted contact sign inside the home on day one.
Update the responsible party wherever your permit records list it, and confirm with Metro Codes what they need from you.
Make sure the renewal date, insurance certificate and tax receipts are handed over, because the next renewal will ask for them.

Rules change, so confirm anything important with Metro Codes before you act on it.

A handoff checklist for the switch week

Before the old manager steps away, get these in hand:

Every door code, lock account and the master code.
The wifi details, thermostat and any smart home logins.
A list of upcoming reservations with guest names, dates and any promises made to them.
Security deposits or damage claims still open.
The cleaner's and handyman's contact information, and whether they are willing to stay on.
Your supply inventory and anything the manager owns that is leaving the house.
A final owner statement through the switch date, with occupancy tax filings shown.

Then change every lock code the day the new team starts. It is the single easiest way to close the old chapter.

When is the best time to switch?

In Nashville, the quiet weeks after New Year's Day through February are the gentlest time to change hands. Fewer guests are in the house, there is time to refresh photos, and the new manager can set pricing before spring weekends and CMA Fest fill up. Switching in the middle of a busy December or a big event week is possible, but you want the new team in place a few weeks ahead of it, not during it.

If the reason you are switching is cost, look past the headline rate. Our breakdown of what Airbnb management really costs shows how two managers quoting the same percentage can charge very different amounts.

Questions owners ask about switching

Will I lose my Airbnb reviews if I change property managers?

Not if the listing is in your Airbnb account and the manager is only a co host. Reviews stay with the listing. If the listing was created in the manager's account, the reviews usually stay with them.

Can Airbnb transfer my listing from my manager's account to mine?

Airbnb's help center says accounts cannot be transferred to a different host and reservations cannot be moved to a new account. Ask Airbnb support about your specific case, but plan for the answer to be no.

What happens to bookings already on the calendar?

If the listing is yours, they stay exactly where they are and the new manager takes them over. Agree in writing which manager is paid for stays around the switch date.

Do I need a new Nashville permit when I change managers?

No. The permit belongs to the owner, not the manager. You do need a new local responsible party posted in the home, and you should confirm with Metro Codes how to update their records.

How we handle a switch

At Driftwood & Pine Stays you stay the listing owner and add us as a co host, so your reviews and history stay yours today and if you ever leave. We take over in the order above, act as your local responsible party, and keep the permit renewal and tax records on track. Full service is 12% of booking revenue, explained on our pricing page.

See what your Nashville home could earn with us, or read more about how we manage Nashville rentals.