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9 October 20268 min readBy Axario Home Editorial TeamPropertyRentalsHome admin

Renting Out Your Second Home or Holiday House Yourself? Keep Your Properties and Their Admin in One Place

A second property can be a great decision. Managing it yourself, on top of your own home, is where the admin quietly piles up.

A homeowner photographing the lounge of a furnished holiday home before guests arrive.

Plenty of South Africans own more than the house they live in: a flat bought as an investment, a family holiday house at the coast, a cottage that earns its keep on Airbnb between your own visits. Many of these owners don't use an agent. They find the tenants or guests, arrange the repairs and keep the paperwork themselves.

That's no small group. In the short-term rental market alone, a 2025 host survey by the South African Short-Term Rental Association found that around two-thirds of hosts own their listings and most aren't employed full-time, according to IOL. These are people running a property alongside the rest of life.

And every one of those properties comes with its own lease or bookings, deposit, inspections, insurance, municipal account, maintenance schedule, inventory and list of people who have the keys. Spread across email, WhatsApp, a spreadsheet and a drawer, it's easy to lose track of exactly the thing you need on the day you need it.

If you have long-term tenants: the deposit and the inspections matter

Disputes between landlords and tenants most often come down to the deposit, and the deposit comes down to evidence.

Under section 5(3) of the Rental Housing Act, the landlord must keep the deposit in an interest-bearing account, and the interest belongs to the tenant. Landlord and tenant must inspect the property together before the tenant moves in, and again within the three days before the lease ends. If nothing is owed, the deposit and interest must be refunded within seven days of the lease ending. If repairs are needed, the balance is due within 14 days of the property being restored, and the tenant can ask to see the receipts. And if the landlord doesn't inspect the property with the tenant at the end, the law treats the property as having been returned in good order — and the full deposit plus interest must be refunded.

Deductions have to be justified. Fair wear and tear, such as faded paint or minor scuffs, can't be charged for, and any deduction should relate to a real loss backed by evidence, as Van Deventers explains.

In practice, that means three things are worth keeping together for every tenancy:

  • The lease and the key dates: start, end, notice period and rent increase date.
  • The deposit trail: how much, when it was received, where it's held, and what was refunded or deducted, and why.
  • Two condition reports you can compare: room by room, with photos, taken on the way in and on the way out.

If you let it short-term: the turnover is the job

With Airbnb, Booking.com or direct bookings, the rhythm changes. Instead of one tenant for a year, you have a stream of guests, and the property has to be checked, cleaned and restocked between each of them.

What protects you here is knowing the condition of the property before and after every stay. If a guest breaks the coffee machine or stains the couch, a dated photo from before they arrived is what makes the conversation (or the claim) straightforward.

The rules for short-term letting are also getting more attention. In March 2026 the Department of Tourism gazetted a draft Code of Good Practice for short-term rentals for public comment, reported by IOL. It is a draft, and industry bodies describe it as non-binding, but hosts already have to follow local by-laws, zoning and tax rules. Having your safety equipment, certificates and records in order is simply good practice, whichever way the rules settle.

If it stands empty between visits: check your insurance

A holiday home that sits empty for weeks at a time is a different risk from the house you live in. Insurers often apply extra conditions once a property has been unoccupied for a period, which can include regular inspections or a working alarm. The number of days varies by insurer, notes First for Women.

The same article suggests confirming that your insurer knows the property is being rented out, reviewing cover for items you provide for guests and for liability to paying visitors, and keeping photos and an up-to-date inventory of what's in the property to support a claim. (We covered the wider insurance question in What You'd Actually Need to Prove After a Break-In or a Burst Geyser.)

Maintenance from a distance

When you don't live there, small problems get bigger before you notice them. A blocked gutter, a geyser nearing the end of its life, a pool pump that needs servicing or an aircon filter that hasn't been cleaned before the December rush are all cheaper to deal with on a schedule than in an emergency.

It helps to know, for each property:

  • what needs regular attention, and when it's next due
  • which plumber, electrician or pool service you trust in that town
  • what was last done, by whom and what it cost
  • where the spare keys are, who has access, and where the alarm and gate details are kept

A simple checklist for owner-managed properties

  • One record per property, with its type: rental, holiday home or both
  • Current lease or booking dates, with reminders before they end
  • Deposit amount, where it's held, and any refund or deductions noted
  • Move-in and move-out (or before- and after-guest) condition reports with photos
  • An inventory of furniture and appliances, with photos, receipts and warranties
  • Insurance policy and certificates, with renewal and expiry reminders
  • A recurring maintenance schedule and your trusted contractors for that area
  • Monthly running costs: rates, levies, utilities, Wi-Fi
  • A house manual and key-holder list for whoever looks after the property
  • Shared access for your co-owner or a family member who helps

How Axario Home helps

Axario Home isn't agency software. It's for owners who look after and manage their own rental properties or holiday homes, alongside the rest of their household admin.

Add your rental flat or holiday house next to your own home, mark it as a rental property or holiday home, and keep everything about it on its own record:

  • Tenants and bookings: tenants, lease documents and key dates, or Airbnb, Booking.com and direct bookings with guests, dates and payouts.
  • Deposits: amounts, where they're held, refunds and deduction notes.
  • Condition reports: move-in and move-out, or before and after each guest, room by room, with photos, signatures and a PDF you can share.
  • Contents: furniture and appliances with photos, receipts and warranties.
  • Upkeep: maintenance with repeating reminders and your own trusted service providers.
  • Paperwork: insurance and documents with expiry reminders, plus running costs for each property.
  • For whoever looks after it: a house manual and important information about where things are kept and who has access.

Share it with a co-owner or a family member who helps, and it works on your phone or computer.

So, when a tenant moves out, a guest checks in or the insurer asks a question, you're not searching. It's all already there.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need software to manage a rental property myself? Not necessarily, but you do need a paper trail and one reliable place for leases, deposits, inspections, maintenance and insurance for each property. When that information is spread across messages and folders, it's hardest to find exactly when it matters, such as at move-out or after damage.

What should I record when a tenant moves in? The lease and key dates, the deposit amount and where it's held, and a joint condition report of every room with photos, signed by both of you. That report is what you'll compare against at move-out.

How quickly must a deposit be refunded in South Africa? Under the Rental Housing Act, within seven days of the lease ending if nothing is owed, or within 14 days of the property being restored if deductions are needed. If the tenant doesn't attend the outgoing inspection, the landlord has 21 days after the lease ends. The deposit is refunded with its interest.

Does my home insurance cover a holiday home I rent out? Not automatically. Tell your insurer the property is rented out, check any unoccupancy conditions, and review cover for guest-use contents and liability to visitors.

Can I manage an Airbnb and a long-term rental in the same place? Yes. In Axario Home, each property has its own record. You can track long-term tenancies on one property and short-term bookings on another, alongside your own home.

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