What could your holiday home earn?Start with your weeks. Then see what the rest could earn.
A useful appraisal begins with the weeks you want to keep, compares your home with homes guests really weigh it against, and shows a gross range for the rest. Here is how ours works.
By Tom Antonie, CEO and co-founderUpdated 11 November 20267 min read- Real bookings in our pricing data
- 20,426
- Homes in that booking history
- 248
- Similar homes in one real example
- 15
- Bookings at those 15 homes
- 1,430
What your holiday home could earn depends on three things: the weeks you let it, the guests it suits and what similar homes actually booked. A good appraisal starts with the weeks you want to keep, then shows a gross range for the rest, the homes it was compared with and the work needed first.
How Lively manages holiday homes
Summit House, Arthurs Seat · The Indoor-Outdoor Retreat, Rye
Start with the weeks you want to keep
A home you let all year and a home you keep for family summers are two very different things. So before we talk money, we ask which weeks are yours.
That matters more than it sounds. Giving up the week after Christmas is not the same as giving up a week in July. An honest appraisal is built around the dates you actually make available, not a full year divided by twelve. We also ask when the home could really welcome its first guest, once any work is done. A launch date in March and a launch date in November lead to very different first years.
Your own stays sit in the same calendar
Maison Noir, Sorrento
Compare with the homes guests weigh yours against
Bedrooms and suburb are only the start. A three-bedroom home with a heated pool and a big outdoor area is a different stay from a three-bedroom home without them.
Our pricing model compares homes on much more: how many guests they sleep, the type and style of home, beach or water access, a heated pool, a sauna, a spa, a tennis court and a games room. Then it ranks the closest matches in the same state that have at least five usable bookings, and lets the best matches count most.
01
Match the stay
A heated pool counts differently from an unheated one. A sauna, spa or court each count on their own.
02
Rank the closest
Same state, at least five usable bookings. In one real example, the 15 closest homes had 1,430 bookings.
03
Let the best count most
Closer matches and homes with more bookings carry more weight. Differences in size and features are allowed for.
The Hull, Mount Martha · The Collins, Sorrento
Use prices guests paid, not prices homes ask
An advertised rate tells you what a home is asking. A confirmed booking tells you what a guest was happy to pay. They are not the same, and an appraisal should say which one it uses.
Ours uses real confirmed bookings, each turned into a nightly accommodation price so a booking from one website can be fairly compared with a booking from another. Recent stays count more. A home's launch prices count less, so early offers don't drag down a home that has since proven itself.
51
Fresh bookings' worth of weight
In one real example, a home's 124 bookings since 2022 carry the weight of about 51 fresh ones, because older stays count for less. That is how the model keeps up with what guests pay today.
Gunnamatta Beach, Mornington Peninsula. Summer on the ocean side.
A year is a string of very different nights
A holiday home doesn't earn the same every month. Summer weekends, Christmas and Easter usually earn far more than a quiet night in winter. School holidays, long weekends and local events change things too.
So we don't give you one number for the year. We show a gross range, season by season, for the weeks you make available. You can see where the strong months are, where the quieter ones are, and what giving back one more week would change. If you'd rather keep all of January, you'll see exactly what that choice is worth.
Tom, CEO and co-founder
Everything you need to decide, in one place
Our appraisal is a conversation with numbers, not a single figure in an email. It covers the weeks you keep, a gross earnings range by season, the homes we compared yours with, and when the home could launch.
It also lists the work the home needs before guests arrive, like styling, photos or repairs, with an idea of cost. And it explains our management fee, what it covers and what sits outside it, so nothing surprises you later.
01
Your weeks
The dates you keep and the date the home can open.
02
A gross range
Season by season, for the weeks you make available.
03
The comparison
The kinds of homes yours was compared with, and why.
04
The work and fees
What the home needs first, and what our fee covers.
Musk Creek, Flinders. The estate at the centre of its launch. · Musk Creek, Flinders
A new listing needs a proper launch
A brand new listing starts with no reviews and no booking history. The first months are about getting it seen and getting those first good reviews.
That is why our launches start early. Cape Home in Cape Schanck opens in late November, but its architect film and handover film are already out, along with a golf partnership with The National for its guests. Musk Creek in Flinders launched with a creator weekend and a page for wedding guests. The appraisal should tell you what your launch would look like.
Luxury Portsea Sanctuary, Portsea. The owner's own words.
Attention to detail and a high level of coordination meant guests have consistently loved their stay.
Real launch work behind the numbers
An earnings range only matters if guests find the home. These are real posts from recent launches, published on Instagram. Each one opens where it was published.
Reel · 7 October 2026Cape Home × Chamberlain Architects
Reel · 9 November 2026Cape Home / Handover day
Creator Reel · 8 November 2026Musk Creek / The wellness weekend
Creator Reel · 4 November 2026Musk Creek / Dawn to dusk
Reel · 30 October 2026Riviera / The rooftop
Reel · 24 July 2026RISE / The whole floor
Want to know what your home could earn?
Tell us about the home and the weeks you want to keep. We'll come back with a gross range by season, the homes we compared it with and the work it needs first.
Photo: Musk Creek, Flinders. The view to Western Port.
Before you go
Questions owners ask about earnings and appraisals
Is an appraisal a promise of what I'll earn?
No. It is our best estimate, built from real bookings at your home, if it has any, and at similar homes. Bookings depend on the season, the market, your dates and the home itself, so we show a range and explain how we got there.
Are the figures before or after costs?
Our ranges are gross: what guests pay for the accommodation, before any costs. Your proposal then lists the management fee and any other costs for your home separately, so you can see the whole picture.
My home is new to holiday letting. Can you still appraise it?
Yes. With no booking history of its own, the estimate leans more on similar homes. We'll also tell you what the launch period could look like, because a new listing needs time to earn its first reviews.
Can I still use my holiday home?
Yes. You choose the weeks you want to keep before we open the calendar, and you can plan your own stays later through your owner portal. We build the earnings range around the dates you actually make available.
How do you set the price for each night?
Our own pricing model, PricingHub, estimates each night from real bookings at your home and at similar homes, then adjusts for how busy the date is. Your portfolio manager sets the actual rate and checks your own rules, like your lowest nightly price, before it goes live.
How long does an appraisal take?
Tell us about the home and your weeks, and we'll arrange a time to talk it through. If we need to see the home, we'll organise a visit.
What will it cost?
Your proposal sets out the management fee, what it includes and any other costs for your home, so you can see the whole arrangement before you decide. We don't publish one fee for every home, because homes need different work.
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How we worked this out
Pricing figures come from PricingHub, our own pricing model, worked out on 10 November 2026. It started from 22,084 booking records and kept the 20,426 confirmed bookings with a clear nightly price, across 248 homes from the three holiday rental businesses in our group. We keep the example home's name private.
The 15 similar homes, their 1,430 bookings and the 124 bookings carrying the weight of about 51 fresh ones all come from one real night we followed through the model: a five-bedroom waterfront home on the Mornington Peninsula, priced on 10 November 2026 for Friday 29 January 2027.
Instagram figures come from Lively's own Instagram Insights: 11 October to 9 November 2026 for the 30-day figures, and the 12 months to 8 November 2026 for the yearly one. Views include repeat plays. Creator Reel views are the public counts we read on 10 November 2026.
This guide explains how we work. It is not an earnings forecast or a promise of bookings for your home, and every figure is gross, before any costs.