Editor in Chief

Co-founder & CEO

GM of San Diego

Marketing Manager

The sharing economy is redefining ownership and the home is no different. Find out how Belong is redefining what it means to have a place you call your own home

Home Ownership - The Ship Has Sailed

Something profound has changed in the world. Belong is completely redefining what “ownership” means.

Once, we bought vinyl records and cassettes and finally CDs. (Some are still buying vinyl - but that’s another story.) Now our music comes streaming at us in endless torrents of code, and we don’t miss holding the songs in our hands – because we can still hold them in our heads.

It’s exactly the same with movies; Netflix has more than 200 million subscribers. When was the last time you bought a Blu-Ray disc? As a recent example of the virtual world’s ascension, consider the definition of ownership is fundamentally changing. As the latest example, take the NFT phenomenon.

If you haven’t heard about NFTs or “non-fungible tokens” – they are virtual goods that are recorded permanently on the blockchain. That could be the much-publicized (and sometimes-derided) cryptoart created by Beeple which sold for an astounding $69 million. 

Which brings us to Belong, where our mission is to give people the powerful emotional anchor of being rooted in a safe, enveloping, protective space. Ownership has nothing really to do with that; in fact, till you pay off the dreaded mortgage – and most people never do - you don’t really own it, anyway. 

Besides, our species evolved to be attached to shelter and homes long before the idea of “ownership” became a thing.  As Dr. John S. Allen, a neuroanthropoligist, points out in his wonderful book called “Home: How Habitat Made Us Human” that we were hard-wired over millennia to find emotional rewards in the concept and reality of home. (That was long before FHA mortgages.) He writes: “The feelings we associate with home are built on a cognitive foundation that we inherited from our ancestors.” Allen also notes that “We may understand houses from the outside looking in, but home is made from the inside out.”

In other words, Allen is saying that the deep feelings that wash over us when we’re at home have nothing to do with a physical deed. You can be moved by streaming a Taylor Swift song – no ownership required. And the feeling of opening your front door and being greeted by a fast-moving three-year-old and a hug, says “home” on the most fundamental, John Allen-ian level.

This perfectly sums up what we are committed to at Belong. I wasn’t aware of Allen’s work when I wrote the Belong vision document, but the ideas are perfectly aligned. In it, we talk about the fact that owning a home is just one kind of American Dream, but there are other equally valid paths, because we all “dream of living in a glorious home where we can put down roots and experience the sense of belonging.”

Our vision goes on to say that “We call ourselves Belong because want to make these dreams a reality…and serve the millions who love the idea of a house they can call home, but don’t love the idea of homeownership.”

At Belong we try not to overuse the word “rent” because it sounds so feudal – as does the word “landlord.” Anyone who was stereotyped as a “renter” has become a “resident” in Belong’s world. As a resident, they feel the powerful tug of belonging, and that connection means they care about the place they live in as if they owned it.

After all, as Professor Allen says, our homes helped up adapt as a species; we are all here today because we took care of the places we lived in with our families, and didn’t neglect them. Which is why the tired old expression “nobody ever washed a rented car” doesn’t apply at all to the way that our residents treat their homes.

Many economists describe the post-ownership world as the “sharing economy,” and there is a great deal of truth to that. Today you can rent or share everything from a dog to art to chickens. A great deal of it is driven by Millennials and Gen Z, who are not nearly as attached to physical as previous generations, and value experiences. When you invest your capital in a home - the ultimate “thing” – it is a mathematical certainty for 99.5% of the pupation that it will leave less disposable income for experiences. Which, though ephemeral, are profoundly meaningful, and in fact emotionally enduring.

I think this is a healthy trend, although it might be fighting against our hard-wiring. “You have to learn to share” is a grindingly familiar parental and teacher refrain, after all. But somehow, we are at least in part moving beyond it, and that can be a healthy sign for society.

At Belong we are doing our best to advance this trend, by creating productive, healthy, sustainable new relationships between people who own houses, and those who want to build their lives in them.

To return to “Home,” the book quotes the architects Charles Moore, Gerald Allen, and Donyln Lyndon, who write: “Its site is only a tiny place of the real world, yet this place is made to seem like an entire world.”

Created to connect homeowners who love their homes, with residents ready to move in and build their lives there, Belong is a tech-enabled platform that takes the bumps, frustrations, and uncertainties out of the experience – to create delightful interactions from Day One to Day Forever. Bringing the practices of leading hospitality companies to an industry that was marked by a lack of caring and manual processes – Belong reinvents every step of the journey, all the way through to Belong Pros who are talented, responsible, and prideful contractors. Each component we touch is an opportunity to advanced our mission. No matter which side of the marketplace you are on, Belong honors your role and the communities we serve.

A reflection on what it means to love your house – and how to share that love with the people you rent it to.

A Message to Property Managers on Valentine’s Day

On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, which seems to grow in commercial intensity every year – we’d like to reflect on an aspect of love that is central to what we do at Belong.

After all, our mission is to connect much-loved houses with people who will love them back. And there is absolutely no doubt that people do love their houses. Google can confirm that; there are over 7 billion hits for the simple yet evocative phrase “I love my house.”

Perfection is not the point, though, it’s not the predicate for love, not the reason you smile inside every time you arrive back home. As Paul McCartney sang in the song “I Love This House”:

“Holes in the gutters, holes in the slate, holes in the carpet but I won't evacuate.

I love this house, it's where I’ll stay, eat and sleep the night and day.

I love this house, it's where I’ll be, for you to spend some time with me…”

Putting aside slate/evacuate – not one of McCartney’s most elegant rhymes – it’s a relatable message, especially if you are a homeowner with more than one house. Because when the time came and you didn’t need to live in one of those houses – maybe you no longer needed someplace that big, or you moved out-of-the-town – you didn’t treat it like a clinical asset and sell it. It embodied too much meaning for you to do something like that, so you decided to keep it and hopefully find someone to live in it who would feel the same way. Someone who could build a parallel stream of memories. 

Before we started Belong, we took a close look at the way property managers treated houses. And we didn’t like what we saw.  There was an absence of love and caring – in fact there was even basic respect. So we decided to create something different; not to be too saccharine, but at Belong, we go about our work with a sense of responsibility to Home Love. We want to be a company built on the mission of sending every day Valentines. 

We do that thanks to the platform we have built, which combines what technology can do best – organize, communicate, track, and streamline – with what people can do best. If the secret of a successful relationship between two people is “responsiveness” and “anticipation” – then we believe the same applies to how we connect with the houses we love.

The Belong platform will respond to needs literally in the moment. Our Concierges are there 24/7, whenever a need arises, no matter how big, or how small. After all, as we all know, sometimes the smallest gestures and the simplest reminders that you’re there for someone can have the biggest impact.

But thinking ahead – the Art of Anticipation – is also an essential signifier of love. It’s tricky in People World, but not that complicated in House World. We know when the furnace filters need to be changed, when to check the weatherstripping, when to have the leaders and gutters cleaned – and all those moments can be programmed into an intuitive digital platform.

That’s one way technology can automate love, but come to think of it, when 1800Flowers reminds you of Valentine’s Day a week in advance – or an upcoming anniversary – isn’t that the same thing?

In a world that is growing scarier and more unpredictable by the day, the emotional power and state-of-love that a home represents has never meant more. In 2019, the National Book Award went to a book that was a memoir about…a house. Called “The Yellow House: A Memoir,” the book – by Sarah M. Broom – uses the titular house as the centerpiece for a narrative about family, New Orleans, and community. Broom’s description of how she felt when the house was destroyed by Katrina is a powerful description of what a house can mean:

“When the house fell down, it can be said, something in me opened up. Cracks help a house resolve internally its pressures and stresses, my engineer friend had said. Houses provide a frame that bears us up. Without that physical structure, we are the house that bears itself up. I was now the house.”

If you feel that way about the house you own, if want someone to live in it who understands that –  and want someone to manage it who doesn’t look at your home like a collection of walls and windows, but as a structure with a living past, present and future – we invite you to reach out to us. On Valentine’s Day, or any day.

Expanding your portfolio is a big step; our guide will walk you through the decision process

The Rental Property Owner’s Ultimate Dilemma: “Should I Stop at One?”

Expanding your portfolio is a big step; our guide will walk you through the decision process.

Whether you are a parent or not, you have no doubt heard the adage that having two children isn’t twice the work of having just one – it’s a lot more. There’s no doubt that a similar calculation can be applied to rental properties. For those who are renting out one home and are thinking about doubling up, we’ve put together this useful framework that will help you make this very consequential decision. 

The first question we’d pose is how long you’ve owned your current property. The reason is simple: unless you’ve owned a rental property for two or more years, you won’t have a clear idea of exactly what is involved. A year simply doesn’t provide complete visibility into all the moving parts of managing a rental. Think about all the expected and unexpected maintenance issues (including finding and managing contractors), the stress and pressure that comes from dealing with tenants, and the potential lack of predictability on the income side, which can wreak havoc on your cash flow. There’s so much that can go wrong with a rental property, it’s impossible that you encounter every problem in such a contracted timespan.  

Once you’ve reflected on these inevitabilities, and have decided that you can cope with at least twice as many, then it’s time for the other considerations that come into play. Needless to say, the first issue will be how you will finance the property. If you have excess capital and that’s not a concern, then the question is what percentage of your assets should be concentrated in real estate. 

David Swensen, a respected investment guru who successfully managed the Yale pension fund for many years, believes that no more than 20% of your assets should be allocated to real estate – not including the value of your home. That’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but it is a good yardstick to make sure you are reasonably balanced between real estate, equities, fixed-income investments, and other asset classes.

If you’re comfortable with the capital allocation, the next step is how you will pull together the money.  If you have what you need in cash or cash equivalents – like a money fund – then it will be relatively easy to find the capital for a down payment. But even if you can do that, you might want to consider a “cash-out” refinance, which means you would take a larger mortgage on your current property, and use the proceeds (all or some) for a mortgage on your expanding real-estate empire. 

Deciding whether to take cash out of an existing property by refinancing, or liquidating other assets – or a combination of both – is an important financial exercise, and you will probably want to consult an accountant or advisor before making the final call.  

As part of your decision-making process, you should consider the tax implications of the entire transaction, including potential capital gains and losses that might result from selling stock or other assets to accumulate the down payment required for your next rental property. Every action has a reaction, in other words.

There’s another perspective that should be considered as part of the overall analysis, and that is the overall real estate market where you are considering an investment – which includes both housing prices, and also rental prices; both will influence your decision. There are a lot of dependencies at work, which complicates the situation. For example, if prices are high, it will be more difficult to afford a second property. But at the same time, assuming your first rental property is in the same area, it means you are more likely to benefit from the strong market. 

At the same time, there’s the relative strength of the rental market; currently, the demand is there, especially with millennials. The New York Times recently noted:  “As more millennials seek to become first-time homebuyers in this immensely competitive pandemic market, many are finding that renting is the only option — even though they have the income and down payment required to make a purchase”

The fact is that there’s a real housing shortage across America, and experts are saying that the housing shortage will “continue for years to come.” The pandemic is a big driver of this – people are leaving cities and moving to the suburbs and exurbs for more space, especially as work-from-home becomes the New Normal. So even if prices seem high now – and you are worried about a bubble – if you take the long-view, real estate tends to be a smart place to put your money.

The last point here is that if you do decide to invest in a second home, it might be time to set up an LLC – a limited liability company – as a new taxable entity. As you would expect us to say by now, there are pros and cons for taking that step. Here’s a good overview, but we advise you to review everything with a tax professional.

To return to where we started, though, how you decide to manage your property will also enter into your decision. If you are currently self-managing and are on the fence about a second property because of the work and stress, it’s likely time to consider a property manager. But – spoiler art – not just any property manager.

Specifically, we’re thinking of Belong. Belong is truly the 21st-century property manager; we bring the best of technology together with a 24/7 Concierge team for an end-to-end solution.   From our crews of Belong Pros available for getting your place rental ready, to creating our free photography and video tours that will find you the best possible tenants – at the best possible price -  there’s nothing we can or won’t do. 

Oh, did we mention our legendary rent guarantee? Yeah, that too. And if you decide to sell the place, we will deduct any management fees you’ve paid us from the commission due.  

 If you want to learn more – and there are a lot more goodies that await -  just ask!  

If you own an investment property, buying more and expanding your rental portfolio is a big step. This guide will walk you through the decision process.

With all the buzz around bitcoin and blockchain currencies, many landlords may be wondering "Should I accept rent in bitcoin?" Here's why you should hold off.

Should Landlords Start Accepting Bitcoin?

Should landlords start accepting Bitcoin? It’s a tempting question. Here are some important answers.

Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency. Digital dollars. The blockchain. Even those who are totally immersed in managing their rental properties must be aware that this new digital payment model has taken the world by storm. You can purchase cars with it, and watches with it – but that’s just the start.

Here’s a link to some surprising items you can buy with Bitcoin, which range from furniture to socks to pizza. 

So if you’re a landlord, the thought may logically have crossed your mind: “Should I be accepting bitcoin or other forms of digital currency?” Let’s start this discussion by looking at what some of the big dogs are doing, as a signal.

Last year, Rick Caruso – who is a billionaire real estate investor – announced that his company would “begin accepting bitcoin as rent payment at its residential and retail properties.” Notably, Caruso’s firm had invested some of its own money in bitcoin, and was partnering with Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange co-founded by Tyler Winklevoss. (The Winklevoss twins are huge proponents of bitcoin and have “amassed a $6B fortune.”)

The Caruso announcement got a lot of buzz, but not many giant landlords followed. There’s a reason. Keep in mind, as you consider this step, that bitcoin fluctuates wildly in value, as do other digital currencies like Ethereum and Dogecoin. Last November, a single bitcoin was worth roughly $66,000; as we write this piece it has plunged to $43,000. 

Clearly, as a landlord you can’t afford that kind of volatility. It would be devastating, because it’s likely you work on a thin margin.  Note that in the Caruso announcement, it’s apparent that he already owns a boatload of bitcoin; if you are a landlord in a similar position, then you probably have a separate set of circumstances – and have a different level of sophistication. We are writing this piece for the digital currency landlord.

Let’s say that the rent you collect is $2,500 a month. If you get paid in bitcoin, by the time it converts into dollars it may be worth $2,300 or $2,700. Do you really want to turn your rental property into a casino?

Also, there is some payment infrastructure you’ll need; while Coinbase and other virtual wallets do make it easier to accept digital currency – and to withdraw it – there’s still a learning curve. We do need to point out, though, that the Coinbase website notes that 73 million people and businesses “trust them to buy, sell and manage” crypto. So clearly this is moving from into the mainstream. But it’s mainly as an investment class, not a form of payment.

Another option – and a way to offset the volatility – is to accept rent in the form of stablecoins. Stablecoins are what their name suggests; Coinbase offers them, too, and note that because they are pegged to a “reserve asset” like the U.S. dollar (or even gold) they fluctuate far less and are “A form of digital money that is better suited to everything from day-to-day commerce to making transfers between exchanges.”

There are other pros and cons involved in accepting digital currency as a landlord – this piece lays them out well – and they include the anonymity they provide tenants, which might not be appealing to you.  Plus there are tax implications. As the article from GeekEstateBlog notes, “Paying taxes as a landlord and understanding the related filing obligations is already a stressful process. Throwing cryptocurrencies into the mix won’t make tax season any easier on landlords.”

So net-net, it’s early days. There’s a new app that theoretically enables paying rent with crypto, but the fact that it shows up in a blog called “Futurism” tells you it’s likely not ready for prime time. 

Soon enough, though, it will likely be commonplace; A recent study from Piplsay found that “49% of millennials polled own cryptocurrency compared to 38% of Gen Xers and 13% of Gen Z,” and millennials are more likely to use crypto for payments, with 53% saying they are “very likely” to purchase products or services with crypto. That trend will only get stronger as more and more zoomers enter the marketplace.

As a landlord that owns one property – or just a handful – it’s tempting to consider accepting digital currency; it does help you stand out and brand yourself as innovative, which is no doubt one of the reasons that Rick Caruso and a few other giant landlords have taken the plunge.

But waiting seems to be the prudent option. One thing you don’t have to wait for, though, is  other ways to bring your property into the digital world. That includes choosing a property management company that brings a new level of digital sophistication to what has been an industry lagging in innovation.

Belong has built end-to-end digital experiences that move the requirements of property management onto a digital platform – everything from booking appointments to managing renovations to collecting rent to communication with your 24/7 concierge.

So if you’re looking to signal to your tenants that you are a modern, forward-looking landlord, you don’t need to go all the way to bitcoin. Yet.

For more information about how to bring your property into the digital age, make an appointment with Belong here.

Adam Hanft

Adam is a futurist - co-author of "Dictionary of the Future" - brand strategist, public-company board member, former comedy-writer (but he hasn't stopped being vaguely amusing), and an investor in Belong.

Ale Resnik

Brett Jaffe

Eric Vandekerkhove

Jordan Newsom

Jane Allison Gunn

Ale Resnik

Brett Jaffe

Eric Vandekerkhove

Jordan Newsom

Jane Allison Gunn