Staff Writer, Stacker

Journalist, Stacker

Like many, we are addicted to looking at great homes. For Halloween, we couldn't resist sharing some of our favorite spooky home dress-ups.

Haunted – and Haunting – Houses

Other than Christmas, no holiday incites the imagination and the decorative prowess of Americans like Halloween. It’s one of our favorite traditions, the miraculous (or should we say devilish) transformations that houses nationwide undergo. It’s one of the rare instances where the lovable and the terrifying go hand-in-hand.  If for no other reason than to celebrate that paradoxical combination, we bring you our favorite Halloween houses of 2021.

If this Los Angeles house almost feels like a movie set, maybe it’s because the person behind it – Christine McConnell – is a professional photographer.

Building from the ground up – literally – this homeowner puts their own creative spin on the zombie genre. Like if Danny Boyle art-directed a haunted house.

A unique sense of scale makes this decoration feel particularly grand – almost like the house is being picked up and played with by a terrifying skeleton.

The best thing about this house?  Take away the lights and you’ve got your Thanksgiving decorations already taken care of!

So good we wouldn’t be surprised if it graced the cover of the National Enquirer’s next UFO expose. 

Our guest blogger at 14th Street Capital provides a run-down on how technology is making self-managing your own property much easier. 

3 Ways Tech Innovations Help Landlords Better Manage Their Properties

From our guest blogger Grant McDonald, the Vice President of Corporate Development at 14th Street Capital, a run-down on how technology is making self-managing your own property that much easier.  

I probably don’t need to tell you that being a landlord takes a lot of money and a lot of time. The average annual operating and capital expenditure can be around $2,000 - $3,000 per home. The amount of time it takes from your life is a little harder to quantify, but ask anyone who’s acted as a landlord – you’re sure to get an earful.

Just consider how much needs to be taken care of: getting the place ready; screening tenants; sending rent notifications; resolving maintenance issues; keeping detailed tax records. The list is immense and many landlords describe it as close to a full-time job.

For decades, outside of hiring a property manager, there wasn’t much a homeowner could do in terms of lightening their workload. Recently though, technology has begun to innovate aspects of property management, just as it is transforming other aspects of our lives.

While these new platforms don’t take on all the responsibilities of a property manager, they do make self-managing your own rental property that much easier and more efficient.

Let’s have a look at some of the ways in which technology is making a difference.

Online property management platforms have emerged to meet the needs of DIY property managers. One place to start your research is Investopedia, who’ve done the digging and compiled a list of the 7 best software platforms for rental properties.

Each has different features and benefits, and some are designed for homeowners with multiple properties. What’s more, each requires a different level of technological sophistication, so we advise you to do your homework.

That said, there is a great deal of overlap when it comes to basic functions, like online rent applications; credit screening; billing functionality, and messaging. Some allow landlords to set their own standards, but be careful that you do nothing to violate Fair Housing Laws.

These online platforms allow homeowners to automate the screening process, so they can set their own standards in terms of potential residents’ credit scores, rental history, and employment details.

Landlords report that fulfilling and tracking maintenance requests consumes a huge amount of time – maybe more than any other single responsibility. So it's worth looking into how different platforms manage that process. Homeowners can accept and respond to tenant maintenance requests using online platforms. You also transfer the service requests to the contractors and craftspeople who will be fixing the problem from within many of these platforms; meanwhile, tenants can use them to make maintenance requests, keep track of the repairs, and provide feedback to landlords, which simplifies their lives a little, too!

Sometimes there is a standard maintenance form, but given the unique nature of each property and the wide variety of possible maintenance issues, I think you’ll find the ability to customize these templates is important. Though of course the customization process might take up some of the time you’re trying to save. 

The good thing about Investopedia is that unlike many “best of” websites, they aren’t an advertising website disguised as content. They have real editors and writers, so you can trust that what you read is objective and isn’t what’s called “pay to play.”

Online cloud storage platforms like Dropbox and Apple’s iCloud are useful for landlords in terms of keeping important documents safe, secure, and accessible from any device with an internet connection. They’re a great place to store tenancy documents, agreements, contracts, inspection reports, and other essential documents. 

Some platforms even allow users to generate e-signature to digitally sign lease agreements and other essential documents.  Landlords can also use DocuSign for that basic requirement, although many of the platforms described early include that option as well.

The nice thing about Cloud Storage platforms is that they also make life easier for both you and your residents. They can quickly find all the documents they need, while you are spared a string of tiresome requests.

You may have heard about the IoT, or the “Internet of Things.”  Devices like Alexa and Google Home are examples of the IoT; they’re connected, “smart” devices – or things, if you prefer – that send data up to the cloud and down to a smartphone, creating a virtual bridge between you, the cloud, and the device itself, no matter where you are.

For landlords, there are several applications of this core technology. For instance, there are smart water detectors and alarms that will notify both you and your tenant should there be a basement flood. Think of it as a technology insurance policy that can protect you from the devastating consequences of a broken pipe or hot water heater. Here’s a link to some of these surprisingly affordable and essential devices on Amazon.

There have also been breakthroughs in smaller and higher-resolution security cameras. These can be useful to landlords, but there are a lot of complexities around the legal implications. Belong has written about that on this blog, so check out this important context. 

Smart door locks are another technological asset; here’s a link to some of the best as assessed by PC magazine. Landlords report that tenant “lock out” situations are a continual problem and distraction. These elegant solutions solve the problem!

In short, technology can make a landlord’s life easier. But nothing is easier than Belong, which is the first 21st truly tech-enabled property management system. Learn how Belong’s technology creates a new landlord experience, profoundly simplifying your life letting you enjoy the financial benefits of being a landlord, free of the stress and risk. 

Grant McDonald, VP of Corporate Development at 14th Street Capital, provides a run-down on how technology is making self-managing a property much easier.  

3 Ways Tech is Helping Landlords Manage Their Properties

Discover our 6 favorite things about renting or owning a home in the city of Bellevue, Washington - one of the latest additions to Belong's residential network.

Belong Visits: Bellevue

As we expand up and down the west coast from our Bay Area base, we’re always working to make ourselves — and our community — feel at home wherever they are. As part of that, we are launching a coastal tour, and the first stop is  the bucolic city of Bellevue, Washington.

Across Lake Washington from Seattle is one of the hottest zip codes in the country: home to the garage that gave birth to Amazon and a perennial contender for the best city to live in America.

With the six amazing neighborhood pluses described below, is it any wonder that so many people want to live in Bellevue?  Not to us — nor will it be to you, once you see why the housing market is booming in this beautiful little city. It’s a boom that makes Belong’s ability to connect people who own much-loved homes, to those looking to become infatuated by a domicile, all the more important.

Jeff Bezos might have up and moved his empire across the lake to Seattle, but many big-name tech companies still call Bellevue home.  T-Mobile’s North American corporate headquarters is located in Bellevue, as is Expedia’s and Drugstore.com’s. Other major tech companies like Facebook and Nintendo also have big offices in the city. Bungie and Valve both have their HQs there, too, making it one of the gaming capitals of the world!

Bellevue is home to one of the best school districts in the U.S., with several of its high schools ranking in US News and World Report’s top 250; niche.com ranks the system as third-best in the country. The crown jewel of the district, the International School, ranks #27 among all traditional high schools in America, and #60 if you add in all the magnet and charter schools. We’d say “Not too shabby,” but then a recent Bellevue grad might snicker at us for using such an inelegant cliche.  

They don’t call it “The City in a Park” for nothing.  In addition to the acres of green space and sprawling parks contained within the city, the city’s also borders on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, giving residents easy access to the Snoqualmie Pass.  And of course, Mount Rainier, the most topographically prominent peak in the United States, is only 60-ish miles to the south. (The North Cascades National Park isn’t very far, either.)  If water is more your thing, then there’s plenty of fun to be had on Lake Washington, too. From skiing to waterskiing, Bellevue has it all.

True to its name, Bellevue is one of the most scenic cities in America. Not only because of the lush park system we mentioned above, but because of the breath-taking view of Seattle and Lake Washington to the west, and the snow-tipped Cascades ranging to the east. 

Of course, America is a lovely and wonderful place to live, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t observe that Bellevue isn’t very far from Vancouver,  which is another of the most exciting cities in North America. And one of the most ethnically diverse, too, with a famed Chinatown offering some of the best Chinese cuisine you can find this side of the Pacific. A quick two-and-a-half-hour drive through some of the most stunning scenery in the world, it’s the perfect daytrip. Pack your passport and come hungry.  

Bellevue is home to a number of upscale stores and shopping malls, but it is the smaller, mom-and-pop institutions that intrigue us most.  From Frans Chocolates, to the Larsen Lake Blueberry Farm and Mac and Mabels, there are tons of local shopping options to choose from!

If you think you're ready to go it alone as a landlord and property manager, take this 4-question quiz.

Can I Manage My Own Rental Property? Take The Quiz

Why can't I just manage my own rental property? If you think you're ready to take this plunge, take the 4-question personality quiz that will answer the question: am I cut out to be a landlord and a property manager or should I outsource this work?

Often when talking to a homeowner who isn’t a thousand percent sold on Belong, we get asked, “Why can’t I manage my own property, by myself?”

It's a great question, because the truth is that there are people out there who can take on the responsibility of self-managing a rental property. But when you peel back the onion and really look at what’s required, it turns out those people are few and far between.

Managing a property takes a truly rare combination of personality traits. If you possess them all — and you also have ample time to dedicate to the task — then we encourage you to step up and manage the property yourself.

But if you don’t, our recommendation is to seriously consider working with a property manager (or rather, to go one better and use a modern alternative). Our simple quiz will save you and the residents of your home countless hours of stress and anxiety.

Quiz: Am I cut out to self-manage my rental property? 

Question #1: Do you have incredible patience?

When self-managing a rental property, you have to keep in mind that the home effectively belongs to the residents as well. In fact, they sometimes lose sight of the fact that the home actually belongs to you, and that you love it as much as they do.  

That’s why oftentimes the relationship between resident and homeowner can turn sour and adversarial; people forget that the interests on both sides of the equation may seem not to be aligned. But fundamentally, are.

Hence, the need for patience. You need to keep in mind that, when something goes wrong in the house — when there’s a leak, or the toilet isn’t running, or the boiler’s on the fritz — it’s your residents who are on the frontlines. It's their lives being disrupted. That’s why they’re so freaked out and upset and texting you every other second, wondering when the plumber or the boiler guy’s going to show up. 

Question #2: Do you mind being persistent to the point of annoying?

Being a property manager often means being a bother to someone else. It means calling an unresponsive contractor or craftsperson over and over until they finally pick up the phone – or respond to an email – and schedule an appointment. 

Then, after you’ve managed to schedule the appointment, it means following up with your tenants to make sure they’ll be home when the locksmith’s supposed to show up to fix that faulty door-latch in the bathroom. 

It also means being tenacious and persistent when it comes to late rent and fees. If your tenant doesn’t pay you your rent, it’s your responsibility — and yours alone — to collect. And if worse comes to worse and you need to take legal action and start the process of evicting them, that’s on you, too. 

Last point here. You need to be persistent with managing your tax situation. So being your own property manager can mean reaching out to your accountant to see if they’re taking advantage of every benefit afforded you in the changing tax laws.

All this takes the ability to be thick-skinned. To call one more times than you’re comfortable with. To use a sterner tone of voice then you’re maybe used to using. In other words, to be an effective property manager, you have to be relentless.

Question #3: Are you prepared for the workload?

The number of things you need to keep track of when you’re managing your own property is just incredible. Not only all the paperwork, which is hard enough to deal with, but all the follow-up calls you have to make, and make again, to all the people on the other side of that paperwork. That’s why even the most organized person would find self-managing to be an incredibly difficult task. 

In short, don’t be misled by the phrase “passive income.” It is often bandied about in the property management industry. But as you can see from this blog post, if you do choose to take on the responsibility yourself, the income will be anything but passive. It requires tireless dedication and endless obligation, and a very specific kind of personality that can deal with it all.

Question #4: Can you turn on the charm at will?

Though toughness is obviously key, as the old cliche goes, you win more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. And in the world of self-management, there really are a ton of flies you have to deal with — a constant stream of seemingly minor obstacles and annoyances that need to be taken care of.

Lawyers. Accountants. Home inspectors. Carpenters. Plumbers. Electricians. Roofers.  Exterminators. The list goes on.

The thing is, the better these people are at their jobs, the more in demand they are. And the more in demand they are, the harder they are to get on the phone — and the less they need your business. So if you try to use some of that toughness we were talking about earlier, chances are they’ll just blow you off and deal with the hundreds of other clients they have. This is where you need to balance being stern and persistent, with knowing when to be kind and helpful so that others are more inclined to do you a favor. That’s why we say a little bit of charm goes a very long way in the self-management game.

If you've read questions 1-4 and think you've got what it takes, great! But if you're unsure about one or more and truly want your income to be passive consider Belong as an alternative to hiring a traditional property manager. Belong brings together the latest technology and high-touch concierge-level service to make property management as seamless and easy for everyone involved. Not only that, but they’ve built in protections for homeowners, like guaranteed rent, which takes the risk and anxiety out of the process altogether. 

So if you’re not the kind of person who checks boxes #1-4, make a conversation with Belong a #1 priority.

Why can't I just manage my own rental property? Take the quiz and find out if you're a cut out to be both a property manager and landlord for your rental home.

Belong

Jordan Newsom

Dom Difurio

Harrison Kelly

Lauren Slagter

Ashleigh Graf

Jordan Newsom

Dom Difurio

Harrison Kelly

Lauren Slagter

Ashleigh Graf