Head of People

GM of San Diego

Head Of In-Lease Experience

Staff Writer, Stacker

5 tips on how to find and research reputable home renovation businesses.

How To Choose a Home Remodeling Contractor

Did you know there are more than half a million remodeling businesses to choose from in the US? Of course, this doesn’t mean the choice will be easy. There’s plenty of horror stories out there from people who have chosen the wrong general contractor, so researching trusted companies to get a bid from is a must. 

If you have friends, family or neighbors who have recently renovated their home, word of mouth can be a great place to start for trustworthy contractors in your local area. Ask them who they used, what the process and timing was like, and if they would use them again.

Even with a good referral, it’s always a smart idea to secure more than one bid to weigh up your options and costs. Once you have secured a few bids, try not to look at costs alone. It’s not uncommon for people to go for the lowest price only to be stung with a huge bill when poor work needs to be redone or there are extra fees and costs hidden in the fine print. 

There’s no way of knowing for sure until the job has started if you’ve made the right choice, but here are five ways to feel confident when choosing a home remodeling contractor. 

When you have some contractors completing bids, ask if they can provide references. 

Ask about the jobs they have finished recently and see if you can speak to any of their customers. Do they have before/after photos you can view to see the finished product?

Photos are great, but it’s also important to note that you’re not shopping for the bricks and mortar. When choosing a home remodeling contractor, it’s the professionalism and craftsmanship you need to focus on, so it helps to speak to people who have dealt with the business before. 

Before getting a quote from any contractor, it’s a good idea to check out their website and local review sites such as Google and Yelp to see what people are saying about them and get a feel for their reputation.

References will usually be positive because they are from customers that have been selected by the contractor. Sometimes online reviews can usually paint a more balanced picture. They’re not always the most trustworthy (you don’t always get the full story from strangers online!), but if there’s more positive than negative words being spoken about the company, you can probably rest easy. 

Remodeling projects are rarely straightforward, so you should have an open dialogue with your chosen contractors. Make sure there are no nasty surprises by being really upfront about what you’re looking for and making sure that you and the contractor are on the same page. 

Note what the communication is like when you approach anyone for a quote. Are you greeted with professionalism and in a timely manner? Do they show up when they say they will? Make sure you deal with a company who handles communication well and interacts with integrity. The way they communicate with you is a good indication of what they’ll be like to deal with, so if they aren’t helpful or open to discussion, this could be a red flag. 

One of the most important steps when choosing a home remodeling contractor is to check their credentials such as licensing and insurance. It’s never worth risking your home with an unlicensed tradesperson. 

Make sure any contractor or business you hire is:

Licensed: Are the contractors licensed for the work required and do they hold memberships with the local or national bodies? Do your homework and see what kind of training, qualifications and licenses they hold. 

Bonded: A contractor’s bond is a financial guarantee that the terms of a contract will be fulfilled. This protects all parties from financial loss if the contractor doesn’t follow through with the terms of the original agreement. It’s also not simple to obtain, so successfully having a bond is a good indication that there is high confidence in the business or tradesperson being able to execute on the contract. 

Insured: Contractors can pay a premium that covers claims and incidents if something goes wrong — such as worker’s compensation if an accident occurs on site. Not having adequate insurance puts you both at risk of liability. 

Most renovation companies will provide a warranty on workmanship and installation for one year. Be sure to find out the details and terms of any warranties or guarantees before assuming that work will be redone at no cost to you. If there is a dispute or it’s not deemed faulty, you may need to pay again for work to be fixed. 

Get the best renovation for your home, guaranteed 

Hiring someone you trust to manage your home remodeling project will go a long way in protecting your home and finances. Contractors and businesses should be honest and upfront about timelines, costs, and what is workable. If they can’t provide this or you can’t find information on their licenses and work history, walk away. 

To make it simple for rental home owners to access quotes and trusted contractors, Belong homeowners get instant access to an expansive vendor network of over 10,000 professionals that can handle everything from routine repairs to renovations. We'll even let you spread the costs over the term of your lease agreement. 

Visit our homeowner's page to find out more about how our services are helping people to achieve their financial goals through rental real estate in Seattle, Redmond, Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami and many more.

Find out how to choose a home remodeling contractor with these five tips on how to find and research reputable home renovation businesses.

Not all landlords are money-hungry monsters, pushing up house prices. Here are 6 tips on how to become an ethical landlord when renting out your home.

How to Be an Ethical Landlord

Putting your home on the rental market can be a great way to generate income and optimize your taxes while offering a place for someone to live. But more than that, it's also a way to preserve your home if you need to move but could see yourself returning one day. Despite these benefits for homeowners, many worry about becoming the dreaded “L” word. 

Landlords are often accused of being money-hungry monsters that gobble up all available property and push homeownership out of reach for others. But that's not always the case. We argue that making high-quality rental homes available plays a vital and important role in our communities. Not everyone is ready for homeownership, but everyone needs a place to call home. That is why the rental market exists.

How can you be a landlord in an ethical way that makes renting a win-win for homeowners and residents alike? 

1. Ensure your home is safe and comfortable

Your number one responsibility when making your home available on the rental market is to ensure it is habitable. Homeowners have a legal obligation to ensure their rental property:

Is structurally sound and intact (including floors, stairs, walls, roof)

All electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and elevators are operating safely

No known hazards are posing any danger to tenants (such as lead paint, asbestos, radon)

Reasonable measures are in place to prevent foreseeable criminal intrusions

Especially if you have previously occupied the home, there may be some things you could overlook. But before you put it on the rental market (or consider making a purchase on an investment property), make sure all the items are addressed.

An ethical landlord will want their residents to feel at home and not have to wait months for repairs to take place. If you rent your home through a property manager, they can generally log maintenance and repairs via an online portal, but that isn't an indication of how long you will need to wait for them to find a contractor to get to you.

If you choose to partner with Belong, we have a strong network of over 10,000 vetted tradespeople that are available via our 24/7 concierge service.

2. Price your rental at a fair market rate 

There’s a lot of discussion around today’s housing crisis. Many cities face affordable housing shortages, and landlords across the country seem to be taking advantage of this by raising rent at a shocking rate. Determining “fair market rate” can be daunting for a first-time landlord, but keep these principles in mind as you get ready to list your home on the rental market:

Set reasonable expectations. Though you may have seen Reddit threads and investor podcasts claim rental returns 2-3x the property’s mortgage, this isn’t realistic or ethical. 

Price based on market data. Not only is this fairer to potential renters, but pricing your rental based on real market data will help you rent your home much faster. 

Accept Section 8 and other housing vouchers. Some new landlords worry about accepting housing vouchers, but these programs level the playing field for residents and help alleviate some of the impacts of our housing crisis in an immediate, tangible way.

Working with a partner like Belong will take the guesswork out of pricing your rental. We leverage thousands of real-time data points to help you price your rental competitively, and we market your rental for you so that qualified residents are easy and fast to find.

3. Create a reasonable, easy-to-understand lease agreement

Leases are binding legal contracts, and as such can be daunting for homeowners and residents alike. Helping your residents understand the terms of their lease is not just a courtesy, it also helps avoid common issues that renters and landlords face. Make sure the following gray areas are explicitly documented and discussed before anyone signs on the dotted line:

Pet policy: will you allow pets? Which kinds? Will there be a deposit to cover potential pet damage? Will this deposit be refundable? 

Marijuana policy: will you allow marijuana on your property? What are the potential consequences of violating this policy (losing a security deposit, etc)? 

Exterior maintenance: who is responsible for lawn maintenance, snow removal, etc?

4. Address resident concerns immediately 

Being a renter can be incredibly frustrating when something needs maintenance and you are unable to fix it yourself. If you own your home and the furnace breaks, you will liaise with the repair person directly, and although still stressful, this can feel easier. When your residents have a maintenance issue, from a broken appliance to a severe leak, it’s your responsibility to communicate clearly and fix it as soon as possible. 

This is where many landlords can get a poor reputation. Common renter complaints revolve around maintenance disputes. This is one reason you may want to consider working with a partner like Belong. Instead of being directly responsible for being available and responsive to residents, Belong’s extensive network of maintenance professionals can be found at your fingertips. This alleviates stress for residents and homeowners alike and ensures your residents will have a good experience while living in your home.

This isn’t just an ethical consideration, in almost all cases, it’s the law. While it can be tempting to swing by and see how your property looks on a whim, homeowners are required to give residents 24 hour notice before entering the occupied property in almost all cases. Aside from the legal requirements, it is important to remember that although you own the property, while it is occupied by a resident, that property is their home. 

Belong helps ensure homes are well taken care of by scheduling regular inspections and check-ins that respect resident privacy and also reassure homeowners. 

Find the right partner (or be prepared for a lot of work)

Self-management of a rental property is a lot of work. There is a lot more to it than simply marketing the home and vetting tenants. To creating legally-binding lease agreements, avoiding discrimination in advertising descriptions and staying on top of all legalities and repair requests, it gets a lot easier with help.

But do the property management companies in your area share your values and align to your vision of being an ethical landlord? If not, it's time to look at an alternative solution, like Belong.

Belong is not a property management company. While we do handle everything to do with rental homes, by taking a human approach and treating both landlords and tenants with respect and care, what we offer is closer to a hospitality experience for the rental market. We select the right tenants who are in for the long-haul, offer both you and your residents access to a concierge service 24/7, and offer fast repair and maintenance work. We also guarantee your rent will always be paid and can even cover your cash-flow by allowing you to split the cost of things like repairs and insurance. You can learn more about our unique services here.

No more landlords or tenants. Belong is making renting magical for homeowners and residents, creating the world's first residential network. We partner with homeowners to achieve financial freedom, but we do it ethically, and without you having to lift a finger. 

Visit our homeowner's page to find out more about how our services are helping people to ditch property management in Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami and many more.

Finding the right renter, creating a contract, collecting rent, and keeping up with maintenance might make you want to just sell your home instead of renting it but don’t list your property just yet, and keep reading.

Rent Your Property Without Worrying About Finding Renters

We know how tempting it is to rent out your home and have some extra income but we are also aware of the difficulties that come with it. Finding the right renter, creating a contract, collecting rent, and keeping up with maintenance might make you want to just sell your home instead of renting it but don’t list your property just yet, and keep reading. At Belong, we don’t do property management: we offer services that spark joy. 

Why renting out your property might be better than selling

We are Belong, and we know that renting a house is the best option for many people looking for a place to live. That is why we help homeowners to put out their homes for rent without worrying about all the trouble while helping renters to find their perfect homes.

We want to make sure you have all the benefits that renting your home has without all the hassle. We want to make sure you have everything you need to Belong. 

Renting your home is easier than ever before: 

With Belong, you don't have to put ads all over the place looking for rentals or find time each month to do maintenance or collect rent. All of that is taken care of by Belong. Sounds easy? It’s because it is. And if you're still thinking about selling your home, keep reading this article so you can find out the benefits of our management program. 

Benefits of listing your rental property on Belong:

When you let Belong manage your happiness, it means that you only have to worry about receiving your money. Belong will take care of everything, so you don’t have to chase any renter. 

With Belong, you will notice how consistent your income is, and you’ll know you Belong.

Buying a property is a significant investment and renting it out is the best way to get the most out of it.  

With our happiness management program, we also take care of the listings.

You won't have to worry about maintenance: When it comes time for repairs or updates, we have a extensive vendor network of over 10,000 professionals and can even organise regular reoccurring services for whatever you need. That means less stress for you and more time to focus on what matters most: enjoying life with your family!

We won’t manage your property, we’ll manage your whole happiness.

Usually, when people try to put out their home for rent it's easy to feel like you're in over your head. There are so many things you have to think about—and if you're like most people, some of those things that you need to consider to successfully rent your property are way above your pay grade.

However, there is one thing that we can agree on: renting your home is a great way to have some extra income.

To learn more about how Belong is simplifying the rental experience and helping more homeowners reach their financial goals through real estate, visit our homeowner's page to find out more about services in places like Boston, Miami, Portland, Seattle, and many more. 

Managing people, rent, legalities and maintenance can be hard work, but it doesn't have to be. Discover how to rent out your home and earn income the easy way.

Communication, collaboration, and innovation: These are three pillars of the work philosophy at real estate startup business and residential network, Belong.

The Way We Work

Here is a snapshot on how we think about work at Belong.

Much of what we loved and celebrated about work and other parts of life – but didn’t appreciate enough -  has been challenged by the past 18 months. The way we think about work has been put to the test and was forced to dramatically change. But it's now time to reconsider the norms that were imposed on us by the appropriately stringent requirements of our collective health.

We define the ideal working environment by the experience of our community members. That is paramount because our culture revolves around our community. Thus, when making decisions we always begin by thinking about how to serve our community in the best possible ways. We start there because we started Belong in service of a broken industry, and because we wake up every day determined to fulfill our promise. 

We are in a very delicate stage of our growth: the infancy of our operations, product, and culture. Three interdependent factors will critically determine our destiny as we scale: communication, collaboration, and innovation. So, our work philosophy has evolved in relationship to them.

Our business is fueled by cross-team collaboration. There is simply no substitute for working through challenges and problem solving by being physically together in the same space. Especially at this point in our growth trajectory. 

We all know that technology has progressed quickly, allowing new levels of virtual collaboration between teams.  But there is also no doubt that much is lost when we bounce from Zoom to Zoom,  or respond to flat, emotionless messages in Slack instead of looking our teammates in the eye, reading their body language, and seeing their smiles.  (Or disagreements, that’s important, too.)

As a startup, we need to make decisions faster than big companies. That is an imperative that we must never waiver from.  And due to the physical nature and human aspect of Belong, we have stronger dependencies between ops, experience, growth, and product.

Innovation does not only happen in controlled environments such as structured brainstorming sessions and meetings. Many -if not most - great ideas come from casual conversations at the coffee machine, water cooler, lunch table, or, a favorite of Belongers, going for a walk together around sunny downtown San Mateo.   In a favorite book of ours “Where Good Ideas Come From”,  Steven Johnson writes about the coming together of divergent minds in the 18th century London created waves of innovation.  

Because of the promise we made to our community and ourselves - to create a better, technology-enabled marketplace for homeowners and residents as quickly as possible -  we cannot afford to miss out on t interactions that can significantly accelerate our development. To facilitate this further, we will encourage more walking/coffee meetings. We will be holding all brainstorming, decision, and all-hands meetings in person.

Wars have started because of poor communication. Companies have failed because of it. Marriages have been split asunder.  It is our duty to create the right channels and flow of communication as we scale.  To build on my earlier comment about virtual communication,  it remains difficult to truly connect with the people on the other side of the camera. Virtual communication negates the formal debrief, the informal post-game chat, and the quick temperature-taking that are so critical to the alignment and relationship ecosystem we need at this stage in our growth.

The dream we are working so hard to achieve takes us on weekly roller coasters. What we are doing is hard. It is revolutionary. And it is why we must work, shoulder to shoulder, with our teammates. 

We must be together to feel like we truly Belong, to evoke that sense of togetherness that we want to cultivate among our Community Members.  Our name is more than a word, it describes how we operate internally to change the world around us.  It reminds us why we started our journey in the first place. #​​we_are_team_players

It is our duty, as owners of this company and masters of our own growth, to create and maintain the best conditions for it to flourish.   We have a high bar for excellence, and achieving that requires intense focus on every detail of that environment. #we_have_high_standards.

At the same time, we recognize that there is a lot of value in having the space for undisturbed deep thinking and in retaining commute time. Having a deep focus, time to reflect, and time to take care of personal matters is critical to Belongers’ overall well-being and commitment to our mission; it is valuable for us to create and cultivate that space.

Having one WFH day per week will allow for more purposeful interactions when we are together delivering on our mission. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, we will congregate in our offices to problem solve, create, innovate, and maintain our sense of Belonging. 

Thus, every Belonger whose job requires high collaboration will have the flexibility to work from home on Wednesdays. 

This policy will take effect immediately, and will apply to our teams based in our offices in North America. Our wonderful Pros, of course, are exempt from it. We are working with our excellent overseas teams to determine the best structure for their workdays. 

After much thought, here are specific logistics for each of our six teams:

Most of our team is located in the field, doing wonderful work on behalf of our community members. Clearly, our field team will continue being out there seven days a week, come rain or come shine, serving as the face and heart of Belong. 

Our HQ Ops team, divided between Draper and San Mateo, benefits enormously from being co-located with each other – Scheduling with Inspections, Vendor Relationships with Field Execution – and with other closely cooperating teams: Experience and Growth. 

We need to plan to spend as much time together as possible. During our work from home day, we’ll continue being online, connected, and available to each other and our colleagues, as Operations, still has many reactive components that necessitate being hands-on and available. We’ll also use our work from home day to focus on those vital initiatives that may require extra focus, which isn’t always an option in an office environment. 

Large portions of the design process are inherently collaborative. We listen and collect feedback from other teams cross-functionally. We sit and brainstorm solutions with engineering. We give each other feedback on mockups and feature releases by literally pointing at pixels on the screen. Being in person most of the time is essential, so the plan is to be together 4 days a week, using WFH Wednesdays for those moments when being alone creates windows for a different kind of focus and insight-generation.

The nature of Engineering has already allowed us to establish a remote culture with a team of engineers from San Mateo, Argentina, and soon Mexico. 90% of the engineers are individual contributors. At the same time, they have to work closely with Product, Design, and other stakeholders to build successful products.  With the help of software tools (like JIRA, Balsamiq, Figma, Google Suite) we can achieve the required collaboration remotely. 

Communication within the team is also crucial for our collective. For that reason, we are deliberately clustered around specific locations to foster communication between engineers in the same time zone. The expectation is that engineers will be available from 9 am - 6 pm in their local time zones, and will proactively let the team know of any unavailability during this period. This is essential as all our meetings will be virtual and we strive to minimize the delay in getting responses from each other. 

Engineers from San Mateo should plan to work at least two days from the office to bridge the gap in culture between HQ and other locations. We will revisit this policy once we have established a stronger remote culture and process.

Engineers should get approval from their managers to work outside of the home location.

The Concierge team requires a high level of collaboration between Growth, Operations, and our Front Lines teams to deliver on our team’s mission of building the world’s most loved rental experience through unparalleled service and authentic connection. 

As each member of the team is expected to act like an owner and builder of Belong, we found it to be imperative our team's workflows are designed to foster in-office collaboration across teams. We expect each Concierge to be in the office 4 days a week with the optionality of working from home on Wednesdays. If you choose to WFH that day, your office must be professionally set up for taking Member calls - and that you are completely available. There should be no difference in the quality, responsiveness, and availability that you would have at home vs an in-office setup from the Perspective of the Member. 

Our Coordinators who work in the Philippines have already demonstrated the ability to work from home the past few years. We will continue to operate as a fully remote team for our Philippines team but will review every quarter whether the performance of this setup aligns with our team’s mission and KPIs.

We are investing in a new team of Coordinators who work in the U.S., so we have the Voice of the Community Member in our HQ2 at all times. At this stage, we believe it is vital to have this team operate 100% in the office so we can learn the most from the team’s feedback and so Belong can quickly respond to Member’ needs. We will evaluate this policy quarterly/ at review time as well as the team grows in its maturity. 

As an early-stage startup taking on a 4.5T marketplace, Belong is a pioneer in addressing one of the world’s best-untapped marketplaces. Our ambition is to be the next great real estate tech startup, creating an unparalleled experience for homeowners and residents alike.

As we define our culture, we offer the unique opportunity for each early team member to leave a lasting impression and make valuable contributions in shaping the environment that will be a catalyst for the next great tech unicorn.

Flora Fiorillo

Lover of good food, scuba diving and the animal kingdom

Harrison Kelly

Brett Jaffe

Tamara Epelbaum

Afton Brazzoni

Dom Difurio

Harrison Kelly

Brett Jaffe

Tamara Epelbaum

Afton Brazzoni

Dom Difurio