Head of Marketing

Staff Writer, Stacker

Head of People

Marketing Manager

Now welcoming homeowners and residents in the Pacific Northwest. Join us!

Announcing Belong’s Expansion to Seattle

Coming on the heels of our success in San Francisco and Los Angeles, today we’re excited to announce that Belong has expanded to the Pacific Northwest -- first stop, Seattle! This expansion brings our beloved rental experience to the homeowners and residents of beautiful Washington state!

Belong is changing what it means to rent a home by putting people first. It’s where hospitality meets consumer real estate—and it’s about to redefine an entire industry. We’re backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), GGV Capital, and Battery Ventures, just to name a few of our all-star investors. Our mission is to create authentic belonging experiences for those who own much-loved homes, and those longing for that feeling. Belong offers a unique technology-enabled property management platform with end-to-end services for those looking to rent out their home. We’re transforming the transactional nature of the industry into a world-class hospitality service for both homeowners and residents. 

It is hard to dispute that the rental journey, a universally shared experience, is severely dysfunctional. Whether you’re on that journey as a renter or a homeowner, it is filled with stress, anxiety, headache, and often ill will. 

Having moved several times in search of “Home,”  we have experienced first-hand how terrible the traditional landlord-tenant relationship can be; being forced to pay hidden fees, the zero-sum mentality of property managers, delayed and incomplete maintenance service, etc. We’ve also witnessed how painful it can be for a homeowner to act as a landlord -- a second job most never wanted. It is clear that we are not alone.

That's precisely the type of experience we feel compelled to go transform. We’ve set about changing every aspect of renting. It’s certainly not the easy route, but we're obsessed with eradicating everything that was once bad and replacing it with something truly great.

Belong will handle everything for you. For starters, we’re going to treat your home exceptionally well. Our in-house, full-time team of Pros will take care of all maintenance and reconditioning on your home, showing up on time, and doing work correctly the first time around. We'll find really great Residents that will love your home almost as much as you do. And we’re going to treat them exceptionally well too, so that they stay longer, reducing vacancy. And because we’re building for the future, everything is handled right through your phone, from rent and maintenance requests to communications with your dedicated Concierge.

Belong will make the process of renting a new home seamless. We take the hassle out of living in a home from an easy and online application to moving services to online rent payments and in-house maintenance services.

Know someone looking to rent out their home?

Call us at (206) 202-7090 and ask us about our referral program. 

Landlords and renters, Belong is now welcoming homeowners and residents in the Pacific Northwest. Join us in ditching outdated property management for good.

How do you interview property management companies when they all appear to offer the same service? These 8 questions will help you dig deeper to find gold.

6 Interview Questions to Ask Property Management Companies

How do you interview property management companies when they all appear to offer the same service? Here are 6 questions to ask prospective properties managers to dig deeper and uncover best person for the job of managing your rental home. 

How do you find a property manager that is the right fit for your circumstances and budget? By uncovering who will make your life easier and how they plan to take the stress out of finding and handling tenants for you. So before you sign a contract with a new property manager, here are 7 important questions to ask. 

1. What kind of clients do you typically work with?

This question will help determine the kind of landlords the property manager is experienced in dealing with. If they work with bigger clients and large developers, that might be a sign that they’re a reputable provider. But on the other hand, if they have big clients, are they going to make enough time for individual landlords with just one or two properties? How many properties on average does each manager look after? Depending on their answer, you might want to dig into their approach to working with smaller clients, or what the average duration of a relationship is with individual landlords. 

2. What services are included in your fees? 

Typically a property management company will charge between 6 and 10% of the monthly rent to manage your property. But there is a whole host of essential services that you're going to need that may not be included in this fee. You could be charged for everything from marketing to property inspections, even renewing the lease. This means a low management fee might lead to a stack of hidden costs that you weren't prepared for. 

Belong on the other hand never upcharges for these services.

3. Can you take me through the full process of letting my property?

On the outside, it might seem that all property managers offer the same services. But not all property managers are created equal. What are they using to achieve the best possible market analysis? Are they stuck in the past or using up to date technology to market your home (such as 3D tours and virtual walkthroughs). Ask them to take you through the process of marketing and vetting tenants, as well as how they arrived at your proposed monthly rent. 

4. How do you handle maintenance requests and emergency work? 

Find out what the turnaround time is like for maintenance and urgent repair work on your home if it was needed. Here it’s important to put yourself in the shoes of a hypothetical resident with a pressing emergency – and how that reflects on you, their landlord. If your toilet was leaking, do you think they’d be able to fix the problem fast enough? What kinds of costs would you be facing to use their contractors? 

If a property manager is using modern, digital services to ensure you're paid on time, this is telling. It means they're keeping up with the times and are not regressively old-school or going to leave you waiting for cheques to clear. Find out what kind of financial documentation you can expect to receive to help with your record keeping. You should also find out what the process is if tenants fall behind on their rent, as this could put a serious dent in your cashflow. 

Belong guarantees rent, giving homeowners the choice between getting paid on the first of every month, or receiving the entire year of rent upfront. Regardless of when tenants pay, you can bank on when your rental income is received. 

This is an unpleasant topic of conversation, but better to broach it sooner rather than later. Property managers will typically manage the process, but some will charge for this service or may incur legals costs that are passed on to you. Belong on the other hand offers up to $15,000 in eviction protection for any residents we place. 

If you're questioning the value of property management, Belong is the answer

What if you could ditch property management services to modernize your entire rental experience? Belong does exactly that, combining industry-busting technology with human smarts to make renting lovable for both homeowners and their residents.

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

Sparsh Mehta

I grow new markets and bring our industry-changing experience to homeowners and residents around the country. Lover of the Outdoors, Scuba Diving, Skiing, Hiking, Live Music, and all things Technology.

Afton Brazzoni

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