Property management was unsatisfactory for both homeowners and renters - until two entrepreneurs decided it was time to disrupt the old model with Belong.

How Two Entrepreneurs Are Elevating Property Management

Property management was unsatisfactory for both homeowners and renters - until two entrepreneurs decided it was time to disrupt the old model with Belong. Read on for the story of how Belong started and their mission. 

In the case of Belong, our founders – Ale Resnik and O. Savir – were inspired by their experiences with the very act of “Belonging.”

They captured it poignantly and personally in a blog, writing:

We are a company started by immigrants. As immigrants, we had to redefine, multiple times and in numerous ways, what Home meant to us.

Is Home the walls around you and the ceiling above you?

As they began thinking deeply about what home meant – along with another founder, Tyler Infelise – these imaginative serial entrepreneurs had an important revelation about its fundamental essence.

They put it eloquently in that same blog post:

“With time, we discovered that Home isn't a place. Home is a feeling. Home is where our heart is.”

As they looked for their next entrepreneurial venture – conducting a lot of research and spending a lot of time talking to friends and family – an opportunity began to take shape.  An opportunity that involved a total, bottom-up reinvention of something known as “property management.”

Ale and O decided to take on this challenge because they saw that the need was great.  As they wrote, “We chose an industry that hadn't changed in centuries and offered no elements of delight to those it was meant to serve.”

The founders recognized that tenants often feel like temporary guests living in somebody else’s home.  Some are treated badly (we’ve all heard our share of landlord horror stories), and often are treated like second-class citizens.  So the company’s mission – concisely put – is to make tenants feel like they belong. 

Central to the vision that these two founders had was to create a company where people who loved their houses  – Belong calls them “homeowners” –  could be connected to people who would love them as much as they do.

If you’re a homeowner – whether you are downsizing, or are dealing with a long-term family home – Ale and O have built a system and culture where you will be incredibly well looked after.

Read about Belong’s unequaled suite of services here.

Belong will find the perfect residents, screen them, and help them move in – and you move out – with precision and care.  They use technology to streamline, and committed Concierges (people, not bots) to make sure everything runs perfectly. 

Once someone moves in, their full-time team of Belong Pros handles all maintenance – expected and unexpected – which is a remarkable service in a world where reliable and talented contractors are in great demand.  It feels great when work is done right the first time around.

Another benefit of Ale and O’s vision is that happy residents – which they enable – will stay longer and reduce vacancies, which are expensive!

If you’re a homeowner, Belong’s founders have built something that can, candidly, rock your world.  Ale, O, and Tyler wrap it up like this:

“We love building products that make people happy. More specifically, we love surprising people with something they never thought could make them happy.”

Disruption is here. Get ready to be delighted.

We're all about convenience for homeowners in CA. For the LA area, here are 6 out of the box home delivery services bringing you everything from cake to cats.

6 Out of The Box Home Delivery Services in LA

Since we're in the business of making managing and finding a rental more convenient, we've collected a list of our favorite conveniences: direct-to-door home delivery. For the LA area, here are 6 out of the box home delivery services bringing you everything from cake to cats. 

Convenience. It’s an accurate but nonetheless uninspiring word to describe the magic of having something wonderful delivered to your front door. The wonder of tapping on your phone a few times and having the exact thing you wanted dropped to your doorstep never seems to get old. Here are six out-of-the-box home delivery services to try in the LA area. 

Now that the kids are back in school, the challenge of making school lunches is back, big time. If you find yourself pressed for time in the morning, consider using lunchbreak4kids. They offer fresh, seasonal food that finds the sweet spot between being healthy and kid-friendly.  With pizza roll-ups and Asian noodle bowls, their tagline – “Peanut butter & jelly is gonna need to hire a publicist” – sounds right to us. Prices start at $8.99 per lunch.

2. "Let them eat cake" (without leaving the sofa)

When Marie Antoinette was told that the people had no bread, she famously replied “Let them eat cake.” Even if she wasn’t being snide, she certainly couldn’t have deserts sent to the peasants who would soon make life (and death) very unpleasant for her.  

You, on the other hand, can send cake to anyone you choose. Or reward yourself. UberEats has put together a handy list of frosting-on-demand resources, which include our personal favorite, the Milk Bar in Melrose. Christina Tosi, the renowned chef behind the Milk Bar, also just published a charming children’s book called Every Cake Has a Story, which should zoom to the top of your holiday gift list.

If you need a dog or cat picked up and delivered – or a horse, rabbit, or butterfly, for that matter – let us point your attention to the quirky thoroughness of Southern California Pet Transport. They are experts in navigating the logistical complexities of getting a pet from Home A to Home B, including whatever veterinary and regulatory requirements are necessary.

You would expect an excess of healthy meal kit delivery services in LA, and there is a leafy overflow to be sure. Within that verdant abundance we were drawn to Territory, who pulls together local chefs, restaurants, and nutritionists in support of a “foodlosophy” – and yes, that is a bit cutesy for our taste – that “allows folks to tap into a “‘reducetarian’ approach” that “reduces overall consumption of the inflammation heavy hitters.”

Given that the holidays are approaching, we thought we’d start to wrap up with some absolutely joyful choices for gift basket delivery.  We turned to Petal Republic as a source for the best LA has to offer; they describe themselves as a “platform to showcase and celebrate exceptional florists, plant shops, garden centers, urban nurseries, and floral experiences…”

Petal Republic has curated a terrific list for just about every occasion and recipient, including this selection from Volcanica Coffee for the caffeine fiends in your life.

Lastly — while being home is a great way to reduce stress, sometimes anxiety follows you through the front door. For those times, we direct your tense scalenes to the capable hands of one of the massage therapists from the capable crowd at Soothe.com

At Belong, we are known for connecting people who own much-loved houses, with people who are ready to extend their love in that same domestic direction. Like the companies on our list, we are using technology to create richer and more meaningful experiences that elevate everything related to home as the center of our lives. Learn more at Belonghome.com

The source of much controversy, the new California law represents a tremendous opportunity to bring neighborhoods together.

The Upside of SB-9 Can Be Stronger and more Vibrant Communities

Starting January 1 of 2022, California Bill SB-9, which many of you have read about, allows homeowners in the state to divide their property into 2 separate lots; though one of the lots the property owners must occupy by law, the other they can put on the rental market. 

It’s been controversial on both sides – advocates believe that the law will help mitigate the housing shortage that has long plagued the state, and that it will help to diversify neighborhoods by providing access to lower income families. 

Meanwhile, on the con side there’s a wide range of criticism: some support the concept, but think the safeguards put in place to prevent developers from taking advantage of the law are too weak; some don’t think the law will have a palpable effect on the housing shortage, pointing to a July study by Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley.

The law was so controversial that Governor Gavin Newsom reportedly let it sit on his desk unsigned until the recall election was over; now that his job status is secure though, and the law has been signed, the debate is behind us. 

SB-9 As an Opportunity To Create Authentic, Belonging Experiences.

At Belong, we have a mission to connect people who have much-loved houses with those ready to move in and extend the love. 

But our mission extends beyond that. It extends to the community. That’s at the heart of what we mean when we say we exist “To create authentic belonging experiences.”

We see S9 as an opportunity to build stronger and more vibrant neighborhoods and communities. Places that inspire that deep sense of belonging.

Yes, it will create more density.  But the upside of density is that it brings more people into neighborhoods. Which means more people to stop by the local coffee shop, pick up something at a bookstore that is the soul of the community, and say hello to the local florist and bring home a succulent for the windowsill.

Yes, we recognize that S9 will also reduce green space, as every square foot of land that a house sits on is a square foot that cannot accommodate a tree.  The way we see it, though, that means every homeowner who takes advantage of S9 has a parallel responsibility to make their outdoor spaces as beautiful as welcoming as possible.

We expect to see some creative and imaginative landscaping techniques being brought to new construction. 

That innovation is being seen in the landscaping of ADUs – Accessory Dwelling Units – which is another change in California zoning that was enacted to cope with the state’s overwhelming housing shortage.  This blog post on landscaping ADUs by Kol Peterson, an expert and champion of ADU development, offers some insight into how greenery and new construction can be married. He wrote:

“ADUs present a subtle but entirely new type of social relationship opportunity for the tenants and owners. The relationship between the occupants of the house and ADU is typically not as intimate as the relationship of housemates, but typically is closer than the relationship of a typical neighbor.

“Parts of the yard, driveway, gardens, patio, and storage may be shared, and other parts may serve as dedicated spaces for one unit or the other. Landscaping has the potential to give visual cues to the occupant and guests  about the use of the property.”

Though Kol’s perceptive comments were specifically pointed towards the internal dynamics of a property – again, to create a sense of “belong” in an entirely new spatial environment – the same applies to the outward-facing aesthetics of the buildings to be built under SB-0.

Neighborhoods have always been in a dynamic state of change. They react to changing needs and norms. SB-9 is just the latest example of that. So the question becomes: How do we make the most of it?

At Belong – where we connect homeowners and residents to live richer and more fulfilling lives – we believe that will make our neighborhoods stronger and more diverse.

We are confident that homeowners who take advantage of S9 will join us in this mission. Together, we can make more housing units on the same property create more wins for all.

Houseplants are a great way to brighten up any home and a budget-friendly way to add value and warmth to a rental property. Here are 5 of our favorites.

5 Plants That Will Brighten Your Rental Investment Instantly

Houseplants are a great way to brighten up any home without a massive investment, making them a budget-friendly way to add value and warmth to a rental property. Here are 5 of our favorite house plants for adding life to rental homes. 

Think of the trends we’ve seen emerge on Instagram and elsewhere over the course of the past year and a half: puppies, sourdough, and houseplants. It is no coincidence that all these trends revolve around living, breathing things — yes, even sourdough, with its bacteria and yeast giving rise to each and every X-scored loaf. In fact it makes perfect sense: inundated with such dark news it’s no surprise that, subconsciously or not, people began to surround themselves with things that grow, change, and give us hope for the future. Because when we see things growing we feel more alive. 

That’s why Belong encourages everyone in their community, homeowners and residents alike, to cultivate some plant life in their homes. We all know what a charge of life we feel when we walk into a space filled with plants. What’s more, if a plant looks healthy and cared for, it feels safe to assume that the house it lives in is treated just as well, if not better.

We’ve written before about how to build a beautiful backyard, but to help you spruce up the inside of your home, here’s our list of 5 great houseplants.

We love the look of palms in general — the fronds spreading like the fingers of a hand, so thin and delicate and beautiful they seem to be waving at you, calling for your attention.  But most palms require a lot of care and a lot of sunlight. The Lady Palm is the exquisite exception; though it doesn’t lack for palminess, it also doesn’t need much sunlight, making it a perfect indoor plant.

There’s something about the spongy leaves of a jade plant that we find wonderfully sumptuous. They’re as pleasing to look at as they are to touch, too: the beautiful contrast between the thick, heavy branches and the beautiful contoured leaves is a visual.  They’re also very easy to care for: because they’re succulents they can sometimes go months without being watered!

What’s more, the jade plant is also called the lucky plant or money plant, which makes it a wonderful present for a homeowner to leave for a new resident.

Like the idea of a succulent, but looking for something a little more visual drama than a jade provides?  A snake plant might be right for you.  Its leaves are long and flat and far more striking than the jade’s. But much like succulent cousin, it only needs to be watered occasionally (in fact, in the winter, it can go up to 2 months without any H2O).  And it doesn’t need a lot of light to thrive, making it ideal for apartments and rooms that don’t get much sun!  Also, a NASA study shows that it actually cleans the air. 

A flowering plant, the clusters of pretty, pink blossoms add a pop of color and a lovely scent to any room.  They only need indirect sunlight and are drought resistant, too, which makes them the ideal plant for novice plant owners. 

A hanging plant with long cascades of delicate vines, the String of Hearts adds a touch of drama to any room.  It retains water well, too, so it doesn’t require helicopter plant parenting, and its pink stems and waxy leaves make it more colorful than your typical houseplant.

There are lots of ways to create a home that someone will love, but there’s nothing that creates as much impact with as little cost or effort as houseplants! If you're looking for bigger changes, check out the top design trends for 2022. 

Make your home stand out and capture more rent – quickly and affordably – in our fitness-obsessed culture

Home Fitness Ideas Under $300 To Add Muscle To Your Rental Listing

Make your home stand out and capture more rent – quickly and affordably – in our fitness-obsessed culture.

Few amenities are more attractive to potential renters than a gym. Given the health and wellness trends sweeping the country – and the reluctance many still have to exposing themselves to heavy-breathers at a gym – you can easily see how home fitness equipment can differentiate a property and give you the ability to charge more for it. Of course, some investments – like a $2,800 vertical climber – are simply not worth it.  

But there are many price-effective opportunities to add a fitness component to your home.  

The first question you may be asking, though, is where to put all this stuff? After all, most homes are not big enough to convert an entire room into a state-of-the-art fitness facility. Thankfully, there are some practical solutions that will surprise you with their ease and creativity.

You don't need to remodel your rental to add a gym or home fitness space. This link to more than 30 inspired solutions from HGTV will spark your imagination. They range from the back of a door to a garage cubby to an attic or basement. Depending on the climate you live in, an outdoor gym can also be a great solution.

Once you figure out where you are going to locate the gym, the next step is to decide how to want to outfit it. For the smallest spaces, you might want to consider suspension training systems, which consist of a series of ropes and belts that are suspended from a single point. That can be a doorway, the wall above a window, or even a tree. They are affordable – many are under $75 and $150 will get you a premium model – and some come with an app, which you can offer to your tenants as well. Here’s a link to the seven best, according to Healthline.

Affordable home fitness equipment for rentals with small spaces

If you have a small area within a larger room that you can screen off, it can be outfitted with a collection of workout equipment that will deliver a lot of bang for the buck. (Here are some tips we found on Pinterest for separating a gym from the rest of the room.)  This new “gym niche”   can include kettlebells; a balance trainer; slides or wheels that provide core stability and won’t mess up your floors; and this sweet Core Max Ab Machine, which, ringing in at an affordable $109, is the most expensive of the lot (and that includes the “power assist rebound system”).

Affordable home gyms to fit into rental homes

If you have the space to spare you might be surprised at how affordable some larger workout equipment can be. This space-saving, quiet-running treadmill is just $260. Needless to say, you can spend more, but people aren’t expecting Equinox-level equipment in a rental place. This folding exercise bike is just $129. There are also folding treadmills available – here’s a solid-looking one for $380 – so if you want to give your tenants the ability to turn their gym back into the living room, that flexibility is easily achievable.

We were also drawn to this compact rowing machine for $300, as well as this Weider Home Gym system – complete with a high and low pulley stations, a 4-foam padded leg developer, and an 80-pound weight stack that, when used with pulleys, can offer more than 200 pounds of total resistance.  (Forgive us for sounding like a commercial, but that value carries a lot of weight with us.)  Indeed, there is a lot of innovative workout equipment available – for example, for just $119 you can get a “Fusion Motion” portable gym tricked out with 8 accessories that include heavy resistance bands, an ab roller wheel, and more – enough for a full-body workout. 

If you think you’re going to have tenants who need to take out their frustration somewhere, try this free-standing punching bag for just $209. If, on the other hand, you want to satisfy someone whose idea of fitness is to jump on a vibrating exercise machine, this nifty LifePro Vibration Plate Exercise Machine, which delivers a whole body workout through its vibration fitness platform – we’re in! – is just $198. And, if you want to make your gym feel even more special, you can add this cute little retro-styled Frigidaire for just $195. The side bottle opener is a very cool touch, must say.

Of course, these home enhancements are not going to replicate what a gym can offer, but they are likely to be an unexpected surprise that makes a home special and easier to fall in love with – while saying something meaningful about you at the same time.

Add serious muscle to your rental returns with Belong

Like leotards and legwarmers, property management is so 80's. If you really want to strengthen your rental investment, consider ditching the suits and joining the industry disrupter, Belong. We'll take care of everything to get you the best possible return and residents for your home. Learn more at belonghome.com. 

Make your rental listing stand out and capture more rent in our fitness-obsessed culture with these home gym ideas under $300

It says everything about their value system and why the difference between homeowners and residents is actually no difference at all.

This Property Manager Just Wrote an Open Letter to the Local Community

Dear Residents, Homeowners, HOA members, and Neighbors,

We’ve heard both sides of the story — anecdotes from renters and HOA members alike, about the tension that often develops between people who own homes in the community and people who don’t. 

There’s a perception that renters don’t contribute to the communities they reside in, because they aren’t really part of those communities.  They can’t possibly care about the neighborhood the way a homeowner would, because they aren’t homeowners.

That’s dead wrong and perpetuates a negative stereotype that polarizes a community when it needs to be brought together.

The truth:  you have no idea what people can contribute to a community if you make them feel part of it.  Make them feel like they belong.

That’s a good hint for how we came up with the name of our company, and our mission: to help instill in residents of all kinds a genuine sense of belonging.  It’s a feeling that starts with their relationship to the house they live in and spreads from there.  The more they feel at home in their homes, the more they feel at home in their community; the more they feel motivated to improve it, invest in it, and be the best neighbors they can be.

It starts with the first time we meet potential residents.   We have a real conversation, one which goes far deeper than a simple background and credit check.  

Then, after they move in, we provide them with concierge-style service and access to our Belong Pros — a hand-selected team of craftspeople employed full-time by Belong, who are at the ready 24/7 to fix any problems that may arise over the course of their lease. 

The result is happy, prideful residents living in beautiful, pristinely maintained houses that they love as much as the homeowner does. 

From there, it’s only a short step to caring about your neighborhood the same way you care about your house. 

That’s why HOAs in the places we serve – San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, and Orange County - are so excited when Belongers move in. 

Care to learn more?  Watch this video — and then check out our website.  Or email us any time if you want to work together to make your community even stronger.

Landlords that self-manage their rental property regular encounter these three stressful problems, but there are ways to cope and even eliminate them.

3 Problems That Trip Up People Self-Managing Rental Property

No spoiler alert required: life is full of problems. If you are self-managing a rental property – whether it is a house or apartment – you know that you have more problems than most. Here are three common ones and how to eliminate them. 

The best way to deal with all the added stress of managing your own rental home is to acknowledge, understand, and minimize the problems. With that in mind, what follows are what we determined are the three most repeatable problems you might face, with some suggestions for coping with them.

There are two sets of expectations included here: yours, and those of your tenants or residents.  

Let’s start with you. It’s important to understand if you are the kind of person who sets unrealistic expectations for yourself, because the consequences of that can create problems of their own.

Indeed, as this article from Psychology Today points out, there are the “perils of perfectionism.” As the author writes, “The failure to embrace our humanity with its joys, sorrows, and imperfections leads to a rigid sense of self that shatters easily when we miss our goals.”

Being a landlord means that you will make mistakes on occasion. The key is learning from them. So don’t get trapped in cycles of self-punishment or you will actually make it more difficult to succeed next time. You might not have responded fast enough to the knock on the furnace, but it wasn’t because you are a bad person or don’t care about your house or your tenant.

And speaking of tenants, it’s important for your emotional well-being and success as a landlord to establish ground rules from the beginning. Let them know, first of all, that they are living in a house you love, and you are committed to keeping it in tip-top shape for your sake and theirs.

Explain that you will be super-responsive to true emergencies, or situations that require immediate attention. But at the same time, you will need to triage, and that they should appreciate that, too. Most people are reasonable and once you set the ground rules – and make it clear that you are not a professional landlord – problems should sort themselves out.

When things happen unexpectedly in life, they are far more stressful than things we anticipate and can plan for. This also applies to being a landlord.

For example, you may know that you need to replace your furnace - because your plumber told you that it’s time – so you can get estimates and plan for it, without crushing urgency.

However, if your rental property’s furnace decides to give up the ghost in the middle of the winter, and you have to respond immediately – without the luxury of investigating and researching – well, that’s a high-stress moment. In these situations, if you can't respond immediately, you risk the home being classed as uninhabitable and your tenants could withhold rent. 

First, keep things in perspective. Don’t focus on “how disruptive the event is;” instead pause and assess – determine if the situation is as bad as it might seem at first. Then develop a game plan. And of course, work to manage your stress along the way; WebMD has some great advice here.

It happens all the time, sadly, and dealing with it is never an easy emotional journey. But when you are a landlord, relying on multiple people – including your tenant, your contractors, and others in the rental ecosystem – it can happen a great deal.

Perhaps a tenant acted improperly by not respecting your home, but not living up to their side of the bargain. Or perhaps a contractor let you down by not being on time, or delivering shoddy work. It happens and we have to deal with it.

Again, we turn to the experts at Psychology Today. They have some solid advice to share, which includes “allow your feelings.” “Decide if you need to speak up” and “acknowledge your unmet needs.” The latter is deep – is it related to feelings unrelated to the issue at hand? – but worth consideration.

The stress-free alternative to self-managing your rental

These problems are unavoidable when you make the decision to manage your own property, yet completely eliminated if you rent your home with Belong. Belong is the modern property management company that takes on all the major – and minor – pain points of being a landlord. Specific to the challenges raised in this article, Belong establishes and maintains the highest of expectations from both our homeowners and residents, thanks to a unique combination of an end-to-end digital platform, and 24/7 Concierge services. This means that those "out of left field” problems and disappointments can be immediately addressed and solved, and that no one is ever, ever let down.

If you’re interested in learning more about Belong – and how we are transforming the property management business – check out belonghome.com/homeowners.

We hope the songs compiled here trigger within you, as they do within us, the power of home – especially relevant after Thanksgiving and before Christmas.

A Playlist to Get You in a Homey State of Mind

We here at Belong are constantly obsessing over all things home-related.  Our ears — and hearts — perk up whenever we hear the word.  Which is probably why we respond so immediately and emotionally to the songs collected on this playlist -- songs that communicate what we feel when we help connect people to the places where they live -- and the people they live with.

Without further ado, our favorite songs about home from the 60s and 70s:

1. Homeward Bound — Simon and Garfunkel

2. Our House — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 

Sure, boomers got a lot of things wrong — we’re not going to position ourselves on the unfashionable side of that argument — but it’s hard to deny the appeal of these two songs, which we’ve always thought of as two sides of the same coin.  The Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song revels in the comfort and stability promised by home, while the Simon and Garfunkel tune longs for those very qualities. It’s the difference between being there and wanting to be there. 

3. Wouldn’t It Be Nice — The Beach Boys

The other thing about boomers is they know from their harmonies.  Though the word “home” never appears in the lyrics of this song, the bliss they describe is specifically domestic.  It’s the joy of living with someone you love, in a house that you love, that makes this song so timeless. 

4. The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest — Bob Dylan

Surrealistic, yet earthy, it’s difficult to pin down the exact meaning of this song (as is often the case with Dylan’s lyrics).  Though when Dylan sings “It’s not a house / It’s a home” we know precisely what he’s talking about.  In fact, it’s this idea that Belong is built on — the idea that a house only becomes a true home through the relationship its residents develop with it. It’s love and familiarity that make a house a home: without that emotional component, it’s just wood and cement.

5. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere — Neil Young

The title song of Young’s breakthrough as a solo artist, “Everybody Knows” expresses how meaningful home is to the singer, by telling us how unimportant everywhere else is.  If he’s not there, he’s nowhere, drifting in the void.  A powerful thought, set to a jaunty, gutbucket guitar figure.  And something you can imagine exerts a powerful lure to a musician who spent so much time on the road.

6. Take Me Home, Country Roads — John Denver

Though Belong doesn’t yet operate in West Virginia – yet! –  we still relate to the warm, ecstatic love for home that this song expresses, and the sense of yearning we feel when we’re anywhere else but home.   

Having spent Thanksgiving week in a tryptophan dream watching Get Back on Disney Plus, we are fonder than ever of this acoustic ditty that finds Paul McCartney and John Lennon duetting for one of the very last times.  Like the John Denver song, it has a homey tug, a nostalgic vibe perfectly suited to the subject matter.  Which is the beautiful thing about a home you love — you feel wistful thinking about it, but unlike most things that make you feel that way, it’s always there waiting for you at the end of the day.

Like Robert Frost said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.”

8. Looking Out My Back Door — Creedence Clearwater Revival

One of the Dude’s favorites — and one of our favorites, too — this Creedence classic tells the story of a man coming home and immediately feeling so comfortable there that he stumbles into a surrealist fantasia.  From his porch he sees a giant doing cartwheels and a statue in high heels, imploring the listener to “look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.” Rarely has the surreal and psychedelic felt so comforting and familiar. 

We’d be remiss if we didn’t list this roots-rock staple, which proves that home isn’t only where the heart is, but where the imagination thrives. 

10. The House I Live In – Frank Sinatra

And to conclude, something a little different – this classic ballad sung by the inimitable Frank Sinatra, that broadens the definition of home, taking in not only the building you live in, but the neighborhood, the state, and the country.  In these trying times, it is songs like these that remind us of the spirit that unites us all.

This holiday season, we hope that this collection of songs makes you feel the way we do -- like you Belong somewhere.

While innovating and replacing traditional property management services, we have been faced with a dilemma on what to call our services, tenants and landlords.

Belong is Innovating Property Management

Belong is innovating property management — to the point where it breaks every norm and convention of the category. But people like to put even the freshest and most disruptive ideas into boxes. So what should we do?

Belong was started because its founders believed that the world of property management was fundamentally broken. It didn’t serve the people who owned homes, or the people who they rented to. It needed a re-boot.

When you fix something, though — and fix it in a way that it doesn’t resemble what came before – how do you describe that? It’s not as easy as it seems. Do you use the language that people know – even when it’s misleading – or do you invent a new language, and possibly confuse people?

That was Belong’s dilemma. We weren’t the first. As an example of what others faced, Apple still called the iPhone a phone, though it was completely different from what came before it. They didn’t call it an “enhanced intelligent communicator.”

Starbucks positioned itself as a “third place” between home and work, and with its comfy couches that invite you to stay a while, and beautifully designed aesthetics, it is indeed a different world than your traditional coffee shop. But they proudly declare themselves as Starbucks Coffee, even as they demonstrate every day that they’re not what they say they are.

That gives us some comfort.  After all, when people search for “property manager” or “rental agreement” on Google — and millions of people do that every day — they need to find us.  If they weren’t able to, that would make us useless – a cool new idea that no one knows about, understands, or has a framework to put us in.  

What’s more (and to level with you) we face a similar issue with terms like “landlord and “tenant.”  We hate, hate, hate to be associated with them. They are feudal and inherently create an adversary framework.  That’s why we came up with a new Belong vocabulary, where our community is described as consisting of  “Homeowners” and “Renters.” That’s certainly warmer and friendlier language, but again, because people already know what landlords and renters are – probably too well – we hold our noses and use those terms when we need to be super-clear.

But – at the end of the day –  we have enough trust in community to recognize what we are, and how different we are, no matter what we call ourselves.

The happy truth is, when people find us - and then discover what we are able to do for them -  they come to their own conclusions.  They say to themselves things like:

A property manager who guarantees rent? Unheard of!

A property manager who will find people to love my house as much as I do? That’s what I’ve been waiting for!

A property manager that hires and assigns and manages its own contractors? Impossible!

A property manager that gives me sweet digital access to my entire experience? You’ve got to be kidding!

A property manager that does all that? It would be a disservice to call them a property manager!

So there you have it.  Sounds like we need to embrace the language others use, while simultaneously making it clear that dated terminology doesn’t apply. 

It’s a contradiction, but one we will need to live with.

Self-managing a rental home is challenging. Discover 7 issues you're likely to face and how to overcome them when taking a DIY approach to property management.

Top Challenges of Self-Managing a Rental Home (and How to Overcome Them)

Self-managing a rental home is not an easy road to passive income or long-term wealth creation. Most first-time rental owners confess it quickly became the second job they never asked for. But there are plenty of reasons why homeowners decide to roll up their sleeves and take control of their own rental property management. From the budget-conscious to the experienced and savvy hobbyists, DIY property management can be profitable if done well. 

If you’ve ever asked yourself “do I really need a property manager?” or even “how hard could it be?”, this article will get into the nitty gritty of navigating self management as a rental homeowner.

While you can avoid property management fees, successful self management of a rental home means taking on a lot of responsibility, legal liability, and work.



Over 7.7million households in the US are behind on their rent payments, so safe and effective rent collection is a must 



Local cities and jurisdictions have their own ordinances above standard housing laws, so do your research for your local area before putting your home on the rental market. 



Understanding your strengths and weaknesses as a property manager will help you determine what to take on yourself and when to outsource to professionals. 

What’s involved in managing your own rental property?

First things first, what does successful self-management look like for rental homeowners? It’s not as easy as listing your home online and kicking back while the cash rolls in. When you take on the responsibility of managing your own rental home, think of it like starting a business that you are in charge of. You’ll need to run your home like a business and keep tax documentation in the same way. 

Here is an idea of the kind of tasks you’ll be responsible for on an ongoing basis when you self-manage your own rental property:

Setting up accounting and bookkeeping to manage your rental income and tax

Getting up to speed with local laws and regulations including fair housing laws, tenant rights, eviction processes in your area, and safety regulations

Preparing your house for the rental market, including cleaning and repairs

Securing appropriate insurance coverage for liability, property damage, and potential rental income loss

Photographing and taking video of the home for marketing purposes

Analyzing your local rental market to determine a monthly rental price

Creating an online listing and marketing the home on popular rental websites

Running background checks and calling references for potential residents

Preparing and signing a lease agreement that complies with local rules and regulations

Arranging a move-in date and conducting a pre-entry inspection, keeping a record of the home’s condition

Collecting rent and tracking regular payments

Managing an ongoing relationship with your residents, including being responsive to maintenance and repair requests

Maintaining the property or hiring professional contractors

Arranging regular home inspections to check in with residents and track wear and tear vs damage

Financial management and ongoing documentation of all income, expenses, and communication for tax and compliance purposes

Renew lease at the end of the rental period or manage the move-out process

Inspect the home for wear and tear vs damage to assess and document if there is a security deposit claim

Return any owed security deposit, minus the cost of repairs or extra cleaning 

How time-consuming and challenging these tasks are will depend on the age and scale of your rental home, how far away you live from the property, the residents you choose and whether or not they are compliant with the lease conditions. 

Next we’ll jump into some of the more common challenges of self-management for rental owners. This will be followed by tips for more effective management of your rental home. 

What are the common challenges of self-managing a rental? (and how to prepare for them)

Taking the DIY approach to managing your rental home will come with plenty of ups and downs. Here are seven challenges you should be aware of and how you can address them for more effective self-management of your rental home. 

1. Self-managing a rental home is a drain on your time and energy 

Money is often a driving force behind why people choose to manage their own rental home. It’s common to do a budget and look at what savings could be made by cutting out property management fees. What people forget to account for is how much of their time and energy to budget for. If you have a full time job, live a long distance from the rental home, or are generally time-poor, you could end up spending more than you bargained for trying to find and piece together help when you need it. 

After the financial budget, look at a budget for your time. This will help you determine if you really have capacity to take on the job of property manager. Include allowances for travel time to and from the home, marketing (photography, creating listings, responding to applicants), legal compliance and paperwork, managing repairs and contractors, ongoing communication and inspections, accounting and bookkeeping, and turnover in the home. 

2. You’ll need to chase rent if residents fall behind with their payments

US Census data reported that as between March - May 2023, more than 7.7 million renters were behind on their rental payments, or roughly 13% of rented households. That means there are millions of homeowners with a dent in their cash flow, scrambling to cover expenses while chasing rental income. When you are the property owner and manager, the onus is on you to chase rent every month, which is not a challenge everyone is up for. 

Going the extra mile to do your due diligence on finding the right residents for your home can go a long way in protecting your cash flow. But nothing is foolproof. Anyone can fall on hard times and get behind on rent. Keep your lines of communication open and try to find the payment schedule that best fits into their budget. Be careful with platforms that aren't designed to handle rent too, such as PayPal and Venmo. 

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