Benicia Property Management thoughts and stories

Christmas Toy Drive

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 21:27:44 GMT

Helping our Community

Both Veronica and I believe in the spirit of "paying it forward" and helping with a Christmas Toy Drive is just one way are able to do that. Growing up, neither of our families had a lot of resources, and so as children we both benefited from the generosity of strangers helping our families. So, our motive is very simple and easy to understand. Someone helped us, so we help someone else. We hope the trend will continue and they will someday be able to then help another person.

This year we partnered with Faith Food Fridays, which is a long-standing local non-profit that helps people year-round with free food and groceries. During the holiday season, they like to add in a Toy Drive for the kids. We know and trust Faith Food Friday's and have worked with them before so we are happy to be a location for people to drop off toys for their Toy Drive this year. We will deliver all toys collected to Faith Food Fridays and they will handle wrapping and distributing the toys to local kids in need.

So, please bring unwrapped new toys to our office at 917 1st Street, in the big red barrel, and the rest will be taken care of. You can know that your generosity is helping kids in our local community.

Thank you for helping the kids.

The Benicia Drone Guy

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 21:07:51 GMT

"Hey, you're the Drone Guy"

When out photographing Benicia rental homes for our listings, part of what I do is fly a drone to take aerial photos and video. Even though people don't usually spend the money for this on rental homes, we do. This allows us to show off a perspective on the homes or nearby area that you just don't get from standing on the ground. We think this is best for everyone.

Well, the other day a friendly person saw me and said "Hey, I recognize you, you're the drone guy!"

I hadn't realized that I was so recognizable to be called "The Drone Guy!"

When he said that, I was finishing up and had the drone in a low stationary hover so I was able to chat with him for a minute, and answer a few questions. After that, it occurred to me that I often get asked similar questions so thought I'd share some FAQ's.

Some common drone questions and answers:

Do you need to be licensed to fly the drone?

Yes, for what I use the drone for I do need to be and I have an FAA Part 107 pilot license.

Why won't you look at me when I talk to you?

Well, if I have the drone up in the air, I need to maintain visual contact with where I am flying. It's kind of like wanting the driver in your car to keep their eyes on the road for safety reasons. The drone is often at tree top, or power pole, height and collisions do occur. I keep my eyes on the drone to avoid collisions. I'm also not very talkative when focusing on the drone in flight. I'm happy to talk once I have the drone either landed or in a very safe and stationary position.

Can the drone see into windows?

No, not really. If you think about it, during the daytime outside is much brighter than inside a home. When the drone is up in the air, windows look like dark squares, and small ones at that. Just trying looking at a window across the street from you on a bright day. You really can't see much inside, and that's when you're standing closer to the window than the drone is to the window. The exceptions are very large windows, like at stores, with bright lights on during the daytime. I haven't seen a house yet that his this situation.

Have you ever crashed the drone?

Yes, more than once! Depth perception is a real challenge when the background is a solid blue sky. You can usually tell if you are higher than compared to the distance of the drone. It can be challenging to determine if an obstacle a city block away is the same distance from you as the drone in flight, or if one is closer than the other. I understand that most frequent drone pilots have had crashes.

Why is the drone over my house if you're taking pics of the house across the street?

I get asked this one a lot and the answer is simple. Think of when you take a photo of your friend. You are not standing directly over them looking down on the top of their head. You are off to the side looking towards them to catch their smile. The same concept applies to taking an aerial photo of a home. The camera (drone) needs to be "off to the side" to get an angle looking back to the home to take the photo.

Isn't it illegal to fly over my house?

Short answer is "no." Homeowners do not own the airspace over their property. This is the jurisdiction of the FAA so that they can govern all aircraft consistently. Even local police do not have jurisdiction over airspace since the FAA is Federal. Per the FAA, the drone can fly in the air space above your house, just like an airliner can fly in the airspace above your house.

Of course, just like cell phone camera or any other situation, the drone is not to be used to invade people's privacy. In this regard, the same "peeping Tom" types of laws that would apply to cell phone cameras also apply to drone cameras. The difference is that, just because you can see the drone, that doesn't mean it's looking at you. It is most likely looking at the house across the street or down the block.

How high can it fly?

Legally, I can only fly it to an elevation of 400'. Realistically, for the photos I need, it is usually no more that 150' above ground. The technology of the drone would allow it to fly much higher, but I have no interest in getting in trouble with the FAA so I haven't tried.

How much does it cost?

Too much! It's not just the drone itself but the batteries, controller and the rest of the kit.

Do you have any other questions? Let me know and I'll be happy to answer (so long as the drone isn't near a tree!)

Can You Find Me Tenants Just Like The Last Ones?

Fri, 17 May 2024 20:33:36 GMT

Finding Benicia Property Management "tenants just like the last ones"

The other day, a Benicia Property Management client that we had done a "placement-only" for a few years ago called.

We hadn't heard from him in quite a while and now we found out why. The tenants that we had placed for him worked out great and he had never seen a reason to call us for the entire time that they lived in his rental home. All good things must end and the time had finally come for his renters to move on.

So, he called us again and his words to us were "Can you find me tenants just like the last ones?" So, on the market it went... We have just found him renters that passed the same qualifying guidelines as his prior tenants that had stayed with him for those years. So, while we can't predict the future, we've done our best to "find him tenants just like the last ones."

Let's see how long it is before he calls us back next time for our Benicia Property Management services.

Rental Qualification Criteria and Common Questions

Sun, 24 Mar 2024 21:53:51 GMT

Why these exist and some common questions about them

Renting a home is making an agreement - the renter pays rent money and receives a place to live. The renter gets “right of possession” in exchange for the rental payment. All of this get formalized in the Rental Agreement.

The home is a “fixed asset”which basically means that the home isn’t going anywhere.

But, the rent is not a “fixed asset.” Instead it is a promise to make future payments.

Obviously the property owner wants confidence that the promised future payments will be made. It’s kind of like if you to loan somebody money. You want to know they can pay you back.

For housing, we also have Fair Housing Laws, which prohibit unequal treatment based upon many protected characteristics. That is a whole detailed legal topic we won’t get into here. But, in everyday life, those Housing laws mean that property management companies need to treat people equally.

So, the property owner wants assurance that those promised future payments will be made, while property management companies need to treat people equally.

That is where rental qualification criteria come in. They are pretty standard at all management companies, and are to give confidence that those “future promised payments” will be made, but they need to be applied to all people equally.

There is a lot of detail in this topic, but some frequent questions are:

Question: Who has to be on the application?

Answer: Anyone who is 18 years or older, or will become 18 during the term of the lease.

2. Question: Where does the application fee go?

Answer: We don’t make any profit from application fees. The entire fee is paid to a third party that provides information to help complete the process. We strongly encourage people to study the application criteria BEFORE applying, so you can decide for yourself if it is worth paying the application fee.

3. Question: I don’t meet the criteria because XYZ. Can you still rent to me?

Answer: We usually see this question related to credit score. Because of Housing Laws, there isn’t flexibility for “special cases.” If we allow one exception but not another, it could be treating people unequally. This often confuses people. We understand. Sometimes laws, even good ones, don’t work with the real world.

An alternative is to find a home being rented by a private owner. They have much more flexibility in choosing renters. Also, some apartment communities may have different rental criteria that are worth looking into.

4. Question: Are you serious that you want income to be 3 times the rent amount?

Answer: Yes, this is based on an old financial rule of thumb to target spending no more than 30% (or so) of your income on rent so you have income left over for other expenses such as food, utilities, transportation, clothing, etc. Google terms like “how much income should you spend on rent” to read more. However, the incomes of all of the renters in the home can be added together to get to this threshold.

5. Question: What takes a rental home off of the market?

Answer: Paying the deposit takes the home off of the market. This means that even if one person has started the application process first, but not placed a deposit, another person can secure the home by placing the deposit.

We hope this information proves useful. We are happy to answer more questions if you reach out directly to us.

Welcome Gifts for new Delgado Property Management residents

Sat, 17 Feb 2024 22:29:02 GMT

Why we give Welcome Gifts to our new Delgado Property Management residents

We have been giving Welcome Gifts to new residents for a little while now. Typically we give a nice plant from out favorite florist, Daughter of Luna. Not only is the quality of their plants unmatched, they are just a couple doors down from us on 1st Street, so it's nice to give business to our neighbors.

Sometimes we add in a toy if the new resident will have pets, but you can always count on the Welcome Gift plant!

We believe that moving into a new home is a moment to be celebrated and acknowledged. That is why we give the Welcome Gift. We also try to capture the moment with a photo! Some people are camera shy or, since it's moving day, they feel they're not dressed for a photo. So, we don't get photos of everyone, but we get enough!

From the smiles you can see that doing this is a good start to the resident-property manager relationship, which is a bonus for everyone.

As far as we know, we're the only Benicia Property Management company that goes out of our way like this to give a gift to new residents! It's maybe a small touch, but it's a nice touch and so we keep doing it.

To see an entire gallery of Welcome Gift photos (maybe your own picture is in there?) click the Pinterest image below:

Sneak Peek of Coming Soon homes

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 02:11:28 GMT

See homes BEFORE they are marketed

CLICK IMAGE ABOVE

Finding the Benicia rental home you want can be a challenge. One thing that doesn't make it any easier is when someone else gets the home first, before you. This can be your "rental hack" where you can see homes before they are marketed! See the home first and get a jump on it before the other guys do!

Delgado Property Management Gallery

Wed, 03 Jan 2024 01:20:22 GMT

Why would a Property Management Company have a gallery? Great question and we have the answer

We take photos of homes, a lot of homes, and a lot of pictures!

But, rental listings are short-lived. Once the home is rented, the listing disappears from the internet. So, those photographs also disappear! When a client recently asked us to "show him examples of our listings" we could show him the then-current listings, but that was it. We wanted to be able to show other listing photos from homes that already rented.

And so was born the idea for a gallery website. To showcase our beautiful homes and how we can present them in photos. We think we do an alright job of showing each home we represent, and take pride in our marketing.

The gallery website allows us to organize photos by type, and also a few sample listings so you can get the "whole picture" of how take the entire set of listing photos, and video, and social media posts. Yes, we do a lot, but we enjoy it.

So, check out the website here: Gallery

Let us know what you think, or what else you'd like to see!

The Benicia Waterfront

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 23:14:53 GMT

Benicia's waterfront is a special place you won't find anywhere else

Benicia's attractive location can be attributed to many different things beyond our Benicia Waterfront. Convenient driving distance to San Francisco to the west and Sacramento to the east is one point of attraction. Great weather is another attractive feature.

Yet, it is Benicia itself that provides a great deal of what both visitors and residents of Benicia love. Benicia is a small town nestled against the Carquinez Strait right before it opens up into San Pablo Bay, which in turn feeds San Francisco Bay.

This means that, though located some 40 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, Benicia is a waterfront town. Benicia's history is steeped in stories of docks and wooden ships. In fact, I read once that Benicia's location, with easy access to seagoing ships and NOT stuck on the end of a peninsula like San Francisco, made for long ago heated competition between what we now view as sleepy little Benicia and big city San Francisco to be the "big" port serving northern California. If you think about it, the land route from Benicia to the Central Valley is much more convenient that the "pre-bridges" land route from San Francisco to the Central Valley. I'm told that politics determined the outcome of San Francisco winning that competition. I suspect that time and ships getting bigger would have resulted in the same conclusion since San Francisco has much deeper water than Benicia.

What does this all mean for us today? Well, the large wooden ships and their docks are long gone. What we have now are waterfront homes and smaller docks for private boats. We also have waterfront parks, walking trails and a predictable afternoon breeze in the summer. We also get to enjoy "sleepy" little Benicia while the big cities have their massive ports and cranes.

In the end, Benicians get to enjoy our Benicia waterfront. I'd say that we're doing pretty good for ourselves.

Why do we take pictures of faucets and light fixtures?

Sun, 27 Aug 2023 21:15:00 GMT

It's a fair question - what is our fascination with faucets and light fixtures?

We started several years ago, this little quirk of taking photos of faucets and light fixtures. We take the photos from different angles, maybe play with the focus to get that cool background blur, sometimes lights on or off, whatever we think is fun.

But why?

Well, a couple of reasons really. Mainly, we think they're interesting. After all, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, door hardware and the like are what help to give homes their individual character. Yeah, they do the mundane work of "holding light bulbs" or "dispensing water" but, when they are unique in any way, they bring variety and a certain pizzaz to the space.

We like that.

Think about it, all homes have painted walls and ceilings and can sort of look the same. It's the fixtures, flooring and doors that can be personalized to make a home different and unique. There is also a bit of mystery, and history, behind these choices. We can wonder when these changes were made to the home and what the person making the decision was like and what their vision for the home was.

They are amenities

We think that, for example, a unique door knob, is an amenity. For the person who may be interested in renting the home, we think that showing of these often overlooked amenities helps them to understand the details of the home. Also, getting in close to appreciate these details compliments the "stand in the corner and shoot the room" style that so many other people use.

It gets attention

Yes, we have received many comments, from both interested renters and also the homeowners, that our focus on these details helps them to appreciate the home in a way they would have missed. This is fun. It's also fun to us that sometimes we see other photographers start to imitate our style and sprinkle in these detailed photos. What's the old saying? " Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery "

So, look for our rental home listings, and see how many detailed shots we include of door knobs, flooring, faucets and the like. It's fun.

What are those Tile Murals around town?

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 23:45:42 GMT

Ever wonder who created those tile Murals in the sidewalk up and down First St?

If you've strolled First St, you've surely noticed the tile murals sprinkled in the sidewalk from end to end of this Benicia "Main Drag," amongst the coffee shops, art galleries and vintage clothing stores.

There are similar murals prominently displayed outside our Benicia Veterans Memorial Hall at the top of First Street.

The artist behind these is Guillermo Wagner Granizo and his is a story that needs to be shared. He was born in San Francisco in 1923 and lived a storied life including living in several countries, graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute and become the first Art Director of local TV Station KRON producing sets for them until 1959. As written on a website created by his family:

Granizo devoted all of his energies to the rendering of ceramic tile murals and mosaics with special attention to the creatives uses of color glazes. In the late 70's he began an extraordinary career transformation as a ceramic tile muralist, historian and fine artist. Many of his works are on public display in many cities in California, the U.S. and the world. The most prominent cities displaying his art are in San Francisco, Benicia, Hillsborough, Napa, Pleasanton, Vacaville and Los Angeles. Additional works are displayed in Alaska, New Mexico, Philadelphia, Utah, Australia, Europe, Mexico, Guatemala, Japan and Nicaragua to name a few.

Sometimes it's the Schools

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 19:27:05 GMT

People decide where to live for all sorts of reasons, sometimes it's because of the schools

People move for many reasons, including new job opportunities, be closer to family etc. When it comes to deciding on the exact home people want, they consider things such as how many bedrooms, or if the property takes pets or many other reasons.

But, before people even get that the sort of detail, they often first narrow down what towns or neighborhoods they would prefer to relocate to. Sometimes, a big influence on that decision is the quality of the local schools.

We know this, because we often get asked about the local schools.

So, to make things easier for home-hunters, we have created a Pinterest Board devoted exclusively to local Benica Schools. This way, we have collected, all in one convenient location, the information that many people need. We have overall information about the school district and the school year calendar, how to enroll and more. But, we also have devoted Sections to each individual school in Benicia, including the private schools.

Click on the Pinterest logo below, for all the Benicia school information you are looking for:

Our Town Benicia

Sun, 18 Jun 2023 00:34:36 GMT

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a video worth?

Our beautiful waterfront town of Benicia, on the Carquinez Strait, east of the San Francisco Bay Area is a rare treat. We love to take photos and share those, but we also enjoy sharing videos of this great town we live in. Please enjoy some below.

Why we don't sell real estate

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 05:18:11 GMT

We can't all chase the ball...

Yes, it's fun and exhilarating. Some would say natural to chase after the ball. There is even a bit of glory in chasing the ball to make the big play. It could be viewed as a way of helping the team while also being the hero.

But, if everyone chases the ball, what is the best possible outcome when they reach the ball? They would have no one to throw the ball to in order to make the out! Someone has to stay on base! Now, that's the best outcome.

This might be a more likely outcome...

You see how the batter has already rounded 1st base and is headed for 2nd while our little heroes fall all over themselves since they, in their quest to chase the ball, actually tripped each other up?

Beyond the cute pictures and the laugh, the lesson for us adults is the same that we would actually teach to the children... In order to win, we all need to work together as a team. This means that we can't all chase the ball, someone has to stay on base so that the fielder can have someone to throw the ball to.

There are a myriad ways to apply this to both our personal and our professional lives. The professional application that I see most often is the relationship between Realtors that buy/sell homes and Property Managers. Just as both the pitcher and the short stop are "skill" positions that need to be good players for the team to win, Realtors and Property Managers must also both be "skill" professionals that need to be good for the team to win.

- The pitcher can probably throw a great slider but can he field the ball as well as the short stop?

- The shortstop can likely turn a great double play but can he pitch against the other team's homerun champion?

Both positions are important, but they require different skills. Each teammate must play their own position in order for the team to win. That is why we stick with property management and don't sell. Not everyone can chase the ball....

Then, after a successful game (read, transaction), we can get our snack and our juice and head for the shade.

Fair Maiden to Lovely Queen

Wed, 31 May 2023 01:23:50 GMT

A Story of Love and Yearning in Property Management - as we approach our 23rd anniversary

Once upon a time.. . (well, not THAT long ago. I mean, I’m only in my 50's and she still looks like she's in her 20's )

I n a land far, far away. .. (well, a couple exits down the freeway)

A handsome young prince. .. ( that would be me, just play along would you?)

Journeyed far from the Kingdom of his youth to find his fortune ... ( just graduated from college and got a job )

Lo and behold, during the travels I stopped for lodging. .. ( needed a place to rent )

And there, like an oasis in the hot desert ... ( well, she was one darn cute leasing agent )

Stood a Fair Maiden of such beauty as I had never seen before ( maybe darn cute was an understatement )

She took me on a tour of the estate ( umm, property ) and showed me the view (I was enjoying a view, but not the one she was talking about )

Fair Maiden brought me back to the castle tower. .. (rental office)

(This Fair Maiden was quite the saleslady too, she rented my roommate and I the most expensive apartment in the joint!)

I admired her greatly with her divine beauty and melodic voice. .. (But, I wasn't exactly a ladies man having spent my college years the nerdy engineering student)

I yearned to prolong my time spent with this beautiful Fair Maiden... So, I did all I could think to do... I proceeded to slowly read the entire lease agreement, even the small print on back.

(Apparently handsome princes aren't supposed to read a lease in order to impress a Fair Maiden, because I seemed to lose some of her interest about then)

I proceeded to move to her kingdom (in the really expensive apartment) and admire her from afar ( still trying to figure out what romantic gesture I could possibly do that would be more impressive than reading a lease)

Then, one horrible day, I discovered that she was gone! (She got a job somewhere else)

Oh the lost opportunity, oh the unfairness of it all... until I moved and just so happen to move to the same "new kingdom" that she was now managing (the girl was moving up in the world to a fancy new apartment complex)

This time I had a much better plan to impress Fair Maiden. .. (I told her that there were no eligible young ladies around that I found attractive and that I would need to move on to a faraway Kingdom... I did mention that I wasn't any good with the ladies, didn't I?)

Alas, she beat me to it and moved on AGAIN (apparently she was good at her job and highly recruited)

Using my keen tracking skills (I saw her car in the parking lot) I found her at her new job, determined not to let her slip away again.

Using my most Dashing Prince bag of tricks (mainly trying not to choke) I entertained her with story, made her eyes sparkle with laughter, impressed her with boasts of my great accomplishments ( well, she politely acted impressed) , and returned, day after day until finally she agreed to allow me to escort her on a real date . ( By now I had learned a thing or two and took her to a fancy restaurant with real cloth napkins!)

Skip ahead a bit and... Ultimately, Fair Maiden took my hand in marriage and became my Queen. We've worked together building our own kingdom together ( Delgado Property Management, we're really good, spread the word)

Happy 23rd Anniversary My Love

We are all visual creatures and like our eye candy

Thu, 25 May 2023 01:45:56 GMT

It’s who we are as human beings.

This even applies when doing something as mundane as searching for a Benicia rental home. Honest. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the following photo of a world famous hunk. He’s a real beefcake with women drooling over him and magazines putting his face on the cover and on and on. Look close…. (but no cheating and trying to read ahead)

New Ladies, are you ready to swoon yet? Are you weak in the knees and ready to buy a new dress to try and impress this guy? Ready to crawl through the computer screen to plant a big ol’ smooch on him?

Come on now. Don’t tell me that you aren’t that shallow. Don’t tell me that you just want a nice guy / sincere guy / good provider / someone you can talk to or what not. We are all visual creatures. We can’t help it. We respond, on some level, to things (and yes, to people) that are attractive. We all look at things that are "easy on the eyes." Do you think that the guy above had all the girls chasing him?

I ask because that photo above is this guy below…

I bet there’s a lot more swooning going on now than there was just a moment ago. Be honest. It’s true. Quit trying to crawl through the computer screen.

Do you see the difference that a simple photo can make in terms of the response it gets and the impression that it makes? (Ok, a simple photo and maybe some makeup, contacts, a little good aging and probably some vitamins).

But the point is clear-

Second photo -- parlays his good looks into becoming a world famous sex symbol with an Italian villa on a picturesque lake.

First photo -- wallflower at the high school prom.

THEY ARE PHOTOS OF THE SAME GUY!

So…… if photos can make THAT striking of a difference, why don’t people place more value on the photos of homes for rent that they place on line?

Consider this shot of a home taken from Google Street View….

Compare to this shot of the same home taken by Delgado Property Management

To repeat- They are photos of the SAME home.

Do you see what difference a simple photo can do in terms of the response it gets and the impression that it delivers? (In this case the second photo ISN’T even aided by makeup, contacts, good aging OR vitamins). Given the makeup, vitamins and other advantages George has over the home, I'm going to venture to claim that I just might be OK with a camera!

We are all visual creatures. We often don’t realize how powerful our responses to visual cues are but it is undeniable. This is why Delgado Property Management places such importance on our listing photos. We want out photos of homes to elicit the “Second photo” response so that folks are crawling through their computer screens in excitement.

Let the “other” property managers’ homes end up as wallflowers!

Renting a home in Benicia California

Mon, 22 May 2023 18:44:16 GMT

Why Benicia?

People rent homes in Benicia for a variety of reasons. Benicia, located on the eastern "edge" of the San Francisco Bay Area is close to just about everything, from surfing to skiing to wine country to Big City to redwoods to on and on and on. Benicia itself is host to a great school system, temperate weather, an historic and lively downtown "main street" business culture and more.

Yet, neighboring towns such as Martinez or Suisun could make similar (if not quite as good) claims for themselves. So why is it that folks looking to rent prefer to rent in Benicia in lieu their other options?

Quite honestly, I think Benicia rental homes are so attractive because Benicia has just the right charms, location and myriad attractions in just the right amounts that it really is Small Town America. Did you know that Benicia was once the California State Capitol? The old Capitol Building is still standing and is located right off of First Street. As if that weren't enough, Benicia is located near to so many other attractions that Benicia becomes even more attractive due to convenience.

For instance, we raised our inquisitive and outgoing boys here in Benicia. Yes, Benicia has wonderful parks and trails and outlets for my boys to burn up their energy and we do take advantage. Yet, in addition, weekend trips have included trips to the Chabot Space and Science Center, The California Academy of Sciences and to the Golden State Model Railraod Museum. All of these attractions are easy drives from Benicia and offer great experiences for my young, curious boys. Next, we're looking for a dinosaur museum.

I can see why so many people want rental homes in Benicia. It is simply a great place to live.

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