Blog Author: Elly Johnson

Utopia Management & Real Estate has been serving Southern California counties since 1994 and at the beginning of 2016 they saw the need to have a presence in the village of La Jolla. Jessica Donigan of The Donigan Group spearheaded the renovation of the office space at 1113 Wall St. The renovation included an expansive remodel updating the space to have a modern feel …

We all have mixed feelings about holiday gatherings. Some feel like the Grinch and don’t even want to participate. Others feel like jolly Ol’ Saint Nick and can’t wait to reconnect with their loved ones. Sometimes it’s just a struggle to find the perfect holiday gift for a reasonable price. Whatever it is you might be freaking out over, there’s no reason to stress. …

Online rental websites have become a loftier way to swindle internet shoppers. Property search sites like Zillow, Trulia, HotPads and Craisglist have seen a rapid rise in fraud. Here are some statics as reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) that we would like the reader to become more aware of in hopes that you do not become another victim. Online auction fraud …

By: Mike Rossi My wife and I love to go out to eat whenever we can and try new restaurants in our beautiful San Diego County. But now that we have a growing two year old boy it’s increasingly getting a little harder on the pocket book going out on our dining excursions. Luckily for us I am finding that there are some restaurants …

By Mike Rossi: It is more common than you think for condominium owners to believe that their homeowner’s association insurance (HOA) covers them for “everything.”  This couldn’t be further from the truth. Each HOA is different and there are always variations as to what specifically an HOA is responsible for.  But generally speaking HOAs will cover the common areas and the building exteriors while …

by Aaron Read: Credit cards can be great tools to build your credit, enable you to generate spending reports; automatically pay bills and best of all earn frequent flyer miles or cash rewards. There are plenty of reward cards out that there that can get you free travel or cash back so why would you not want to use one for everything. First of …

Spring is the perfect time to get your home cleaned up and organized. Are you ready to dive into spring-cleaning, but not sure where to start? We’ve assembled some property management tips to make spring-cleaning in your home a breeze! Get organized! One of the best ways to start your spring-cleaning is by getting organized and making a plan. Make a list of all …

Palm Springs and the desert communities have a long history of a fun in the sun weekend and vacation destination. With the weather, Coachella Fest, Stage Coast, Polo, Tennis and all of the festivals in town, people know about this vacation spot. But not everyone who comes to the desert comes for a long weekend or a vacation. We have several great clients who …

It’s the first of the month, and geez, that pesky rent bill just snuck up on you again!  This is the 6th time you were completely blindsided by it.  You know it’s coming, that courtesy email reminder letting you now that it’s due, that phone call from your landlord asking if everything is OK, since they haven’t received your rent, and then that embarrassing …

It has been a bit chilly here in Southern California lately. You make your first attempt to turn on your heater to no avail. It doesn’t work. Frequently this is due to your pilot light needing to be lit. A pilot light is a small gas flame, usually natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas, which serves as an ignition source for a more powerful …