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As a locally owned company, California Oaks Property Management strives to support our community in all ways that we can. What better way than to invest in our local youth?! For over a decade, California Oaks Property has annually donated to Ventura High School Football!

California Oaks Property Management invites our tenants and property owners to help us celebrate the Ventura Cougar pride by attending the 7^th Annual Tailgate and Chili Cook Off on Thursday, August 16^th at 5-7PM at the Ventura High School lower parking lot. Don’t forget to purchase some new Cougarwear to support the school!

Ventura High Football season kicks off this Friday, August 17^th at 7pm with a scrimmage game against Canyon! Come enjoy the game and see our company banner from the bleachers! For a full football schedule and more ways to look into donating to our local Ventura youth, please visit the High School website at https://www.vhscougarfootball.org/

GO COUGARS!

Local Business Highlight: The Refill Shoppe

At California Oaks Property Management, we love supporting local businesses and causes. And since we have so many great new additions to the community, we thought we would highlight different  locally owned and operated businesses in the area,  this post we are focusing on the Refill Shoppe who has not only provided our community with another way to protect the environment, but also supports multiple non profits which is something California Oaks believes very strongly in. We hope if you aren’t familiar with the shop, this will entice you to stop in!

How It Works

The Refill Shoppe is located in Downtown Ventura opened 8 years ago and has brought so much to our beach community, since then it has become a staple of downtown. If you aren’t familiar with the store, let me give you some background. The Refill Shoppe specializes in reusable eco friendly products. This place has everything you need, face wash, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, they even have cleaning products for your home.  You choose your container and trust me they have plenty of bottles/ containers to choose from,or  bring your own container from home and you just fill it with your product of choice and choose a scent! You can customize most products with a scent of your choosing. They have a long list  of essential oils to choose from! So the possibilities are endless.  When you run out, just return to the shop and fill it back up. It’s such a simple concept that has a huge impact on our community waste. I love their lotions and toners, and it doesn’t stop at skin care. They also have a variety of reusable and travel style dishware and eco friendly lunch boxes and to go containers. So, no need for Styrofoam and other wasteful products.

At California Oaks Property Management, we  not only love striving to provide the best service to our tenants and owners, but we love our community and the  local businesses that make Ventura so unique, and this is one of them. If you haven’t had a chance to stop by the Refill Shoppe I highly recommend stopping in the next time you are in downtown Ventura, it’s an experience! If you can’t make it, they also ship so here is a link to the website  https://therefillshoppe.com/ 

If you’re interested in learning more about the shop, here is a link to an interview with the owner

https://visitventuraca.com/blog/a-whale-of-a-tale/

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As a property management company, we regularly receive maintenance calls for the properties that we manage. Some of these calls can be handled with small adjustments. We thought it would be a good idea to share a few tips for some of FAQ we get. We hope everyone find these tips helpful whether you are renting or own your home!

• One common call we get is for lack of water in one area of the home, maybe it’s the bathroom sink that is not receiving any water, but you have water in all other areas. If this does happen it could be a clogged aerator screen on your faucet, hard water after a time begins to build up mineral deposits and that can contribute to little to no water pressure in faucets. If this in your home, try cleaning the aerators with vinegar. It works wonders to break down the mineral deposits.
• Another very common problem we hear is lack of power to certain outlets in a home, or loss of power in one or two rooms. Sometimes flipping the breakers can resolve this or resetting the GFI’s. If your outlet has a button that says “reset” this can reset the GFI and restore power to the outlets.
• To help with drains try using boiling water down the drains to maintain them. If a drain is clogged, try flushing with one cup of baking soda and then following with one cup of vinegar. When the weather gets windy it can kick up all sorts of things and can affect the smell of drains. I have noticed when the Santa Ana’s start we get an influx of calls for sewer smell coming from drains and will sometimes resolve itself once the weather changes back so try and be patient.

Of course if these simple fixes do not resolve the issues, contact our office.

It’s our favorite time of the year! The weather is finally starting to warm up and there is so much fun to be had! At California Oaks Property Management, we know when you are looking to find your next rental property, location is the biggest factor! Ventura has a great community environment and offers multiple festivals to enjoy during Summer 2018! Find some of our favorite festivities below!

SUMMER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION, SANTA BARBARA: If you’re up for a short drive this weekend is the Summer Solstice Celebration in Santa Barbara. The parade is on Saturday, June 23rd and starts at noon. The solstice festival kicks off summer and is a great family friendly festival. On Sunday, June 24th they even have a children’s parade at 1:30! So, leave early and don’t forget the kiddos! For more information check here

http://www.solsticeparade.com/schedules

VANS WARPED TOUR, VENTURA: For music lovers the final Vans Warped tour comes to town at The Ventura Fairgrounds on Sunday June 24^th. Tickets are $45 and doors open at 11AM. This is sure to be a packed event and a great outing for the entire family! For tickets and more check here

https://aeg.festivalticketing.com/cart/C3451917-D434-46EC-A460-0D8DE0485617/home

SUMMER MOVIES SERIES, VENTURA: For movie lovers, Downtown Ventura will be hosting a summer movie series and showing movies outdoors over the summer. The first scheduled movie is Back to The Future showing Friday June 29^th at 7:00. Don’t forget chairs and blankets! For a complete list of outdoor movies, check here

http://downtownventura.org/summermovies/

SURF RODEO, VENTURA: Another huge summer celebration is Surf Rodeo taking place over the weekend of July 14^th and 15^th. Enjoy Pierpont Beach while shopping local vendors, enjoying food, corn hole and bands! With so many great bands this year, it can’t be missed. For information on purchasing tickets please check here

http://www.surfrodeo.org/

TACOS & TEQUILA FESTIVAL, VENTURA: For foodies and Tequila lovers alike, Tacos & Tequila Music Festival is Saturday July 21^st -22^nd at Plaza Park in Downtown Ventura. This event is so great, and you can buy tickets for both days or choose one day for just $10. Saturday is the tequila tasting day and Sunday is all about the margaritas, no matter which day you choose you are sure to have a good time. They have great music both days and multiple food trucks, so come hungry! Check here for tickets

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tequila-taco-music-festival-ventura-july-21st-22nd-tickets-43416040546

We encourage all our tenants, owners and tourists to try and make it to some of these fun summer outings! If you are considering relocating to rent a property in Ventura, this is a great way to see what our community has to offer! And of course you can’t forget to hit the beaches!

Don’t have Renter’s Insurance? You Should.

When tenants move into a rental property many don’t consider getting a renter’s insurance policy. My personal property is covered by the owner, right? What’s the likelihood of needing it? Think twice.

After our community was affected by the Thomas Fire, California Oaks quickly learned that most of our tenants did not have a renter’s insurance policy and how important it is for our renters to understand the benefits of carrying one.

Why do you need a renter’s insurance policy?

It protects you and your belongings. The owner’s insurance policy does not cover your personal belongings. If your property is damaged due to a fire, flood or electrical damage your landlord cannot assist you with the replacement of your personal belongings. Consider how much it would cost to replace your furniture, clothes and electronics.

It gives you liability coverage. If a visitor is injured at your apartment, most renter’s insurance policies would pay the medical bills and will help with legal costs up to the policy’s limit.

It covers additional living expenses. If your apartment is damaged and you need to temporarily relocate because it is uninhabitable, a renter’s insurance policy can reimburse you for extra expenses such as hotel rooms and meals.

It covers property theft. Someone broke into your apartment or vehicle and stole your laptop? Your renter’s insurance policy will cover it.

It’s inexpensive. The average renter’s insurance policy is less than $200 per year. That’s cheap compared to the cost of replacing your apartment.

At California Oaks Property Management, renter’s insurance is optional at most of our properties. However, we encourage you to ask yourself whether you could afford to replace all of your possessions if they were damaged or destroyed. If your answer is no, get covered.

California Oaks Property Management is happy to share Ventura’s Westside Community is getting a new park! The Kellogg Park has transformed a 2.4 acre property which will be centered around a ¼ mile looped walking trail and will feature multiple playgrounds for ages ranging 2-5 and 5-12 year old, community gathering area with amphitheater, exercise equipment available for Ventura residents and a community garden with planter boxes to grow fresh vegetables as well as flowers.

As a local property management company, California Oaks Property Management is proud to be a donator that invested in the development of The Kellogg Park. We are thrilled to see this project come to life and believe it is a great addition to the West Ventura Neighborhood! This park will enhance the entire City of Ventura by being a gathering spot for community events. This beautiful park would not have been possible without all the generous donations contributed by our community.

We would like to invite our tenants, property owners, family and friends to join California Oaks Property Management at The Kellogg Park grand opening on Saturday, April 14, 2018 from 10:00AM-12:00PM. The opening day festivities will include live music, games, tour of the community garden, snack and giveaways! See you there!

For more information on this, and other local parks, please visit the link below

https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/521/Kellogg-Park

Although the December 2017 Thomas Fire was devastating to our community, it did not stop us. When California Oaks Property Management witnessed the effects first hand to our tenants, property owners and employees, we knew we had to step up to try and help.

California Oaks Property Management thought the best way we could do this was to take all the application fees we received for our rental properties during the months of December and January and donate them to those most affected by the fire. The total amount raised during the two months was $4725, so our generous owner contributed the remainder of the funds raising a total of $5,000!

It seemed like the perfect time to present the donation of $5,000 dollars was during the Thomas Fire Benefit Festival which had such an amazing turn out! Everyone really pulled together to make the event a success. We have loved seeing people come together and support not only each other but also our beautiful community. Together, we continue to be Ventura Strong.