08/23/2026
A Sunday thought about being a good neighbor, supporting small businesses, and reciprocity.
I’ve been in the short-term rental space for nine years and have owned my own business for a little over five. Before that, I spent several years as a Director of Operations for another cabin rental company while also owning and operating my own short-term rentals.
Over those years, I would conservatively say I’ve spent at least 2,000 hours helping other people in this industry.
Phone calls. Messages. DMs. Answering questions. Sharing resources. Making referrals. Tagging businesses. Talking someone through a difficult guest situation. Helping someone understand an ordinance. Letting another owner pick my brain about what I would do.
I’ve probably personally talked with close to 100 other short-term rental owners over the years.
And I’ve never charged anyone a penny for it.
I’ve never taken a referral fee. I’ve never expected something in return every time I helped someone. I did it because when I started nine years ago, there really wasn’t a “phone-a-friend.” There weren't many people to call and ask, “Have you dealt with this before? What would you do?”
So I decided to be that person for other people.
For nearly six years, I’ve supported, tagged, recommended, referred and shared other small businesses simply because I believe that's what good neighbors and good business owners do.
The only thing I have ever occasionally asked in return is incredibly simple:
If I’ve helped you, give my small business a shout-out sometime.
Not money.
Not a referral fee.
Not anything complicated.
Just a tag. A recommendation. A share. A few words saying, “Rally Point Properties has been a great resource for me.”
And after nearly six years, I can literally count on one hand the number of people in this industry who have done that.
That has made me think a lot about reciprocity.
This isn't about keeping score. Generosity isn't generosity if there's an invoice attached to it.
But community cannot continually be one person giving and another person receiving.
Supporting a small business doesn't always mean spending money. Sometimes it's simply acknowledging the person who has spent their time helping you succeed.
So that's my Sunday thought:
Be a good neighbor. Be a good community member. And when someone consistently shows up for you, find a small way to show up for them, too.
It costs nothing to shine a little light on someone else's small business.
And sometimes, after they've spent years shining theirs on everyone else, it means more than you know.
