A new business venture designed to make life easier for a broad cross-section of Fort Dodgers has been launched by Jim and Gwenn Gottschalk.

The Gottschalks established Cornerstone Property Management Group, 2221 15th Ave. S., in February and are moving aggressively to expand what they said is a hybrid enterprise that is unique locally.

“We are a property management company and a full-service real estate office,” Gwenn Gottschalk explained. “So, we can help investors manage their property, but we can also help families purchase a home or sell a home.”

She said the company’s focus includes apartments, single-family homes and commercial properties.

For investors who have a rental property they need managed, Cornerstone offers a comprehensive set of services.

“We show the apartments,” Gottschalk said. “We go in with the tenant, with landlord. Walk through the property to make sure it is up to standard.”

She stressed that Cornerstone can address the needs of a wide array of property owners. Those who have a single house they wish to have rented are welcome. So too are investors with a large investment portfolio.

The services Cornerstone provides to investors include advertising vacant units, showing them, conducting background checks on prospective tenants, orchestrating the necessary lease and disclosure paperwork, collecting deposits, managing the issuance of keys and collecting rent. The experts at Cornerstone can also orchestrate for the property owner the assorted government inspections that may be needed from time to time. They also analyze rental-rate trends on an ongoing basis.

The precise mix of services is customized to meet the unique requirements of each client, Jim Gottschalk said, noting that the degree of involvement property owners want in day-to-day matters can vary greatly.

“There are the ones that don’t really want to let go yet,” he said. “They want a phone call every week. Then there are others who say ‘Send the check. I’m going on vacation.’ We cater to each individual.”

For both property owners and people in search of an apartment or house to rent, or buy, Gwenn Gottschalk said the team at Cornerstone strives to be a highly supportive resource they can trust.

“We want to be known for being fair, honest, ethical and having integrity,” she said. “I think what we strive for is to treat everyone with respect. We want people to know they can trust what we do and what we say. We treat everyone the same. It doesn’t matter whether you are looking to rent an efficiency apartment for a couple of months or if you are looking to buy your dream home. We’re going to treat everyone the same.”

Her husband underlined that point.

“We treat everyone like we would want to be treated,” he said.

By combining the property-management function with the services of comprehensive real estate office, Jim Gottschalk said it is often possible to craft an approach that responds extremely well to a client’s needs.

“That’s what is neat about our full service,” he said. “Say someone’s had their house on the market forever and has another house they are buying. We can turn that over to a nice high-end rental for them.”

Being able to craft a solution that satisfies the client is the aspect of this business that Gottschalk said he finds especially rewarding.

“I enjoy creating win-win situations either for a tenant who found the place they’ve been looking for forever … or on the real estate side putting together a deal that meets what a client needs and wants.”

That commitment to not just meet, but whenever possible exceed expectations is a key part of the game plan at Cornerstone.

“We want to be head and shoulders above the rest,” Gwenn Gottschalk said.

Meet the Gottschalks

Jim Gottschalk grew up in Fort Dodge, graduated from Senior High in 1988 and continued his education at Iowa Central Community College. He has many years of experience in the rental world locally.

“I have always owned rental properties,” Gottschalk said. “That was kind of my thing.”

Gwenn Gottschalk is originally from the Waverly area. After graduating from Waverly-Shell Rock High School she continued her education at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo to become a paramedic. After college she worked both as a paramedic and as a real estate agent. She moved to Fort Dodge in 2007 to accept a position as a paramedic at Trinity Regional Medical Center. Her professional energies are now devoted to the Cornerstone Property Management Group.

About Cornerstone

In addition to the Jim and Gwen Gottschalk, the team at Cornerstone includes Laura Eastwood, Debbie Pickett, Brianne Lundburg and Linda Gottschalk.

Eastwood has been in the real estate field for nine years and is the broker at Cornerstone. Pickett has eight years of experience as a real estate agent. As the office’s tenant advocate, she works closely with current and prospective tenants. Lundburg has 11 years in office management and oversees that aspect of the operation. Linda Gottschalk, who is Jim Gottschalk’s mother, augments the team in the secretarial area.

Fort Dodge and Webster County are the current focus at Cornerstone, but Jim Gottschalk said expanding the scope of the business is a major goal.

“I’d love to grow this thing,” he said. “This is our prototype. So, I would love to be able to carbon copy this one and grow it.”

Gottschalk said with expansion in mind Cornerstone is looking for both business opportunities and highly motivated potential team members.

“We’re looking for motivated employees and want more clients,” he said.