Francisco Zepeda, maintenance coordinator at Marblestone Property Group (MPG), strives to make a positive impact in every interaction through his role. Initially hired as a maintenance technician, his work ethic and capabilities earned him a promotion ot his current role in just six months. In his current role, Francisco oversees owner-specific requests, arranges move-in and move-out logistics, and manages follow-up tasks to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.
Unlike many property management maintenance coordinators stuck at a desk job, Francisco bridges the gap between office coordination and on-site field operations.
With his hands-on approach, Francisco visits properties, conducts inspections, and addresses urgent maintenance issues firsthand. This direct involvement helps quickly resolve tenant concerns and provides valuable insights to anticipate and proactively mitigate future problems. It also provides some great “in the trenches” stories.
Maintenance Call Comedy
For example, Francisco shared one of his more memorable maintenance calls: a persistently blocked toilet. After multiple maintenance calls to an increasingly distressed tenant, Francisco decided to pull the toilet completely. The culprit? A pair of eyeglasses that had accidentally fallen into the bowl and gotten lodged. Unsurprisingly, the tenant didn’t want the glasses back after he found them. More importantly, Francisco solved the issue without embarrassing the (now sheepish) tenant using hands-on problem-solving and his calm demeanor.
Jack of All Trades
Francisco credits his diverse career experiences with helping him develop his problem-solving and organizational skills. Before joining Marblestone, he worked as a field inspector for a real estate company, handling foreclosures and evictions across an extensive area in Chicagoland and its suburbs. He also gained experience as a project manager for a construction company, giving him a solid foundation in property management and construction logistics.
Joining MPG
Francisco credits his successful transition at MPG partly to his longstanding friendship with MPG’s maintenance department manager, Jesus “Chuy” Mendoza. Chuy and Francisco had been friends since their school years because Chuy was in the same grade as Francisco’s brother, and their sisters had graduated together.
After Francisco became overwhelmed by the traveling and paperwork from his previous jobs, Chuy introduced him to Jared Kott, MPG’s founder. It wasn’t long before he joined the team at Marblesone. Francisco said Jared quickly became a professional mentor and personal supporter of Francisco (and the entire team).
Francisco was drawn to Jared’s strong leadership and the supportive, family-like culture at MPG. Since joining, he has continued to be inspired by the team’s positivity and mutual support of one another every day. He sees how his colleagues willingly reach across departments to help one another.
Personal Life
Outside of work, Francisco’s primary passions include fishing and spending quality time with his family. His ideal day consists of productive work, a quick fishing trip, and peaceful evenings at home with his family. His greatest joy comes from watching his one-year-old son, Javier, who recently began crawling.
Future Aspirations
Part of Jared’s mentoring to his team is to continually grow, which is why Francisco sees himself at MPG for a long time. Loving his current role, he looks forward to growing along with Marblestone.
Jared also encouraged Francisco to pursue his personal interest in real estate investment. Francisco said he appreciates Jared’s approachable explanations of investment concepts, including Bitcoin, as part of his financial growth strategy.
Francisco offers some parting wisdom for future MPG team members. Be on time. He said being late for a meeting is the quickest way to irritate Jared. Francisco said that being on time shows you respect each other, which is foundational to the MPG culture.