Avaron Property Readiness & Oversight

08/23/2026

08/09/2026

I HAVE A GUY.

I can’t stop thinking about this man.

I don’t know his name.

I’ve never seen his face.

I’ve never shaken his hand.

I don’t know where he lives.

But somehow, I hear about him everywhere.

“I have a guy.”

And the more I think about it, the more extraordinary this guy becomes.

Need your grass cut?

I got a guy.

Car making a strange noise?

I got a guy.

Looking for a good used car?

I got a guy.

Need a rental?

I got a guy.

Looking for a house?

I got a guy.

Need something fixed?

I got a guy.

Taxes?

Guy.

Insurance?

Guy.

Plumbing?

Guy.

Roof?

Guy.

Concrete?

Guy.

Attorney?

Guy.

Real estate?

Guy.

Need somebody who knows somebody who can get something done?

Don’t worry.

My guy has a guy.

That’s when this starts getting ridiculous.

Because apparently The Guy has an entire network of Guys.

⸻

I originally started thinking about The Guy because of my own business.

I’d stop at properties that obviously needed attention and hear the same thing.

“We already have a guy.”

Sometimes I’d come back later.

Property still needed attention.

Still had a guy.

Weeks later?

Still waiting.

Still had a guy.

At first I thought this was something peculiar to lawn care and property services.

Then I started listening to normal conversations.

And I realized:

This man is everywhere.

I honestly can’t think of a profession where some version of The Guy doesn’t exist.

And now I’m fascinated.

⸻

Think about how strange this actually is.

Most of us have never met each other’s Guy.

We usually don’t know his qualifications.

We don’t know his business model.

We don’t know his schedule.

Half the time, we don’t even know his last name.

But somebody says:

“I got a guy.”

And somehow that’s enough information.

Nobody responds:

“What are his credentials?”

They say:

“Send me his number.”

That’s incredible.

Three words just transferred trust from one human being to another.

No advertisement.

No sales presentation.

No billboard.

No carefully designed marketing campaign.

Sometimes not even a website.

Just:

I got a guy.

And suddenly The Guy has another opportunity.

⸻

But here’s where it gets even more interesting.

The Guy isn’t actually one person.

He’s a position.

A position that exists inside human relationships.

Somewhere in nearly every community, family, workplace, neighborhood, business network, profession and social circle, somebody occupies it.

The person you call before you start searching.

Before Google.

Before Facebook recommendations.

Before comparing five companies.

Before requesting three estimates.

You ask somebody you trust:

“Do you know anybody?”

And somewhere, almost inevitably, comes the answer:

“Actually… I got a guy.”

The Guy might be a woman.

The Guy might be a company.

The Guy might be retired.

The Guy might work out of his garage.

The Guy might run a multimillion-dollar operation.

The Guy might simply know another Guy.

It doesn’t matter.

Because The Guy isn’t really a person.

It’s a human designation of trust.

⸻

And apparently this system crosses almost every boundary we’ve created.

Different industries.

Different income levels.

Different generations.

Different cultures.

Different countries.

Different languages.

I would bet some version of “I know somebody” has existed for about as long as human beings have needed things from one another.

Before websites, there was The Guy.

Before social media, there was The Guy.

Before online reviews, there was The Guy.

Before search engines, there was The Guy.

Before somebody could pull a phone out of their pocket and search thousands of businesses in seconds…

people asked another person.

“Who do you know?”

Technology changed how quickly we can find strangers.

It never eliminated our preference for someone who comes through somebody we already trust.

And maybe that’s why The Guy refuses to disappear.

⸻

I’ve been thinking about how much money businesses spend trying to recreate what The Guy gets naturally.

Companies spend fortunes building brands so you’ll recognize their name.

They buy advertisements so you’ll remember them.

They collect reviews so you’ll trust them.

They build referral programs hoping you’ll recommend them.

They create customer-retention departments trying to keep you.

The Guy has something potentially stronger than all of it.

Someone willing to say his name when he isn’t in the room.

That’s an unbelievable form of value.

Because The Guy is almost always non-present.

That’s what fascinates me most.

He’s rarely standing there when the conversation happens.

Someone else is selling him.

Someone else is defending him.

Someone else is remembering him.

Someone else is opening the next door for him.

The Guy can be completely absent from the room…

and still influence what happens inside it.

He may be the most non-present, present person I’ve ever encountered through conversation.

⸻

And then there’s another level.

Sometimes The Guy doesn’t even do what you need.

No problem.

Because you call your Guy and say:

“Do you know somebody who does ______?”

And your Guy says:

“Yeah. I got a guy.”

Now we’re moving through an invisible network.

One relationship connects to another.

One person’s credibility temporarily supports another person’s credibility.

Trust travels.

Opportunity travels with it.

And suddenly what sounds like a casual phrase starts looking like something much larger.

A human network that existed long before we gave networks technological names.

⸻

Maybe that’s why I can’t stop thinking about this.

We talk constantly about algorithms connecting people.

Platforms connecting people.

Artificial intelligence connecting information.

Search engines connecting questions with answers.

But human beings built their own search engine a very long time ago.

It sounds like this:

“Do you know somebody?”

And the search result sounds like this:

“I got a guy.”

Maybe The Guy is one of the oldest marketplaces in human civilization.

No headquarters.

No CEO.

No membership fee.

No central database.

No official organization.

Yet somehow it operates almost everywhere.

Billions of individual relationships quietly connecting people to people.

⸻

So now I’m paying attention.

Every time somebody says those four words, I hear them differently.

“I HAVE A GUY.”

Who is this Guy?

How did he become your Guy?

What did he do that made you remember him?

Why did you trust him enough to attach your own reputation to recommending him?

And perhaps the biggest business question:

How does someone become The Guy?

Because businesses spend enormous amounts of time trying to become known.

The Guy achieved something better.

He became remembered.

And apparently…

everybody has one.

08/04/2026

THE EVOLUTION OF BUSINESS
Publication 004
Before We Could Build Great Things, We Had to Learn How to Measure Them.

History remembers monuments.

Reality remembers measurement.

Around 2650 BC, Egyptian builders began constructing monuments that still stand today.

Long before lasers, GPS, computers, or modern engineering, they aligned enormous stone structures with extraordinary precision.

Thousands of years later, people still debate exactly how every stone was quarried, transported, and positioned.

Yet one observation receives far less attention.

None of it would have been possible without measurement.

Not perfect measurement.

Reliable measurement.

Before a single stone could be placed...

Someone had to answer questions every builder still asks today.

Is it level?

Is it straight?

Is it square?

How far?

How high?

How much?

Without those answers...

Nothing else mattered.

Centuries later, Roman engineers faced a different challenge.

Instead of building upward...

They needed to move water across entire landscapes.

Some aqueducts carried water for dozens of miles.

Not by pumps.

Not by electricity.

But by understanding gravity.

Too much slope...

The water rushed and damaged the channels.

Too little...

The water stopped moving.

The Romans weren't fighting water.

They were learning to measure reality closely enough that reality did the work for them.

Even today, many of those aqueducts still stand.

Not because the stone was magical.

Because the measurements respected the laws governing the world around them.

A few days ago, I found myself thinking about a story a client shared with me.

Years ago, her family wanted to move their home to another location on the same property so they could build a new one.

Today, most contractors would reach for laser levels.

Back then, one of the builders reached for something much simpler.

A clear container filled with water.

As the house was slowly lifted and moved, everyone watched the water.

If the water shifted...

The house had shifted.

That simple container wasn't making a decision.

It wasn't offering an opinion.

It wasn't guessing.

It was revealing something the builders could not afford to ignore.

Reality.

Listening to her describe neighbors, friends, and family working together, I realized the story wasn't really about moving a house.

It was about something much older.

Generation after generation, people have always searched for better tools.

But the purpose of every great tool has remained remarkably consistent.

To reduce the distance between what we believe...

And what is actually true.

The spirit level refined that idea.

Surveying instruments refined it again.

Laser levels refined it further.

Now a smartphone can perform measurements that would have amazed master builders a century ago.

The technology evolved.

The observation did not.

I sometimes wonder if we celebrate innovation without asking what it actually gives us.

Every new generation introduces more advanced tools.

But history suggests those tools are valuable for only one reason.

They help us observe reality more accurately.

The moment observation becomes distorted...

Decisions become distorted.

Measurements become distorted.

Construction becomes distorted.

Eventually...

Reality corrects the mistake.

Every failed bridge...

Every leaning wall...

Every business built on false assumptions...

Every civilization that ignored reality...

Eventually encountered the same outcome.

Not because reality became unfair.

Because reality never changed.

Perhaps that is one of history's quietest lessons.

Human progress has never depended on creating better illusions.

It has depended on creating better ways to observe what has always been there.

The greatest invention was never the level.

Or the ruler.

Or the laser.

It was the human decision to stop guessing...

And start measuring.

Ellis Hammonds
Founder | Avaron Property Operations & Intelligence

The Evolution of Business is an ongoing exploration of the historical patterns that shape intelligence, decision-making, and the systems that endure.

07/27/2026

The Evolution of Business | Publication 001

Today, we’re proud to share the first publication in a new ongoing series written by our founder, Ellis Hammonds.

The Evolution of Business explores a fundamental question:

How has the evolution of human intelligence continuously reshaped the way we live, make decisions, build businesses, and understand the world around us?

Rather than focusing on technology alone, this series examines the patterns throughout history that continue to influence business today—and why understanding those patterns may be one of the greatest competitive advantages of the future.

We invite you to read Publication 001 and join us as we explore the evolution of intelligence, decision-making, and business through a new perspective.

The full publication is below.



https://www.facebook.com/share/p/192PK7RvxT/?mibextid=wwXIfr

07/26/2026

Tomorrow, Avaron begins a new chapter.

Not another list of services.

Not another advertisement.

A deeper look at how businesses evolve, how intelligence changes the way we make decisions, and what it really takes to build something people can trust.

Three platforms.

Three different perspectives.

One larger story.

It begins tomorrow.

07/24/2026

Why do people call me “Mr. ChatGPT”?

Because if you ask me a question, there’s a good chance my answer will be:

“Ask Chat.”

Not because I don’t want to help—but because I want people to see what’s possible.

I’ve shown people how to use ChatGPT to build a business around the skills they already have. I’ve shown them how to identify a niche, organize ideas, research markets, create systems, write content, and turn experience into something valuable.

The response is usually the same:

“I had no idea it could do that.”

People are amazed by the information.

But here’s what I’ve learned…

Most people don’t struggle because they lack access to AI.

They struggle because they expect AI to do all the work.

They want it to fill out every form, build every template, proofread everything perfectly, and never make a mistake.

That’s not how I use it.

ChatGPT isn’t a replacement for thinking.

It’s a partner in thinking.

We’ve had our share of roadblocks too. Learning how to ask better questions, providing the right context, refining prompts, correcting misunderstandings, and improving communication—that didn’t happen overnight.

The better I became at communicating what I wanted, the better the results became.

That’s the real lesson.

AI isn’t about pressing a button and getting success.

It’s about combining your knowledge, experience, and curiosity with a tool that can help you move faster.

The people who will benefit the most from AI won’t necessarily be the smartest.

They’ll be the ones willing to learn how to work with it.

So yes…

If someone calls me “Mr. ChatGPT,” I’ll take it as a compliment.

Because if I can help one more person realize that the future isn’t about being replaced—it’s about learning a better way to create, solve problems, and build something meaningful—then it’s a nickname worth having.

07/23/2026

New Series: AI for Everyday Life | Part 1

How many photos are sitting on your phone right now?

Most of us have thousands.

Pictures of repairs.
Insurance documents.
Receipts.
Home improvements.
Appliance serial numbers.
Property damage after a storm.
Family keepsakes.

The problem isn’t taking the photos.

It’s finding the right one when you actually need it.

AI is changing that.

Imagine asking:

• “Show me every photo of my roof from the last five years.”
• “Find my water heater warranty.”
• “When was my fence replaced?”
• “Show me the photos before the contractor started.”
• “Do I have pictures of that storm damage?”

Instead of scrolling through 12,000 photos…

…you have answers in seconds.

This isn’t about replacing people.

It’s about making the information you already own actually useful.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing practical ways everyday homeowners can use AI—not to become tech experts, but to stay more organized, protect what matters, and make better decisions.

What’s one thing on your phone or computer that’s always impossible to find when you need it?

👇 Tell me in the comments.

07/21/2026

The Hidden Cost Series — #001

The Most Expensive Property Problem Is Usually the One You Didn’t Think Was Urgent.

Most costly property issues don’t begin with a dramatic event.

They begin with something that feels easy to ignore.

A small washout after heavy rain.

A fence that’s leaning “just a little.”

A tree branch hanging over the roof.

A driveway crack that’s “not that bad.”

A gutter that’s overflowing only during the heaviest storms.

None of these seem like emergencies.

So they get pushed to next weekend.

Then next month.

Then “whenever there’s time.”

The hidden cost isn’t just that the problem gets worse.

The hidden cost is everything that happens while you’re waiting.

Water finds a new path.

Wood continues to absorb moisture.

Roots keep growing.

Small cracks widen with every season.

Storms don’t wait for your schedule.

By the time something finally demands your attention, you’re often paying for several problems instead of one.

Owning property isn’t about chasing emergencies.

It’s about recognizing that time is part of every repair bill.

The longer a condition has to change, the more expensive the outcome usually becomes.

That’s why experienced property owners don’t just ask:

“How much will it cost to fix?”

They also ask:

“What will it cost if I wait?”

Sometimes, that’s the question that saves the most money.

—

The Hidden Cost Series explores the overlooked decisions, risks, and habits that quietly shape the long-term health and value of a property.

Avaron
Property Operations & Intelligence

07/21/2026

WHAT YOUR PROPERTY IS TRYING TO TELL YOU

Story #001

A few years ago, I probably would have walked right past it.

Just a little water collecting beside a driveway after a rain.

Nothing dramatic.

Nothing broken.

Nothing that demanded attention.

Or so it seemed.

The interesting thing about properties is that they rarely change all at once.

They change quietly.

A little more water this season.

A tree that’s leaning just a bit farther than last year.

Grass that suddenly grows differently in one corner of the yard.

A gate that doesn’t close quite like it used to.

None of these things seem urgent.

Until you look back and realize they were the first chapter of a much larger story.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is this:

Properties are constantly communicating with us.

The question isn’t whether they’re sending signals.

The question is whether we’re paying attention.

That’s one reason I enjoy documenting properties.

Not because I’m looking for problems.

Because I’m learning how properties change over time.

Every property has a story.

Sometimes it just whispers instead of shouting.

Question for you:

What’s one small change around your home you’ve noticed this year that made you stop and think?

07/17/2026

🔍 Avaron Insight #006

Not Everything Deserves Equal Attention.

When most people walk around a property, they notice what’s obvious.

A broken fence.

Tall grass.

A fallen limb.

But experienced observation isn’t about noticing more things.

It’s about knowing which things matter most.

A small crack above a doorway might deserve more attention than a large patch of weeds.

Standing water after a rain may reveal more than a faded mailbox.

Fresh tire tracks on a vacant property may tell a bigger story than an overgrown flower bed.

Every property has hundreds of details.

Only some of them become important signals.

The goal isn’t to document everything.

It’s to recognize the observations that can influence future decisions.

That’s where property intelligence begins.

Question

If you had only 30 minutes to document your property, what would you make sure wasn’t missed?