Who's in the old Matz and Greiff garage? Sota Lake Properties opens new hub in Perham

For many years, travelers down Perham's Main Street would pass by a familiar old white building that everyone knew as Matz and Greiff Garage, a car repair shop.

These days, following a months-long renovation project, the building looks almost unrecognizable.

Now painted black on the outside and completely renovated, the old garage — located at 318 West Main Street — is the home and hub for Sota Lake Properties , a property management and maintenance company.

"We've had a lot of people wondering about what exactly we do," said Sota Lake Properties Business Development Director Kim Stafki.

Stafki sat down with the Perham Focus recently to explain just what Sota Lake Properties is all about. She said the company — owned by Perham's Darin Trites — offers multiple property management and rental services all under one roof, aiming to be a one-stop shop for lake property owners.

The company offers:

• Property maintenance: Snow/leaf removal, lawn care, repainting, general house repair and more.
• Property management: Management of rental properties; marketing and upkeep of vacation homes and rentals.
• Interior design: Interior and decorating design, furniture concierge services, window treatments and staging for real estate and vacation rentals.
• Rentals: Lake home rentals at various price points, as well as boat and water toy rentals.
• Unique cleaning services: Residential and commercial cleaning offered in partnership with Zerorez , a cleaning service that uses ionized water instead of chemicals to clean carpets, mattresses, vents, air ducts, dryer vents, showers and upholstery.
• Landscaping: This is the newest addition to the Sota list of services, and is being offered right now.

Sota Lake Properties purchased the former Matz & Greiff building in March 2021. Renovations have been going on for the past few months, and some are still being finished up inside. The company previously had a smaller office in Perham; this is the first location to house all of the company's offerings under a single roof.

"We really want to be the 'easy button' for the community -- we want to be a one-stop shop for both residential and commercial property owners," Stafki said.

For example, the owner of a rental duplex can turn to Sota Lake Properties for help finding someone to clean, mow the lawn and spray for bugs, and a seasonal cabin owner can get help finding someone to look in on their property over the winter and do some occasional cleaning or odd jobs. Sota Lake Properties offers custom packages for people looking for a specific list of services.

While interior renovations on the new building aren't quite complete yet, the company invites members of the community to stop over any time and meet the team.

"This is such a cool building, and it's already been a staple of Perham for many years," Stafki said.

"For forever," added Kristen McMartin, hospitality manager. "We found old pharmaceutical bottles and liquor bottles between the walls. There's a story."

They said they're hoping to preserve that story in the way they're redesigning the space.

"We've kept a lot of the original things from when (this building) used to be a garage," Stafki said.

Open hours are Monday–Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., but Stafki emphasized that they're never really closed. They have a 24-hour call service and can be reached any time for maintenance emergencies. For more information, contact Sota Lake Properties at 218-325-0149, admin@sotalakehomerentals.com, or sotalakeproperties.com .