An owner-operator brokerage, led by an investor.

Michael Clifford founded Source One Stays and leads the short-term rental side of the business, working with owners across Northeast Ohio. He is a licensed Realtor and a hands-on STR investor, property manager, and renovator, and he builds every engagement around one question: does this property actually perform?

He also serves on the board of the Northern Ohio Short-Term Rental Association (NOSTRA) — advocating for owners and operators and helping set the professional standard for how nightly rentals are run in the region.

Michael advises owners on acquisition strategy, furnishing and launch, revenue management, and the licensing and local-ordinance compliance that quietly decides whether a rental succeeds. A decade in the field as an IBEW electrician means he reads a renovation scope differently than most agents.

Michael and the Source One Stays team run the seasonal short-term rental playbook across Northeast Ohio year-round.

Lily Draga runs day-to-day operations for the brokerage and property management side of Source One. A Miami University graduate, she leads a team of property managers, leasing agents, and back-office staff supporting the Cleveland portfolio.

Her work covers the parts of the business owners and residents feel most directly: tenant inquiries answered quickly, leasing coordination, maintenance dispatch, and compliance — documentation, inspections, and regulatory deadlines that have to be met on time, every time. She also oversees Source One's off-market marketplace, managing client relationships and overall performance.

Lily is usually the first person an applicant or owner talks to, and the reason turn times, showings, and work orders stay on schedule.

Michelle Norton has worked in real estate since 2002. She began her career in New Jersey, earned her broker's license in 2012, and spent more than a decade as Broker of Record of her own firm — handling listings and sales, leasing, property management, staging, and renovation.

Today she works with buyers, sellers, and investors across Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Having owned and operated her own brokerage, she evaluates a property the way an investor does — not just the way a listing agent does.

She pairs local market knowledge with the Source One vertically integrated model, so clients don't just get a listing agent or a buyer's agent. They get a partner who understands acquisition, management, and resale strategy, and who keeps the deal moving from contract to close.

Alex Cucu owns short-term rentals and started Source One Stays after meeting owner after owner frustrated by the same things he was: a management company that treated them like an account number, occupancy that sat flat, calls that went unreturned, and a "full-service" fee that came out every month regardless.

Source One Stays is the alternative — a boutique co-hosting company managing short-term rentals across Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. The team takes the day-to-day off an owner's plate through listing and revenue optimization, guest communication, housekeeping and maintenance coordination, and permitting compliance, without the owner giving up control of their own home.

Before real estate, Alex spent nearly two decades in enterprise software and data marketing, including roles at Salesforce, Teradata, and Alterian. That background shapes how Source One Stays approaches pricing, distribution, and owner reporting.

The company stays deliberately small by design. Alex works directly with every owner — you get his cell, not a ticket queue.