Archive for June 7th, 2013

Building Management Service

Vacant Home Property ManagementBuilding management services provided by property management companies can vary a great deal. If you are an owner looking to hire a company to provide you with this type of service, there are many issues to consider. We will cover a few of the building management service items that owners of single-family buildings all the way up to multiple-unit buildings should consider. You may want to prepare a complete list of services that you require. Then request quotes for these services before hiring a building management service company.

Property Management Service List

The list of possible service items that you may want to consider are as follows:

  • Rental of all units
  • Tenant selection
  • Place advertising to fill rental units
  • Collection of rents and collection of overdue rents including small claims courts
  • Review and check of all units pre-occupancy and post-occupancy
  • Administration of damage deposits and last month rents
  • Repair and maintenance of all interior items to the unit
  • Repair and maintenance of all exterior items of the building
  • Preparation of an annual budget
  • Report on monthly revenue and expenses
  • Emergency response to maintenance items
  • Hiring of on-site managers if needed
  • Management of on-site managers if needed
  • Other specific services to the building that you may require

We suggest that owners who are planning to hire a Building Management Service company to provide these services receive very explicit contract guidelines. They can review and understand them, prior to hiring a company of this type.  The contract should state the specifics of what will  be done in as many specific situations as possible. You may require the company to contact you prior to spending any money over $50 for example in an effort to control the costs. You might provide them with specific guidelines for the kind of tenants you want to have in your building. They will attempt to carry out your instructions provided that they meet local and state laws. Specifics such as time frames, cost, and actions to be completed by a specific date should be included as much as possible.

Property Management Reports

Building manage service and contracts covering these services can be very general. It is always a good idea to check with the company providing building management service to you on a regular basis. Request status reports and monitor financial reports on a monthly basis at a minimum. Once you gain confidence with the company you have hired, you may consider relaxing this level of vigilance. In our experience, it is a good habit to get into where you monitor the expenses and status reports once a month. Letting the building management service know that you review the reports etc will also help to keep them vigilant as well.

Less specific items should also include your rental strategy. For example what is your rent level going to be, how much will you increase rent each month? Will you rent to only seniors or people with kids or people with pets. There are all kinds of rental strategies to consider. You may decide to leave a unit vacant while you hold out for a tenant willing to pay a higher rent and take care of the place. This can mean less damages and lower cost to you the owner and to the property manager as well. Discuss all of these sorts of items with your manager and write them down so that everyone is clear on your strategy.

Building management service can be provided for individual homes, for apartment buildings that are condos. Also for rental units that make up the total building or part of a building. There are lots of combinations and we will discuss one example in our next post about the services that property managers can provide.

For more property management posts, click here.


Text Messaging Companies

Text Message CampaignText messaging companies are offering more and more services these days that are aimed at loyalty programs with consumers. We have seen companies such as Izod advertise in their stores for customers to become a text messaging loyalty member. All you have to do is send a text message to their sign up number.

In return they are offering a $5 text message credit back. Subsequently consumers can use this credit in the store towards any purchase they are making that day. Once you sign up, apparently you will receive text messages once and awhile. They will advertise some special that they feel you may be interested in. You can send a message to stop these future text messages at any time. Wait a reasonable amount of time and you can then rejoin and receive another $5 credit for another purchase. What a great deal!

Text Message Alerts

We have seen a number of companies offer variations of the same thing. As well as alerts that can be sent as text messages to your cell phone. Hence these alerts can be for stocks that you are following to let you know that your favorite stock has reached a price point that you are watching for. As a result you can make a decision to sell or purchase. Others may include  weather alerts or emergency alerts advising that a tornado is approaching. There are a variety of situations that text messaging is uniquely designed to provide the best solution.

Text messaging companies are prepared to work with potential customers to design a competitive offering or service that makes sense for the user as well as the customer. Start with an idea and utilize their experience to see what solution they may come up with. Which will meet your basic requirement and provide an economic solution as well. There are many ideas out there just waiting for someone to put them together into a service oriented solution.

Text Message Platforms and Software

Text messaging companies today can provide the platform and the software to get you going in hours with a basic package. Services can be aimed at mobile users in various segments and test runs can be made as well to fine tune the service package to ensure that you are reaching your target market. Hence give text messaging a try today and add it to your overall marketing strategy.

University campuses have embraced text messaging as a means of alerting students to announcements and emergency broadcasts that they need their students and staff to be aware of. This is a very efficient method to get a message in the hands of everyone that owns a mobile phone. Not everyone is checking their email all of the time, where as a text message is usually looked at immediately.

For more text messaging posts and topics, click here.


Top 10 Ways You Can Save Money Easily

Top 10 Ways You Can Save MoneyThese are the top 10 ways you can save money at home without even realizing it and it is pretty easy too.  They are not in any particular order. Some families will receive larger payoffs from one area than others and that is ok. Even if one of these areas helps you save some money which can be used for other things you are ahead of the game. Take a look at the list and determine if there any that you or your family can use.

Top 10 Ways You Can Save Money

  • Repair and Maintain Wear and Tear on Your Home
  • Maximize Your Credit Card Rewards
  • Claim Money In Your Name
  • Avoid Food In Your Kitchen Going Bad
  •  Pay Less for Smartphone Data
  •  Use Coupons That Are Right In Front of You
  • Always Negotiate
  • Don’t Fall For Tech Myths
  • Do not Overpay Your Monthly Bills
  • Trying Too Hard to Save Money
  • Share your home with family

We will expand on each of these to give you a little more information. How you can save money on all of these areas.

Repair and Maintain Wear and Tear on Your Home

Delaying repairs will only allow them to get worse and usually increases the repair costs substantially. As soon as you see something that needs to be fixed and repaired, do it right away. Water leaks are among the worst, the water spreads and damages a lot of things inside your home, creates mold and can even make you sick. This is just one example of fixing things as soon as you notice something amiss. Don’t wait or it will cost you more money!

Maximize Your Credit Card Rewards – take advantage of these rewards, they can save you hundreds of dollars. Health insurance, rental car insurance, travel insurance are just a couple of examples not forgetting using your points to pay for things like travel

Claim Money In Your Name – don’t forget money in unused bank accounts and other places were you may leave money from time to time

Avoid Food In Your Kitchen Going Bad – leftovers can be great and making sure that you use food before it expires can save you hundreds of dollars in extra food bills each month

Pay Less for Smartphone Data – use WiFi whenever you can to control or decrease the amount of data you need to pay for.

Use Coupons That Are Right In Front of You

It does not take much work to snip the coupons from the paper or even from some of the packaging your food comes in

Always Negotiate – the worst that can happen is that they say no or they will not negotiate. You would be surprised how even just asking can knock 10% off the price.

Don’t Fall For Tech Myths – go for the real thing. Check out all technologies online first and if it sounds too good to be true it probably is

Do not Overpay Your Monthly Bills – why would you give extra money to the big conglomerates. Pay your bills on time and only what you owe. Practice conservation and save thousands every year.

Trying Too Hard to Save Money – driving 10 miles to save $5 is going to cost more than that in gas. Always ask yourself if the net savings is going to be positive after you consider your expenses.

Share Your Home With Family

This is an interesting way to share the costs of running a home. If a family member moves back in with you, a child perhaps or an older parent, sharing the costs of maintaining the home can be very helpful. You need to discuss the arrangement up front before they move in and come to some sort of agreement. If you do this afterwords, there can be a lot of misunderstandings and it might even ruin your family arrangement. Sharing the cost of food, the cost of utilities and even the mortgage or taxes can make a huge difference for everyone concerned and save a great deal for both parties.

 


Cost of Refinishing Hardwood Floors

Many people wonder about the cost of refinishing hardwood floors that are many years old. They may have scuff marks, gauges. Perhaps even cracked boards. Installing a new floor is still way in favor of refinishing the older hardwood floor. In addition, many people really like the character of a home with older hardwood floors. They have aged and have an older style look and feel to them. For them the decision to refinish a floor is not difficult. Since they love this character and the atmosphere that an older floor creates.

Hardwood floors will fade over time. Each time you move furniture you will notice that the floor area under the furniture will be a different shade compared to floor area that was exposed to the sunlight. As long as you do not move your furniture, everything is fine. However if you move furniture around you will be faced with a decision. Should you consider sanding and refinishing your floor or perhaps purchasing some area rugs to cover the newly exposed floor areas?

It does not take long for the shading of hardwood floors to change. The sun can really make a huge difference on how fast it will change. If you can protect your floors from exposure to the sun there will not be as much change as quickly.

Refinishing Hardwood Floors

Refinishing the older floors may involve quite a bit of manual sanding since the floor may be uneven and may also have gauges that will need to be repaired separately. Always sand the floor in the direction of the grain and never across the grain. Hand sanding will ensure that you have a nice even look to the floor, although it takes a great deal more work. In addition, you will remove far less of the wood from the floor, whereas mechanical sanders may take as much as an eighth of an inch of wood from the boards.

While it does not seem like much, if an older floor has been sanded many times, there may not be much wood left to sand. A mechanical sander could expose nails and even sand right through the hardwood to the under floor below. Sanding by hand is far safer and delivers a nicer job on older floors, although this type of sanding tales more time and effort.

Replacing a Hardwood Floor

If you decide to replace the floor, the existing hardwood must be removed. All nails and any other debris removed. Make any repairs to the supporting floor underneath that may be required. Most experts will suggest that there should be at least five eighths plywood to support a new hardwood floor. This will help to ensure that there are no squeaks in the floor when you walk across it. The cost of removal of the old floor, clean up and preparation of the base floor, placement of the sub floor for support and then installation of the new hardwood floor is usually much more expensive than sanding an older floor.

Evaluate both alternatives and request estimates for both solutions before making a decision. You can them make an informed decision about which direction is best to take with respect to your new floor. In addition, if you can do some or all of the work yourself, the cost of refinishing a hardwood floor will be much lessl. Consumers can save a great deal of money by refinishing the hardwood floor themselves.

Many people enjoy the ambiance and the character of an old floor. It still retains its color and texture from years ago. In addition you still want to be careful on the floor with furniture etc to not scratch it. However there is less concern about the floor since it already has marks from years of use. Many consumers prefer this decor vs. having one that is perfect and must be treated carefully every time you walk on it.

 


Tires Wear Faster in Hot Weather

ATV Tires and AccessoriesDo tires wear faster in hot weather? Sergio, who works at Sergio’s Automotive in Thousand Palms, explains. “Because tires are made of rubber and what people don’t normally see is the air in the tire actually expands more when the temperature rises. And on the asphalt on the freeway, it’s a little hotter than normal because you’re getting all those cars going by all the time. Friction from contact with a hot road surface and friction within the tire produces even more heat.” The air inside the tire will rise and this increases the tire pressure inside the tire.

Tires Wear Faster in Hot Weather

In addition, the rubber becomes more soft and pliable as temperatures rise and friction increases the temperature of the rubber even more. Soft rubber on hot asphalt is a perfect place for tires to wear fast! Winter tires are made of a softer rubber than summer tires so if you have winter tires on your car in the summer tire they will wear even faster than the normal summer tire. Once the snow is gone, if you live in areas where you get a lot of snow, it is time to install summertime tires. Low tire pressure will also increase friction and help a rubber tire wear even faster.

So how do you check your tread to see if it’s too low?

Tires Wear Faster in Hot Weather – If you feel that your tires have worn down too much due to use and summertime friction, check your tires before they get too bald. “The best idea, if you don’t have any kind of tool, is to always put an Abe Lincoln, a penny. And if it’s above the Abe Lincoln head you’re alright. Once it’s below usually that’s where it is when you need to change your tires. Sometimes there are indicators wear marks on the tire themselves. This is a warning that your tire’s tread is getting thin and it is time to change your tires.”

Always purchase tires that are the right size for your car. Most people will just check the sidewall of their existing tires and replace them with the same tire. However, your tire dealer can look up your car, make, and model to see what range of tires are suitable for your vehicle. It is important to install the right kind of tires with the proper speed and load rating. They help your vehicle maintain stability at low and high speeds.

Improper tire size can cause accidents due to instability when turning corners or curves at high speed or even changing lanes on the highway. Improper tire size can also contribute to your tires wearing faster than normal. You really are not getting your mileage out of the tire that you are supposed to.

Vehicle Inspection at Maintenance Time

Tires Wear Faster in Hot Weather.  One of the best times to check your tires is when you have the oil changed. If your tires are worn down due to mileage or high temperatures, your oil change technician will usually point this out. Many oil change shops now will do an inspection of all fluids, check the tire pressure, and note if your tire tread is getting thin. They will let you know if your tires should be changed. If they fail to point this out, ask them to check for you specifically. Ask for advice regarding your tires.

Make sure that your tires are at the proper tire pressure and have the correct amount of tread. This will ensure that your tires are safe to drive on at all normal speeds. They will also ensure that you get the best possible gas mileage as well. With the cost of gas these days it is important to make sure that everything is working properly on your car. So that you get the best possible gas mileage. This includes your tires.

For more information about tire safety and tire performance, click here.


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