Managing Home Maintenance Costs

Why do owners of registered condo buildings need to have building management services? For both the condo building and building management services for the rental operation of the same building? This is a situation that is actually quite common. Anyone who is either an investor or resident in the building that is a registered condo should know the difference. We will try to explain the difference between the two. In addition hy you need separate building management services for each one.

Basically there is a business entity that is responsible for all of the common elements of the building. This is the condo or the strata as it is referred to in some locations. All owners participate and can vote on various issues that the board of directors will bring to them at a general meeting. In addition all owners are eligible to be on the board of directors as well.

They are responsible for setting a budget, establishing and maintaining an adequate reserve fund. In addition providing the owners with at minimum an annual report of all financial and operational status. The board will usually hire a building management service or property manager to look after all of these things on their behalf.

Building Management Services and the Board

It is up to the representatives of the building management service to fulfill and carry though all of the boards requirements. Provided that they are legal of course. They must comply with the bylaws of the property or condominium. This is a pretty standard example of building management service.

Some Units will be Rented

At some buildings a large number of units may be rented out to tenants. If one owner happens to own these rental units, they may hire a building management service. This company will manage the rental of their units, collect the rent and provide upkeep to the interior of the units. They have no responsibility of looking after the exterior of the building.

They work for each individual owner. In addition they are responsible for managing the tenant or tenants that rent units in the building they are in. Often there are multiple owners who own rental units in the building along with people who own and live in the building. The rental unit owners sometimes will band together to hire one management company. This company will manage all of the rental units in an attempt to reduce their costs overall.

These can be two separate building management services or sometimes they can be the same company. Usually there are different people within the building management company responsible for the condo side and the rental side of the business. There is no business or legal relationship between the condo and any tenants that are renting. Or between the various rental building management services. They are separate entities and all must abide by the condo bylaws etc. Separate financial reports are needed for both entities to ensure that there is no mixing of accounts and payments.

Tenant vs. Owner Issues

Many people find this confusing especially at meetings of the unit owners, however it is important to keep these things separate and distinct. For example if a tenant is causing problems in the building and other owners are complaining, the complaints must be given to the condo building management who in turn will contact the owner of that unit. It is up to the owner of that unit to deal with his or her tenant or the building management company that is managing his or her rental units. The rental building management service will need to then follow up with the tenant to ensure that no more complaints are received.

Hope this helps to explain one aspect of building management service. For more information about building management and property management services, click here.

Tire prices vary a great deal from one vender to another and the services that come with the price that is quoted can also vary a great deal. Consumers can sometimes save themselves a lot of money on just the tire price alone when they make their purchase. But getting a low tire price initially is not always the best deal. Compare total cost over the long term or the life of the tire. Other costs can sometimes creep in. Which makes that cheap tire price look very expensive over the long term.

These costs will generally even out the overall cost of the tire with that of other tires that are pricier but include various services. This is how many dealers really make their money. Sell tires as a loss leader and then recoup the profits on services later. Read on to see why we believe that you should always include services such as balancing and tire rotation.

Tire Price –  Rotation

All manufacturers of tires as well as car manufacturers will tell you that you can maximize the life of your tires. As well as maximize your car’s gas mileage if your tires are rotated every so many miles. In addition make sure that your tires are always in balance. Tire rotation can be included in the tire price for the length of time you own your car. Or you can choose to exclude this feature and do your own tire rotation. Although it is a bit of work doing your own tire rotation. It is no problem provided that you follow the necessary safety requirements. Make sure the lugs are placed on tight enough when you replace the tire.

But tires also must be balanced and they are usually are balanced when you purchase the tires and have them installed. However you can lose the weights on your car’s tires. Your tires will suddenly be out of balance causing unnatural wear and tear on the tires. Your car’s tires will wear out much more quickly. There may be vibration in the front end which can also wear out your shocks much more quickly. You cannot balance tires yourself. An expensive machine is required.

Take Advantage of Tire Rotation

When tire rotation and balancing is included in the tire price, take advantage of it. Each rotation and balancing can cost as much as $20 per tire or more in some cases. After several of these episodes your cheap tire price without these services might end up costing you much more than what you originally thought. This is the crux of the question. Will your tire price and money you save by not taking the services offered save you money over the long term? Or will you spend more on tire re-balancing, tire rotation, premature tire replacement, premature shock replacement and possibly even ball joint replacement.

Tire Price – Conclusion

For my money I would always take a tire price that includes all of these services and then I would make sure to keep my tires at an optimum level of service. This approach will keep my car safe, it will stop premature wear and tear and I will get better gas mileage as well. Always compare like for like services when you are shopping around to make sure that you get the best deal.

For more about tires and tire sales, click here.

This post is about Things Your Neighbors Won’t Tell You because they are jealous or are mad at you for some other reason. “Complaining about your neighbors or complaining to your neighbors will cost you”. You will just be never sure when it will happen. How they will do it or how much it will cost you. If you have a neighbor that is difficult to deal with they will sabotage you at some point. It may cost you a great deal of money.  Always try to get along with your neighbors! Things Your Neighbors Won’t Tell You can cost you a great deal. You may not even know it. The following are several areas to watch out for.

Things Your Neighbors Won’t Tell You – A-List

“I will use your Wi-Fi — and might get you arrested”. Leaving your WiFi unprotected with no password is a sure way to exceed your data limits. It could even attract the wrong attention from the police. Your neighbors will not tell you that they are using your WiFi for free! Or what kind of content they might be downloading on your system. The police will eventually figure it out if there is really something sinister going on. But in the meantime, you must deal with all of the suspicions, etc.

“Good luck blocking out our din”. Noisy neighbors can be irritating. If you complain, you can almost be sure that they will take extra pains to be noisy. It could be always arranging to cut the lawn just when you are having an outdoor dinner party. Or perhaps having large noisy parties on a work night.

“I’m a registered sex offender”

No one is going to tell you this information ever unless they are forced to. Be alert and if you are concerned check with websites that track this sort of thing.

“We’re ripping up the flower beds and planting corn.” You move into a beautiful neighborhood and expect all the neighbors to keep up their end of the bargain. But then there is the guy who does not cut the lawn, lets the flowers die and the weeds grow! Your home is next door and losing value every time a new weed pops up. You may even have to call the city to get him to cut his weeds down and now you have a neighbor who only wants to see revenge.

“My bed bugs need neighbors too.” The garbage is not thrown out properly, your kids sleepover, rodents visit and it is downhill from there. But will they tell you about these issues or let you find out yourself? Their mangy dog is always in your yard and doing his business wherever he likes.

“I’m secretly stealing your land.”

Neighbors can encroach on your lot by extending flower beds, moving sidewalks, or fences. Unless you pay attention you will never know until you have your lot lines surveyed.

“Our bad behavior will give the whole block a bad name.” One neighbor can ruin a neighborhood and drop home values overnight. Imagine holding an open house to sell your place and they hold a huge party. It is always the guy on the corner lot that does not keep his property up and brings the value of all of the neighbor properties down.

“We’re not paying our mortgage.” They will not tell you that is for sure, but you will figure it out soon enough. No maintenance is done on the home and collection agents are coming around. As their home is sold for collection the value of yours is also going down!

“You’re moving? I’ll cut $20,000 off your sale price.” Casual chats with prospective buyers could cost you a great deal if they say the wrong thing.  A chat with a neighbor could cost you the deal or cause the buyer to offer a really low price for the home and make it difficult to sell your home. Remind them that lower prices affect the value of their home too and someday they will be selling their home. Real estate agents always look for comparable when they price a home and you do not want several homes selling for a low price due to someone sabotaging your home.

That’s it when it comes to Things Your Neighbors Won’t Tell You

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Have you noticed recently that many people of all ages are constantly on their phones, reading email, browsing Facebook or responding to text messages and possibly one of a hundred other things that they are doing on their smart phones! We are so engrossed in what is going on in our phones. People are actually talking less to each other face to face. You may agree or disagree with this fact. Also whether it is a good thing or not the reality for many businesses is that they need to find a way to penetrate a person’s short attention span.

Text Marketing

Text messaging seems to be the one communications medium that is still getting through to people. Phones buzz, ring or vibrate every time a text message arrives. Users cannot help but respond. This is what text marketing has known for a while. Many companies are trying to take advantage  as they try to reach the consumer and gain their attention.

Judicious use of text messages as a text marketing tool can really make a difference. Especially if you are trying to alert customers of sales activity, make them aware that their order has just shipped etc. Sending too many text messages and consumers will just become irritated with them. They will ignore the text message which makes your advertising next to useless. They may may even trigger exactly the wrong response.

Don’t Alienate the Customer

The last thing you want to is make your customer mad at you for sending too many text messages. Text marketing can be used to communicate with many people on a push basis to advertise. Also to communicate sales events. Or to communicate with a select group who have given you their cell phone number because they want to hear from you.

Text marketing is a unique method of communications that still has punch. It is able to get through to customers to grab their attention for several seconds. That is all that is needed to alert a customer to something that may interest them. If they are not interested, you have only taken a second or two of their time. For most people there is no harm done. When there are deals to be had, text marketing is a powerful way to get the message out to your customers.

We also talk about text messaging systems that send out weather alerts as well to consumers living in a specific area. Another use is to send text messages to all of your students on campus or all of your employees in a building for example about a warning, an evacuation drill and other items that you want all of your students and employees to know about. this use of text messaging can be an effective emergency notification system as well as a marketing tool for the university or company.

For more text messaging posts and topics, click here.

Embarking on a solar panel installation is a complex business with a lot of variables that are taken into account by the installation company. We happen to believe that consumers should be aware of these issues as well and should really look into them before they make the decision to select a particular vender to complete the installation. One of the variables is solar panel efficiency and we will spend some time on this post discussing this particular variable and how it relates to your business case for your new solar panel installation.

When you are considering a solar panel installation, you can impact your financial cash flow and business case in several ways. You can either control your costs and get them as low as possible and / or you can also increase your generation of electricity as much as possible by making sure that the efficiency is as high as possible. Obviously you want to make sure that both of these areas are dealt with in the best manner possible. We believe you actually should model this on a spread sheet and review how long it will take to repay the installation cost of the solar generation system based on the cost and the electrical generation. But that is the subject of other posts so we will move on to the main subject.

Solar Panel Efficiency – Specifications

Solar panels are manufactured with various specifications. Some are more efficient at generating electricity than others and of course the cost also varies as well. So the most efficient solar panels under laboratory conditions may not be the most efficient when you factor in the cost of these panels. Less efficient, lower cost panels may be actually better from a cost perspective per kilowatt generated. There are other factors to take into account as well when selecting solar panels and a solar installation firm. Here are five questions that we feel are important to take into account:

1. “How many solar panel systems has the company installed?”

Consider installers who have more than 50 installations under their belt. Consider installers who really understand the technology and can explain it to you. If they generalize too much, this should lead you to ask more questions. Take the time to educate yourself as well and know as much as the installers should know. You do not want to find out that the fence installer is now installing solar panels because there is not sufficient fence installation work.

2. “How long is the warranty on my solar panels – 25 years?”

Most solar panels on the market are high-quality and should have a guaranteed output of not less than 90% after 10 years and no less than 80% after 25 years. Look for this level of output from all brands. Also ask the installer how he will demonstrate this level of efficiency when the units are initially installed and how it can be measured in 10 years time.

3. “How long is the warranty on your labor – it should be 10 years or longer?”

Some installers will warranty their labor for 10 years in order for the system to be eligible for state rebates. They should also cover any potential damage to your roof as well. Any installer in the business for the long term should have no problem including this.

4. “How many kilowatt-hours will your system produce the first year?”

Assuming you have the warranty on labor and the efficiency on the panels, the next most important measure is how many kilowatts will the system produce every year. This is where the system will pay for itself. Sometimes less efficient systems cost less but meet the warranty measures. They may produce as much if not more kilowatts and significantly improve the business case for your solar installation.

5. “What will the total cost be for the system including components, installation, warranty and maintenance”?

The final cost or profit is going to be the income or energy saved in terms of dollars vs. the cost of the system. Include the labor to install and the annual maintenance plan. Don’t forget to include the cost of the loan if you have one. Or the cost of money that it takes to pay for this system. The money you spend could be used for other investments and gain a return so you have to take this into account if you are going to do a true business case.

For more information about solar panels, costs, installation and more, click here.

Consumers who have decided to install hardwood floors in their homes must also decide what hardwood flooring contractors they will hire. In most cases the store they purchase the hardwood from can also provide installation services for them. They are providing a list of subcontractors that have been vetted by the store. Most hardwood stores will only recommend hardwood flooring contractors that they have experience with and who they can count on to do a good quality job and who also stand behind their work. After all their reputation is on the line as well, since if they have a dissatisfied customer, it will not matter whether it is with the material or the subcontractor, the store is still going to get a bad reputation.

However everyone has to begin somewhere and this is also true of hardwood flooring contractors. They need to gain experience and sometimes will work under another professional hardwood flooring installer to learn the trade. They may work together until the contractor has sufficient experience that they feel they can go out on their own and take on their own contracts. The questions for consumers is whether you want to be part of the training period when you are probably spending thousands of dollars on a new hardwood floor.

Questions for Hardwood Flooring Contractors

We put together several questions that will hopefully help consumers when they are hiring hardwood flooring contractors or even just going with the contractor that the store recommends.

• How Long have you been laying hardwood floors?
• How many installations have you completed on your own?
• Can you provide references that are willing to speak with us?
• Do you warranty your work?
• When will the work begin?
• When will you finish?
• Will you stay on our contract until it is finished?
• What precautions do you take to avoid dust in our home
• What precautions do you take to avoid damage to other parts of our home
• Do you clean up all sawdust and board ends that may be left over

Squeaky Floors and Hardwood Flooring Contractors

You may have other concerns or questions that you also want to ask the contractor that we have not listed. let us know what they are and we will add them to the list for other readers. Some home owners will request the contractor to explain how they will go about the installation, which way will the grain of the floor flow, how does the grain flow relative to the joists underneath and so  on. For example, your floor will gain maximum strength of the hardwood strips flow across the joists underneath the floor. this can be very important if you want to minimize squeaks in your floor. Most floors will squeak at some point and in one or two locations. In fact our floor squeaks in the winter time when the humidity in the house is the driest and the wood shrinks a bit because it is so dry.

It also squeaks in the hallway and nowhere else for some reason that we have not been able to figure out and only in the winter time as we explained. This is one of the weird things about our home and it will be a different location and even a different time of the year for your home. Having the contractor explain how he will install your floor will tell you a lot. If he does not mention installing across the joists, then you may want to add some probing questions of your own to see if he really knows what he is doing. Another point is that I like the contractor to set up his saw outside to minimize the dust in the house.

Leave Comments

Feel free to leave comments for our readers about your own experiences and any suggestions that you may want to leave for our readers. We can all assist each other to avoid situations that are less than what many people would like to experience with hardwood flooring contractors.