Managing Home Maintenance Costs

There are two major things that are holding back the increase in the electric car business.  The first is the cost of the cars to consumers.  The exact same car with a gasoline engine is often $5-$10,000 less than an electric car of the same model.  As a result even with subsidies the electric car is still more expensive than its gasoline counterpart.  The second thing that holds back consumers from buying these cars is the distance you can go on a full charge. Also locations to recharge your batteries.

Electric Car Business – Reduce Pollution

Several states in the United States have decided to give the electric car business a boost.  Their objective is to reduce pollution and improve the general well-being of the population.  As a result by reducing gasoline driven cars they hope to make a major contribution in the war against pollution.

Eight states are involved. They represent nearly a quarter of US auto sales. They have agreed to increase the number of electric and hydrogen fueled cars, trucks and buses on the roads.  Their goal is to have 3.3 million vehicles by 2025.  California is leading the way with an announced goal of 1.5 million zero emission vehicles in the next 12 years.

They are going to accomplish this goal by ensuring there are more points along the highways to recharge vehicles.  They’re going to continue with subsidies and increase subsidies to ensure that the consumers are more willing to spend money on electric vehicles.  Even with $10,000 subsidies some electric vehicles are still more expensive than their gasoline counterparts.  As a result the savings will come from the reduced cost to operate the vehicle using electricity instead of gasoline.

Practical Issues

The practical issue of being able to drive your car and  recharge it at a convenient location is of paramount importance. This issue needs to be solved in the near future if these objectives are going to be met.  The majority of trips made by consumers are less than 40 miles every day.  With incentives to install charging stations at employer locations. Along the highways and even at consumers homes.

Would provide more posts on the subject is more information comes along.  We recently wrote a post about 20 new electric charging stations being installed along the 401. This is between Montreal Quebec and Windsor Ontario.  This is a start and we will see a lot more in the years to come.

Condos have condo fees for a reason. There is a lot of maintenance and upkeep that needs to be done for any building. Whether it is an apartment building or a townhouse style of home or regular single-family home. The difference with condos is that you are paying a management fee to someone to manage the building. You are paying labor costs for all of the work that needs to be completed. Much of which most people can do themselves e.g. cutting and trimming the lawn. Home maintenance costs are very small when you do the work yourself.

Management fees are a set fee that the management company will charge just to manage the property. Their job is to collect the money, hire contractors, and make sure that the work gets done. The work should be completed according to the instructions they receive from the condo board. When you are in your own home, no one needs to pay management fees. You are the owner and the manager and you get to do the work, providing huge savings.

Labor Fees

Labor fees are another factor that comes into play when you have your own home vs. a condo. In a condo, you get to pay labor costs for everything at the going rate. While in a home there are many things that homeowners can do themselves. From raking leaves to planting flowers to fixing leaking faucets to name a few. This is a huge saving for anyone who can do the basic level of work. The larger jobs you can contract out or hire someone to help you.

Before this post begins to sound too much like a condo vs. single-family home post, we just want to say one thing more. A homeowner can shop around for materials. They can take advantage of sales for the material. While a contractor buys material and may get a discount for quantity. They may or may not pass the savings along to the condo!

Home Maintenance Costs

Maintenance is regular things you have to do every year while repairs are something that needs to be fixed after it has broken or stopped working. Keeping your lawn healthy and trimmed looking is maintenance. Fixing broken fences or fences that have lasted beyond their age is something that needs repair. All of these things most people can do themselves as long as they are not afraid of a bit of hard work.

Set aside money for big Home Maintenance Costs

There are a number of large jobs that you will have to contend with particularly if you stay in a home for any length of time. We suggest that you set aside money for these things because they can cost a great deal and most people do not have that kind of money just sitting around. Here are a few examples of some of the things that people may want to consider saving for.

New roof – $4000 to $10,000 or more depending on the size of the home
Furnace Replacement – $3000 to $6000 again depending on the size of the furnace and features
New windows – $15,000 to $40,000 depending on how many windows and the type of windows
New driveway – $4,000 to $20,000 depending on size, asphalt or interlock
Upgrades – kitchen upgrades, bathroom upgrades, family room, basement etc can be high
Renovations – usually smaller jobs, but still expensive such as rug replacement, hardwood floors etc

A rule of thumb is to take the job you are going to do, figure out the cost of the job, decide when it will be done and divide by the number of years to get the amount you need to save each year. For example, if your roof is already 10 years old and has another 15 years of live, and th estimated cost to replace it is $5,000, then you need to save $5000 divided by 15 each year in order to have enough saved when the roof needs replacement. Apply this approach to all of your items and you should end up with enough money in your maintenance pool to pay for all of your repairs!

Save

The following are the concise steps that you need to follow when  planning on how to refinish hardwood floors yourself. We also suggest that consumers speak to a professional before they start to make sure that they are using the right tools and materials. Cleanliness is next to godliness when it comes to refinishing hardwood floors. Do it yourself consumers must remove all dust specks before applying finishing coats.

Otherwise you will have lots of dust specs that will show up in the daylight. This will cause your floor not to look as great as it should. You will also need to sand between coats of varnish or whatever you use to finish your floor. The last coat must be applied to a completely clean floor to avoid any possibility of dust specks leaving marks on your floor.

How to Refinish Hardwood Floors Yourself: Steps to Take

Good luck and follow these steps to refinish your hardwood floors yourself:

• Remove all furniture & window treatments
• Tape all vents
• Open windows
• Turn furnace fan off
• Close door and seal
• Rent power sander with vacuum
• Sand in direction of wood grain
• Use progressively finer sand paper
• Vacuum dust
• Use tack cloth on floors and walks
• Treat with appropriate finish
• Light sanding between coats

How to Refinish Hardwood Floors Yourself: Additional Thoughts

Let it dry for a few days and then move your furniture etc back into the room. This is a lot of work and many consumers must do this work in the evenings and weekends since they must also go to their day jobs.  The job can take several weeks depending on how focused you are in getting the job completed, which means you must also have the support of your family as well.

The room you are refinishing cannot be used during this time period and no matter how hard you try there will be lots of fine dust, that will find its way into just about everything. If someone comes in to do the work for you, the job should be completed within a few days in most cases. Many consumers consider this to be a huge benefit and even though it will cost a lot more money they will hire a handy man to complete the job for them.

This scenario is definitely something to think about. If you hire someone, discuss how they will minimize the dust in the rest of the home. Exhaust fans to the outside, taping the door shut and closing return air vents to avoid dust being sucked into the forced air heating system are examples of steps to take to avoid the dust being circulated throughout the home.

The condo board has the primary responsibility for managing all aspects of the condo on behalf of all of the owners. The condo board is usually elected for one or two years. Board members are rotated through the positions of the condo board. The condo board positions usually include a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary. Also any other special board members that may be required. An odd number of board members usually works best when it comes to a vote.

Their responsibilities are quite varied. However the main ones are to set a budget for the upcoming year for both the operating expenses of the condo and the reserve fund. Which is money to be set aside for all major construction and all major repairs. The timeline is over the next 20 years for the condo property and the building.

Additionally they have the responsibility to manage and hire the property manager. The property manager will implement and carry out all of the operations of the building. They also are responsible to report back to the owners collectively at an annual board and condo meeting. They report the status of the budget, the actual operating expenses. Also any special needs or issues that must be addressed or raised by any and all of the owners.

Condo Boards Role – Summary List of Responsibilities

The following is a partial summary list of all of the responsibilities that the condominium board will be accountable for:

• Set a budget
• Manage property manager
• Monitor spending
• Determine priorities
• Call AGM
• Resolve owner issues
• Set reserve fund budget
• Special assessments if needed
• Gain approval for major projects
• Interface with Owners and property Manager
• Meet legal requirements for condo

Condo Board Size and Other Practical Issues

At a minimum there needs to be at least three members on the board. In addition the members of the board from a practical perspective need to hold the positions of President, Treasure and Secretary. The board members hold their positions for at least one year. They often will rotate through the positions if they are on the board for longer periods. Some condo boards will have added members on the boards. They will be there to represent various factions and have a variety of responsibilities on the board. There should always be an odd number on the board so that there is never a stalemate on a vote.

From a practical perspective it is often very difficult to get people to go on the boards of condos. As a result some people will remain on the board for years. This provides for lots of experience and for entrenched positions on various topics. Owners participate. Ensure that their investment is being properly managed. Occasionally new people will offer their services on the board. Elect new board members to replace the board.

Rotation of Board Members

Rotate board members on a regular basis. But never all of the board members at the same time. It is very helpful to have experience on the board. Particularly on large complex properties with a combination of rental units and owner occupied units. These situations represent a more complex arrangement. Sometimes require unique solutions for various issues that manifest themselves between tenants and owners. Often there will be two sets of property managers as well. Which further complicates the situation. One Property manager is responsible for the building and all of the common elements. While the other is responsible for the tenants and the interiors of the rented units.

Condo board members are never paid for their services. However any expenses that they might incur as a result of their duties is usually paid after submitting an expense form covering the cost and explaining what the charges are for. This is a pretty standard procedure with most condo boards.

The basics of setting a text message campaign is really quite simple. The difficult part is capturing all of the data you need to make the campaign successful. Anyone can send a lot of text messages to random numbers. But you should target customers who have expressed some interest in your product or service. Then your text message campaign will be much more successful. It will deliver the results you’re looking for.

The first step is to decide who your target customers actually are. How you will collect their mobile numbers? What products or services they are interested in? Hhow you will track results once you send out your messages to these customers?

Can you confirm someone actually read the message? Can you confirm that they responded to your message and are you able to report on the success of the messaging campaign. These are tough questions to answer, but your management team is going to want to know the answers before they approve future expenditures in this area.

Text Message Campaign – Develop the Message

The second step is to develop the message that will appeal to the most customers while getting the message across to your target audience in a price effective manner. There are numerous companies on the Internet that will provide you with the software capability to send text messages to your customers.

Establishing goals and objectives helps to establish expectations for yourself as well as your management team and is the third step.  They drive budget, they drive staffing and they drive the overall cost of your text messaging campaign. You also compare results against these goals and objectives and explanations regarding any differences in results versus goals and objectives. This is something that your management team will be very interested in reviewing.

Text Message Campaign – Customer List

A customer list that is finalized and developed hopefully from interested customers is probably the best use of your money. This is the fourth and a really critical step in determining your success.

Handling the response is the last step in the process. While this is the kind of problem you want to have, there is no use having a great marketing campaign unless you have the company infrastructure to handle the demand and deal with customers. Keep them happy with a great product and great service and they will keep coming back.

Failing to meet their expectations will drive customers away and give you a black eye with respect to customer service and recurring business. This is the time when your business can become profitable and can drive further campaigns that lead to further success.

For more information concerning text messaging, click here.

The proper car maintenance of your car is one of the things that will ensure that you always will be safe when driving a car at high speeds as well as on local streets. The majority of accidents occur within 5 miles of a person’s home. Most people will have an accident at one time or another. Make sure that your car is in top shape from a maintenance and safety perspective. It will help you avoid those accidents and protect you from injury. Here is the following list of important things that you should always look for when you are driving your car.

Car maintenance

Check the air pressure of the tires. Glance at the tires whenever you go to get into inside the car. If they look a little low, check the tire pressure with a tire pressure gauge. Pay attention to your tire pressure warning system if you have one in your car.

Check the oil in the engine to make sure it’s at the proper level once per week. change your oil every three months or 5000 kilometers or 3000 miles.

Check all fluid levels including brake line level, power steering fluid level and window washer fluid level. Also any other fluids in your car such as the radiator fluid. Top up if needed with the proper fluid.

Whenever you start your car listen to the cars engine and whether it is making any strange noises. Also when you’re driving your car listen to the noise the car makes as it travels down the road. Listen for anything that is out of the ordinary and different from what you’ve experienced in the past. If you hear something, investigate before you drive your car further or have a mechanic look at it.

Check your lights, headlights, tail lights, signal lights, and your brake lights to make sure that all are in proper working order. You will need someone to observe the lights while you change them in the car, e.g. signal lights, brake lights, etc

Confirm that your license plate is on the car at the front and rear if applicable.

Oil changes

Have the oil changed in your engine at least once every 3000 miles or 5000 km.

Also check your tires for signs of abnormal wear and tear. If one side of the tire is wearing faster than another it could be an indication of front end alignment being required or tired not installed properly. You may want to have this checked out. Your tires should also be rotated and balanced on a regular basis, usually every 12,000 kilometers.

Also have the brakes checked on a regular basis to make sure that there’s sufficient lining on the brake pads. If you ever hear squealing coming from the brakes when the brake is applied, make sure you have your brakes serviced immediately.

Finally have your car fully maintained by a mechanic who verifies all of the things that are in the check list provided by the car manufacturer. This will ensure that your car is well-maintained and safe for your travel. You can never tell when you will need to avoid an accident and making sure that your car is always safe to drive will help to ensure you survive that accident.

Doing these basic things for your car maintenance routine will help ensure that you car lasts longer and avoid emergency break downs that can become very costly.