Grandmother’s tips that really work!

Grandmother’s tips that really work!

By Lorraine Cyr

Cleaning tips from Grandma

Cleaning ceramic tile: Regular rubbing alcohol works wonders for a ceramic floor. Just pour straight on and rub around with mop until it dries. Make sure children are not in the area during this process and have good ventilation in room.

Removing Crayon from walls: use damp sponge and colgate toothpaste. Rub carefully.

For more effective dishwashing: add a few tablespoons of vinegar along with the dishwashing detergent when washing dishes. The vinegar cuts the grease and leaves dishes sparkling.

To clean mineral deposits from the inside of your dishwasher, pour in a container of Tang® Drink Mix and run the dishwasher (don’t put dishes in the dishwasher for this load).

To whiten an old stained sink or tub: poor a half cup of salt in it and then scrub it with a lemon. Let it stand for a few minutes and rinse.

Streak free windows: Use crumpled up black and white newspaper dipped in vinegar to wash windows. Dip paper in vinegar and wipe the glass until almost dry, then shine with dry newspaper or cloth.

Smelly Shoes: Simply fill a tube sock with kitty litter, baking soda, or tea leaves; tie the end closed; and place the filled socks in the shoes when you’re not wearing them. These sachets can be used over and over in any kind of shoe.

Ant Repellant: To keep ants out of the house, find where the ants are entering the house and sprinkle a “barrier” of cinnamon or any type of ground pepper to block their way. The spices are too hot for the ants to cross

Keep the mice away: Dryer sheets, even the cheap ones at the dollar store work. Put them everywhere, in the closet, on top of the stove elements in the cupboards.

Or peppermint oil dipped cotton balls. Remember to freshen or replace often.

DO I HAVE A MOLD PROBLEM, AND CAN I TAKE CARE OF IT?

DO I HAVE A MOLD PROBLEM, AND CAN I TAKE CARE OF IT?

By Lorraine Cyr

Do I have a mold problem?

There are many types of mold and not all molds have an effect on everyone in the same way.  Mold can lead to colds, respiratory issues, nasal problems and it can also cause sore throats and skin problems.  Mold is also a known cause of allergies. Having said all of that mold is everywhere.  It can be found in the air from hay and grass.  It can also be found in a lot of places in our homes.  Mold spores need moisture to grow and any wet, dark place is perfect for mold.

Mold can be in the water tray under the refrigerator, under the kitchen sink and even in the living room. Once you find the mold in your home you have to decide how to get rid of it.  When removing mold your safety should come first.  Most professionals recommend the use of a face mask to prevent mold spores from getting into your lungs. The masks are a little heavier than the kind you find at the doctor’s office and can be found at Home Depot and Lowes. Safety glasses and rubber gloves are also a good idea.  However if you are like me and have no allergies, and the amount of mold is very little, just make sure the room is well ventilated while you clean.  The key is to stop its growth early.

Before you begin to clean the area, spray the mold with a spray bottle of water and bleach (1 to 5% of bleach in the water should be enough) to keep the mold spores from becoming airborne.  You can use white vinegar, detergent or soap to clean hard surfaces like counter tops and bath room tiles.  NEVER MIX AMMONIA WITH BLEACH the fumes are toxic.

There are some items that you can’t remove the mold from and these items need to be thrown away if possible. Examples of these are carpet, cloth and papers.  If the papers have to be saved it is best to separate the pages let them dry and then make a photocopy.

If the mold is on the wall and you know that the source of wetness was an open window then you can spray the mold with a water bleach mixture, let sit for 15 minutes or use a commercial mold removing cleaner.  Scrub area to clean, rinse often, after you have cleaned area let dry before painting with kiltz’s stain covering base paint and then paint with regular paint.  If you are unsure of the source of wetness you can try this method first but if the mold returns you may have to open the wall to find the source.

In the bathroom, mold will stain the caulk around your tub and must be removed and re-caulked. (This is a yearly task mold or no mold).  Shower curtains can be washed either in the tub or washing machine with either a water/bleach solution or mouthwash. Tub tiles and grout can be cleaned with a commercial mold remover or bleach and water (remember not to mix the two).

Kitchen mold can be found under the refrigerator in the drip pan which should be removed and cleaned several times a year.  The other big area where mold is found is under and around the sink. If you have a problem with a dripping pipe, leaky garbage disposal you need to fix the leak first.  Then replace the damaged wood or clean the mold from the area.  It is important that you check under your sink for leaks to prevent mold.

Other areas of the house where mold can be found are outside walls and closets. Mold will build up on these walls if they were not properly insulated. Unheated closets on outside walls tend to be the biggest problem and you should check behind your stored clothes to watch for signs of mold.

If you can spot mold when it is a little problem half of your problem is solved.

If you did not find the mold early and you have a large area to deal with, or you have an allergy play it safe and call in the professionals.  Mold is usually excluded from your  insurance policies but ask your agent to find out for sure.

SAVE MONEY THIS HEATING SEASON!

How to save money this heating season!

By Lorraine Cyr

If we use the LEED Rating System for existing systems as an example, we know that the right air filtration choice can conquer two of its main goals: improved indoor environmental quality and energy efficiency.

Did you know that by changing the filter on your heating/cooling system every month you can save money on your utility bills and improve the air quality in your home.  If you live in a complex where the owner only changes the filter once every six months but you are paying for the heating or cooling, you can save hundreds of dollars by changing the filter yourself in between company changes.  When you own the heating/cooling system by changing the filter every month you add years of life to the system as well as save money each month. 

Another energy saving tip is to keep the area by the cold air return open to allow free air circulation.  Some times when I do unit inspections I find that tenants have blocked these air returns with furniture not knowing the purpose of the air return.  Keeping these air returns free of dust and furniture allows the air to flow to the system unobstructed causing it to work with less energy.  The cold air return is at floor level usually on a wall close to the HVAC system.  Usually vented and larger than the heat returns which are usually up higher on the wall.  Dirt and poor maintenance are the top two reasons for HVAC systems failures.  Spending a little on an air filter now can help prevent spending hundreds of dollars on repairs later.

Some air filters can help make your home healthier and more comfortable by removing indoor particles from air that passes through the filter.  Changing your air filters often also helps people sensitive to allergens and other particles found in your home.

Make sure you buy the right size of filter for your unit.  You can ask your property management company for the size for your unit and for directions on changing the filter yourself.   If your management company does not offer this service than maybe it is time to change management companies.  At LCM we are always ready to help both our property owner and their clients save money.

Drip…Drop…Drip..Drop

Drip… drop… drip… drop…  

WHY ONE SMALL DRIPPING FAUCET COSTS BIG MONEY  

By Lorraine Cyr  

Money down the drain

 

Let’s assume the following: 50 unit apartment building, 4 units have a dripping or running faucet.  Let’s also assume that this drip takes 2 hours to fill a gallon jug. This means that each unit wastes 12 gallons per day.  If you were to buy this much water at a store it would cost you $20 per day ($1.60 per gallon including tax) or $80 per day for all four units and over $28,000 per year!  Now the real cost is actually less because we buy our water from a city but the amount is still significant and in the thousands of dollars and not only a few hundred.  If the water that is dripping is hot water the cost goes up even higher by the time you heat it. (never mind the waste of natural resources)  

When I do this math problem at a Membership meeting and see all the light bulbs going ON (higher water bill=higher rent) it is truly amazing.  At Lorraine Cyr Management Group a lot of our Associations are first time home owners and they do not associate this hidden cost in why there condo fees keep going up.  When we go to the sink and turn the water on and then answer the phone and talk without turning the water off, or while doing the dishes leave the water running to help a child with math problem it is the same thing as the dripping faucet. With the water running even at half open you can waste 12 gallons in just minutes.  When you do the math for this type of waste and assume each of the 50 families waste at least 12 gallons per day even at a cost of 3 cents per gallon this is $6,400 per year.  

If you are living in an older building which does not have a hot water circulation system the cost of adding one is paid back within 2 years in savings on the water and heating bills.  When an Association says to me that they cannot afford to fix the leaky faucets, I say how can you not!  

Thinking Green is not just a momentary thing that you think about only when you turn out the lights when you leave a room, but a new way of living that is planet friendly.

COMMUNICATION? > COMUNICACION? > &#@%? > Understanding One Another

COMMUNICATION?  > COMUNICACION? > &#@%?  > Understanding One Another

 By Lorraine Cyr

Shouting Never Works

Association Members must talk with their Property Manager.   If you are a member of a condo association or cooperative and your Board has not called a meeting in months this is a RED FLAG.  The major reason a Board stops calling meetings is there is a problem.   The most common problem seems to be lack of time, lack of member participation and sometimes money problems. 

Your management company can suggest a meeting but does not hold the power to call a meeting.   If you live in an Association which has not had a meeting for a while read your By-laws and know your rights.  Ask for copies of financial reports.   Ask for a meeting, first a friendly verbal request and if that does not work then ask for one in writing.  If there is still no meeting then you will have to follow your By-Laws, get enough of your neighbors to sign a letter requesting a meeting and then mail it to the Board Secretary.

 At Lorraine Cyr Management Group we try not to let our Associations get to this point.   We encourage participation by having pot luck meetings where everyone brings a dish to share.  Once in a while the pizza is on us.  One of our groups has a raffle with a $50 gift card from the local grocery store.  We stick to an agenda and we try to limit the items to an hour.  We arrive a half hour early and encourage our Board Members to arrive early also.  This is the time we encourage everyone to have something to eat; we try to solve any problems or complaints during this time while people are arriving.  If we find that a member wants to voice their concerns loudly and over and over again in the meeting we ask them to stay after the meeting and hear them out.  We have to remember that living in an Association is like have a large family and everyone knows what everyone is doing.  And like family members you can’t chose your neighbor.    LCM Property Managers find a spirited debate will clear the air so a solution can be found.  Our number one rule is that language must be clean and the complaint can’t be personal. 

LCM sends out notices of meetings, posts flyers in the common areas and even calls members to remind them of the meetings.  If we see a Board is having a hard time getting the members to attend we will have guest speakers or offer a surprise to the member who brings the most neighbors to a meeting.

Minutes from meetings are typed up and distributed to the membership.   LCM emails the minutes to members with email addresses on file and we ask these members to give copies of the minutes to members who are not on the list.

Garbage Disposals The Good The Bad and The Ugly!

Garbage Disposals The Good The Bad and The Ugly!

By Lorraine Cyr

New Pipe

Sometimes I wonder what our government leaders are thinking. When buildings have renovations done it is mandatory that one of the upgrades added to the unit is a garbage disposal.  Which is a great thing, only the city does not require that the contractor upgrade the pipes in the wall to handle all this extra waste.  In new construction all waste lines are required to be at least 4 inches. The older code required 3 inch waste pipes.  Over the years pipes get coated on the inside with all sorts of junk so 16 years later your 3 inch pipe is now a 1 inch pipe and now instead of just water you want it to handle all sorts of ground up food also.

If you live on the top floor you will seldom have problems.  It is the first floor or basement units that have all the flooding.  Think of the waste system in your building as a tree trunk with branches.  Each branch goes to a floor and each floor connects to the trunk, and the truck carries all the waste out to the city pipes. Now the person on the top floor runs the hot water for 5 minutes to heat up the pipes so they can dump grease down the garbage disposal.  Great for them the grease is gone.  But the farther down the line the colder the pipe so that by the time it gets to the basement you now have a blockage of grease.  And every time someone in a unit on top of the basement uses the water it will come out of the drain line of the basement sink and could flood a unit and the person 3 floors up has no idea of what they have just done.

At Lorraine Cyr Management we try to educate through our newsletter and flyers what “to do” and what not “to do” and if we find that we have the same problems over and over in a unit we will meet with them in person, show them the damage that happens in a flooded unit with pictures and even a visit with a firsthand inspection if necessary.  We tell our members that if they have slow drains to call us before we have a major problem.  Our biggest request to our members however is to use their garbage disposal for table waste, scraps from the dinner plates and not as a way of throwing out all the shells from cleaning shrimp, or getting rid of a pot of soup that no one liked.

Old Pipe

Please call your Property Manager at 202-669-8080 if your sinks are draining slowly, your toilet is making gurgling noise or smell an odor from your pipes

ITS COLD ARE YOUR VACANT UNITS READY?

IT’s COLD!
By Lorraine Cyr 

Frozen Pipes cause lots of damage

 

Broken water pipes, NO heat calls and snow in the forecast!  How well does your management company handle the winter? With all the foreclosures happening in the market place does your management company keep track of who owns a unit, who is paying the bills and has the bank left the heat on?  

When the Bank and HUD take back a home all their instructions tell them to close the home up.  Turn off the utilities and lock it up.  How well this gets done is hit or miss it seems.  I have heard horrors that friends have gone through because of their management company’s lack of concern. One time HUD turned off the water to a 57 unit condo building because they foreclosed on one unit.  Another time an absentee landlords tenant moved out in the summer, left the window open and the heat off…it was still in that condition when the weather dropped to 24 degrees out.  Water pipes froze, then thawed out and caused thousands in damages.  To the bank the foreclosed unit is a home and not always a condo unit where the water can’t be turned off and the heat has to stay on. 

There are several ways to make sure this does not happen to your Association. 
1) COMMUNICATION! COMMUNICATION! (secret number 1)
 2) Site visits with personal calls and visits to members who are behind in payments.
 3) Contact with mortgage companies on delinquent accounts
 4) Signs posted in buildings with management companies contact information 

It is important that there is communication with the Association Members and the Board, with the Association Members and the Management Company, with the Management Company and the Board and yes even with the Mortgage Companies.  Banks will call a loan in default for delinquent condo payments even if the mortgage on the unit has been paid.  The help that a bank can provide an Association is overlooked a lot!  The Banks require that Condo Associations and even Cooperatives have professional Property Managers with the expectation that the Management Company will let the bank know when a member is in default of their condo payments.  It is actually a requirement in most loan documents.  It is also important that the Management Company let the Mortgage Company know if an owner subleases their unit.  By letting the Bank know the status of a delinquent home owner your Management Company gains several things. First the bank now has a contact person in cases of foreclosure and second in some cases the Bank will pay the back condo fees to keep the Association from filing liens.  The other important thing that happens when there is good communication is that neighbors start looking out for each other.  You are no longer the family down the hall.  People will know when someone strange is in the building.   If you know that the family in 310 moved out last September and the windows are still open and it is winter now, maybe they will call a Board Member or the Management Company so it can be checked out.  If everyone even the Property Manager takes the attitude “It’s always open and no one does anything” soon the whole building will have a major problem.  FROZEN AND BROKEN WATER PIPES!  And don’t let your management company say “we could not do anything about it. We did not have keys” No one….the bank, HUD or even the absentee landlord want the cost of fixing and replacing thousands of dollars in damage because of lack of communication. 

If your Management Company is not getting the job done give Lorraine Cyr Management Group a call at 202-669-0605, we can work with your Board and Management Company to improve the level of service or we can quote you a price for our services. 

CONGRSTULATIONS! You’ve been approved to move in!

CONGRATULATIONS!

By Lorraine Cyr

You have been approved to move in, now what?

TO MAKE SURE YOUR MOVE-IN DATE GOES SMOOTHLY, please consider the following:

1.Make sure your security deposit/membership fee is paid within 15 days of your approval letter.

2.Let your leasing agent know what date you will be moving in.

3.Ask for a copy of your lease/occupancy agreement to review prior to your move-in date. READ IT and ask questions, resolve issues before the moving truck is packed and you have few options.

4.Do your move-in inspection at least 5 days before your move-in date. This way any minor problems can be resolved before you move-in.

5.Give notice to your utility companies of your move and what date to disconnect/reconnect your services. The gas company can take as long as a week to provide you service. By planning ahead you can schedule all your services (phone, cable, electric and gas) for the same morning.

6.Change your address with as many people as possible (banks, credit card companies, magazines, etc.) Then a few days before the move change your address with the post office. This can be done online at https://moversguide.usps.com

7.Don’t forget to schedule your move-out inspection with your old landlord! MOVE IN DAY!!! YES! The day before you can sign your lease/occupancy agreement and pick up your keys. Move-in times are Monday through Saturday 7am to 9pm. If you or your moving company needs to block off street parking consult with your leasing agent to see which police district to apply for permit. If your building has an elevator please follow the directions that were given to you by your leasing agent.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS CALL US AT 202-669-0605.

WELCOME TO THE COMMUNITY!

If your management company is not handling your move-in’s in an efficient way then what makes you think they can keep your tenants when the lease is up. If your tenants are only staying for the 1 year lease then you are losing money. The average turn around time (from move out to new move-in) is 3 months or longer.  At $800 a month this adds up. Then you add to cost of fresh paint, new carpet and the money for your first 6 months of rent are going to cover the move-in only.

If you want a management company that focuses on the entire picture and not just the dollars in vs. the dollars out try Lorraine Cyr Management Group. Give us a call we would love to talk with you!