A Guide to Tenant Privacy in Boston, MA

This article is a brief description of tenant vs. landlord rights and the importance of honoring tenant privacy upon entering a rental unit.

Best Practices for Tenant Privacy and Communication in Boston

Landlords and property managers have to deal with multiple tenants for their rental unit work orders and repairs on a daily basis.

Sometimes landlords feel the need to check on multiple units to make sure all units are running smoothly. Although they may be exposing their ardent nature as a landlord, this helicopter approach could be a breach of privacy.

It's imperative for a landlord or property manager to have effective communication methods or technology installed for tenants to place work orders. If you don't have this installed, this could leave a wide margin of error for when the tenant is expecting you to arrive at their rental unit.

Whether they are dealing with the landlord, or property management company on behalf of the landlord, showing up to a unit unexpectedly can be problematic for the landlord.

Respecting the Tenant's Privacy Is The Key To a Successful Investment

You would be surprised at the percentages of tenants and landlords who don't have a clue about the Massachusetts state laws about Tenant vs. Landlords Rights. Not knowing their rights could be the cause of much acrimony and insincerity felt in tenant-to-landlord relationships.

Details about Tenant Privacy in Boston

Possession of a master key does not give the property management team staff members, nor the landlord, the right to walk into an apartment without notice. Review this list of examples and facts about tenant privacy to mitigate the risk of increasing legal drama from the lack of communication between the property owner and the renter:

• Tenants should screen the property manager/landlord, and vice versa. This is an important first step for tenants know how a landlord and their property management team members are for arriving and handling work orders for their rental units. As they are researching the tenant in a background check through former residences, tenants can use software programs to review the history of property management companies and landlords.

• Learn about the state laws on tenant privacy.  Many states have laws limiting landlords access rental privacy. As a tenant or landlord, it is your personal responsibility to learn about the Mass. state laws in the event of a dispute. The more knowledge you have about the permissible and impermissible reasons for landlord entry, as well as the required amount of notice, the more prepared you will be when enforcing your privacy rights.

• Never sign a lease with a tenant privacy waiver. A diligent tenant and a responsible property manager or landlord will always look for the inclusion of this important waiver in a lease. For example, if a landlord walks in on a tenant to carry out a work order request, but the tenant is not ready for the appointment in their rental unit due to lack of communication, then there will be guaranteed confusion and frustration between the tenant and landlord. Most state laws require at least 48 hours of notice to the tenant about the landlord or property management team's arrival time. Tenants should expect the landlords to only show up during their business hours that corresponds with the office hours of the property management office. If a landlord shows up with less than one day's notice, is not good for the reputation of the property.

• Notify the property owner about any negligence of the property staff.  The property owner or landlord mord may not know what his or her manager is doing unless you speak up. There are cases of property staff who come into the rental units unannounced.  Every tenant has the right to respect and consideration when entering their personal space. Supers, landlords, maintenance workers, or property managers are never allowed to simply walk in and scare their tenants of their unit. All tenants have a right to feel safe and secure in their home.

• Always put everything in writing when you deal with your tenant and landlord. Whether it be via email, SMS text,  printed, hand-delivered, or handwritten correspondence, it is essential to have all complaints and requests recorded between landlords and tenants. That way, you both know what you signed up for going into this business relationship.

• Review tenant rights listed in the Move-In Checklist, together. All landlords are require to hand a tenant a move-in guide at the beginning of their signed lease term. This should give the tenant information about renters insurance (or flood insurance, if they are moving into a ground floor unit), garbage pick-up days, and detailed information about their tenant privacy rights.

• Remember to communicate about extended vacations. If a tenant has been in seclusion or has left their unit for a long time without notice, then some states give landlords the right to enter if they discover the tenant is not around. Landlords are encouraged to include some guidelines in the lease to avoid an unauthorized entry, asking tenants to alert management of a vacation so necessary repair can continue uninhibited. Tenants who leave to paradise in the winter, remember to turn off the heat in winter, drain the pipes, and secure the windows. 

• Rent payments cannot be withheld after an unauthorized entry from landlord. This only makes legal drama steamroll more than it should. Court orders can be very time-consuming and can throw a monkey wrench in the tenant-landlord relationship. Property managers have long memories about their tenants in their units, so you don't want to initiate a legal fracas over a minor lack of miscommunication that can be easily resolved. 

• Tenants can only change doorlocks with the landlord's consent. Mysteriously changed locks often prevent work orders from being done. Property managers differ greatly in their rules about changing locks on the unit, but it could be as simple as handing over the new key.

Final Thoughts on Tenant Privacy

It's a two-way street between the tenant and landlord: The landlord has to show respect to the tenant at all times, and vice versa, regardless if their previous dealings were extremely negative.

Have you ever been pushed so far to the point where you feel like you have no privacy in your rental unit? If you are a property owner, have you ever dealt with a tenant who lived unsatisfactorily for you to keep in your unit, and want to evict them immediately? Tell us your thoughts. 

Importance of Cleaning Your Condo Building

January 1st marks new beginning for all who are looking to update their lifestyle & business operations. We all set ourselves out to have resolutions because we know old habits die hard. 

 A New Year's Resolution for Property Owners

Property management and condo cleaning fall into this category. It's essential to add value and keep tenants feeling secure about the fact they have a reliable property management team that always prepares for the coming months to start the year.

To discuss the importance of condo cleaning to start 2016, we compiled a short bucket list to get landlords and property owners what they need to do to make their building and its tenants feel refreshed for a successful 2016.

5 Ways to Improve Your Business Operations

Cleaning does not only mean to wipe down windows and mopping hallways floors in your building. It also means to have quality information updated in your business records, and online human engagement.

Not all property owners are expected to be tech savvy. 

Understand that consumers need a sense of tangibility in order to feel like they are involved in their purchases. In the case of rental operations and real estate, this applies to tenants who have made the decision to set up their living quarters within your condo building.

Effective communication methods is the crux of our suggested resolutions for 2016.

This improves the tenant-to-property owner relationship feel trustworthy and prompt, not having to wait numerous days or weeks before problems get resolved.

Whether they are renting or bought the condo outright, their sense of tangibility comes in the form of these resolutions:

• Frequent Website Updates - You will need to update your website at least once a week or whenever their is a change in your operation and regulations for your tenants to take note of. This not only connects the tenant and landlord faster via mobile devices. A great way to stand out to your tenants is how progressive your service is by using an online community builder. 

Visit our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, pages to see our strategy.

• Cleaning and Decorating With Seasonal Appeal - Make sure that if the Holidays are over, don't wait until March to take down your Christmas decor in the building. Send out information  about live Christmas tree collections for recycling, and take down Holiday lighting and ornaments down as January 1st comes. Update each se

• Enact a No-Smoking Plan - If you are the type of landlord who is lenient towards having pets in your rental units, you should implement a non-smoking environment. This will help keep the walls in your units from yellowing with nasty nicotine stains on them. Especially if you have carpets, just like your lungs, they will suffer and smell tremendously from the second-hand smoke. This also reduces the chance of halloween disaster stories and other holidays in the building or on the property grounds.

• Reward Tenants For Their Compliance - If a higher condo fee is assessed for the new year, or if your tenants have collectively helped you receive a government-subsidized rebate check for reducing your energy costs with sustainable property management, reward them for being a tenant. The best ways to carry this rewarding out is to promote prizes to them like flowers on each tenant's birthday, or hold a toy drive for the children in the building, or picnics in the spring and summer months. 

• Fire Safety - There were many stories of fires happening in condos the past few years in the Boston area in Allston, Brighton, Cambridge, and the Back Bay Area. Make sure that the fire safety regulations are either printed and given to the tenants every time they begin a new lease, and/or sent to them via email.

Final Thoughts on Cleaning your Condo Building

New Years resolutions can be hard to maintain once you make them. But with the right property management team, you can stay motivated to uphold your promise for updating your images, business, and character online and offline.

Have you created your own list of New Years resolutions? Do they match up to our list?

Tell us how you have used New Years resolutions and cleaning to push your tenant's lifestyle and condo building's image forward.

Why Emerging Technologies Always Win For Property Management

Why "Property Management" Rhymes With "Technology" Today

Cyber Monday is a day for great discount deals on tech products. But we should observe the impact of technology in the property management industry as well. In an ever-changing industry like property management, the means for advancement will be based on the rate at which information can be compiled with great customer service.

Information is the most prized possession in all industries. Accessibility with top quality software tools to attain data and the right personnel for a property management company will give them an edge over their competition in the real estate market. You will make life easier for yourself and your tenants by using web-based applications, research software, and messaging systems that help them stay updated as well as resolve issues including water heater installations, new parking requirements, fire emergencies, moving days, illegal tenants warnings, repair updates, board member voting meetings, and new lighting in the building.

With social media and other web-based applications that can manage live chats, there is no excuse for a property management to not regulate their operations with higher results of success.

Marketing via Social Media: Technically Fast, Less Furious Tenants

Technology increases the response rate and efficient communication methods for tenants to know what is coming from the residential property management team. Without it, your tenants will be trapped feeling like prisoners in your building from potential problems that arise. Do you want them to wait for a crew to get to their problem with a delayed response? The matter could be urgent and need immediate attention. If not, it could potentially cost lives and more money than you can afford to fix. 

Here are some examples of those problems:

• Broken thermostats- Nobody likes to deal with Boston winters with just a blanket, sweats, and seeing their own breath inside the house. A quick fix to thermostats can make a big difference for tenants who don't know how to fix a thermostat. But if you have social media and someone on a 24-hour call from the property management crew, you can address this issue immediately, instead of having to wait a day or two. With technology, you can also track the heating systems in all your units in a centralized database so you know which ones have recurring issues.

• Trash days- Tenants tend to forget what days the trash goes out after their September 1st move-in to their unit. Being connected with your tenants, you send them a reminder about the trash day and help make the garbage in your place go away for the week.

• Flood watches- If you have a basement floor that is below the ground level, it's good to let your tenants know that there is a pending flood watch. You can help them take precautions by sending a text message alert sent to their mobile devices. If the property management is connected online via social media with their tenants, they can let them know immediately by that means.

• Water shutoffs- Sometimes the Department of Public Works may be doing some street work that affects the water in the units of your building. That could affect a tenant who showers in the morning and make them late for work because they either forgot or didn't see the postings in the lobby or the hallway about the date and time. Of course, your tenant didn't plan accordingly, but they could have if they had gotten a reminder message about it the day prior to the shutoff via email, text, or on their social media channels from the management.

• Fire Emergencies- We have all heard crazy stories that will make you scream of people getting trapped inside their apartment unit or condo during a fire because they didn't get the message in time to evacuate the building. When it comes to these situations, you should make sure that all of your tenants get a message on their mobile devices for points of egress in the building. Implementing a centralized contact database of your tenants and units into an emergency alert SMS chain that can be made similar to an AMBER ALERT message can be a life saver.

These are just ideas of what can be dire situations that can be avoided by being connected as much as possible via Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, or whatever can give you an instant message. Also, social media can market your units to potential new tenants, and showcase the luxury or image that you are putting forth on a site like Pinterest and Instagram for them to leave comments and share your posts.

Recordkeeping and Reducing Error In Management

Recordkeeping is the means of knowing what someone needs and to track their history. When you have the right property management system in place, you can reduce the double entry of information after uploading reports from exported data. This is how you can track percentage increases and decreases in various areas of the business; accounting and rent collection, work orders, hiring personnel, screening tenants, and retention versus new leases signed to fill the units. 

Convenience of Payments

Having people pay their rent online via your property management software can help automate payments from your tenants. Direct debits to their accounts can save you the hassle of chasing a tenant down for a check. Especially if the check is mailed one to an away address, if the owner or landlord of the building does not live there.

Final Thoughts

What type of experiences have you had as a tenant or landlord that either saved yourself a headache, your money, or your life when dealing with issues that come forth by usage of technology? Has this added expense made a difference in your operations?

Tell us some of your examples that made life easier and faster for you and your tenants. 

Property Management Halloween Stories That Will Make You Scream

Not for the faint of heart! This blog contains graphic scenes and images. 

Halloween is the time of year in which we have the most fun with our decorations.

But tenants who are not pleased with the operations, or those who have been delinquent in their monthly rental payments and soon to leave while breaking their lease can be problematic.

It’s integral to have a great property management service who can curb the horrors of dealing with these mishaps. Have you heard stories of spine-tingling creatures living in the crevices of your tenant's units?

Or the jaw-dropping tales of fire suddenly ripping a large condo or apartment building to shreds while fate cuts a tenant’s life short for sleeping and not waking up to the emergency?

We will give three horrific, spine-tingling instances of landlords and tenants that show you the benefits of hiring an experienced property manager.

Lack of Quality Property Management Lets the Bed Bugs Bite

Bed bugs can make your home uninhabitable.

We all know the adage, "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."

If you have ever figured that they are not in your bed, you may be gravely mistaken.

And if you don't have a quality property manager who can send for an exterminator or their crew to curb this problem right away, you may be in for many "bite-mares" from bed bugs.

These creatures can seem invisible can reproduce their larvae in your sheets, walls, couches, and wooden table. The life cycle of a bed bug is fairly short, but they can feed every 10 minutes.

Once they band together, they can make your belongings looks ultimately scary, causing you, tenants and their guests, and potential condo buyers to not want to return to your building or apartment complex. 

These are ghoulish creatures have the ability to invisibly seep their way into your skin! Also, the Board of Inspections could potentially shut down your apartment or condominium complex, which lead to an underwater mortgage.

You don't want these to show up in neither you nor your tenant's dreams. Imagine waking up to hearing the phone calls from tenant's screaming in your ear about the crawling dirty mite-sized bugs everywhere. Then, noticing once you get in bed, those bed bugs have destroyed your mattress.

Here is a shocking and gruesome video of what happens if you don’t attack bed bugs quickly enough:

Burning Down The House

You may have tenants or neighbors who have Halloween parties every year. You should learn how to manage large parties in Boston for your property. If you don't, it's safe to assume there will be some damage done that could not only cost you more than you budgeted for, but could also put lives in danger.

Here is an instance in which the tenant was hosting a party where guests were smoking inside their condo unit.

Home infernos can spark simply from a neglected cigarette butt.

One of the party guests flicked their cigarette out the window, but it was a windy night. Mysteriously, the wind blew the still lit cigarette butt back into the room and landed on dry plant.

The party made it's way into another room for about a half hour, and the cigarette sent the plant up into flames. It resulted in a major fire with flames engulfing the entire apartment.  

Evacuation due to fire.

There are two missteps that happened: 

1. There was no established and effective communication system with the landlord for tenants to can contact them during emergencies.

2. All condo owners did not have a condo insurance policy in place.

Landlords and fellow tenants should know that investing in a condo or renter's insurance plan and good lawyers to make sure that items are replaceable, and not get a lawsuit from tenants in case their stuff gets stolen.

Pumpkin statue: "These pranksters killed our 'boo-tiful' setup!"

Pranks For The Memories

Halloween night pranks such as setting a lawn on fire, burning poop bags on front porches, and smashing pumpkins will really make you think twice before putting out other ornaments for your home in the future.

It is safe to assume there will be kids in the neighborhood looking for a good laugh at your property's expense.  

Another story comes during the night before Halloween, also known as "Mischief Night" or "Cabbage Night." 

Some pesky vandalizers who loved to trash other people's yards, front steps, or scare residents just to add to the Halloween spirit are just that— mean spirited. 

In one neighborhood on the Day of the Dead, which begins Halloween Night and ends on November 2nd, these violators decided that they wanted to place a dead deer carcass hanging from the tree in someone's front lawn.

Tenants may be complacent and not report these types of vandalism cases because they simply don't care. But you cannot take the same stance of complacency and need to act quickly to curtail these types of scenarios. 

If you are a landlord living outside of the town or city that your property is located, and do not have a high quality property management team hat can check the premises in the days leading up to Halloween, you will lose home value and risk a bad reputation as a landlord. 

The best way to protect your property on Cabbage Night is to have the budget for a property management team to check your property grounds daily during the month of October when you put out Fall and Halloween decorations. 

If you have ever had issues in the past with this, make sure that you have your communication methods in place with your tenants to email, text, contact you via your most active social media channels, or call you immediately if they see anything that has been vandalized on the property.

Final Thoughts

Halloween is supposed to be fun for all. But it's not so fun when your tenants have to come home to these types of situations. Having the means to help maintain your property's value and reliable services can make a huge difference with managing your tenants.

Have you ever dealt with vandalism on your property, pranks in your apartment building, or dead animals that tenants and real estate agents have been scared out of their wits by? Share with us some of your horrible experiences so we can help you come up with future solutions.

Why There Should Be No Airbnbs in Condos

Traveling to new cities is great for expanding one's horizons and it should be done with much research.

Not only for the city that is being visited, but also for the laws of the land that you are bound to tread on.

But did you know hosts are renting your properties extra space in their unit for as much as $300 per night in untaxed dollars and running a "non-licensed bed-and-breakfast" with Airbnb could lead to big fines in the ballpark of at least $10,000.

Airbnb has been a great resource for tourists who can't afford the price of expensive hotels in their destination city, but is not the perfect solution it may be touted up to be.

In All Fairness: Airbnb Is Bad For The Boston Real Estate Market

The model for Airbnb is suitable for people who can neither find rental space, nor be approved for their own apartment due to a subprime credit rating in a tight rental market like Boston.

But this negatively impacts the local real estate market, Boston property managers and owners because it is still a fairly new unregulated industry that is void of taxation.

This article is in support of the effort to minimize Airbnb hosts and their short-term tenancy advantages on your property.

It not only affects the local lodging business, but it also has added to the bottle-necked market where renters can't find affordable housing in Boston. The windfall comes from the following reasons explained to understand the concept of  Airbnb.

Un-Licensed to Chill: Short-Term Rentals Are Detrimental To Your Property

The short-term home Boston rentals industry is catering to the "sharing economy," where renters and homeowners alike make money renting out their homes, cars, and personal time.

Online rental websites where people bid for beds in rental units by using software such as Airbnb, Homeaway and it's subsidiary VRBO, and Uber has made home-sharing into a billion-dollar industry.

According to Forbes, Airbnb is valued at $25 billion. Since it's emergence in the tech industry haven in the Bay Area, Airbnb has made its presence stretch into 194 countries.

As a new industry looking for altering it's model upon state and federal legislation, what makes sharing an extra space so bad for the local real estate economy?

Hosts that are renting on your property are posting their extra space in their rental unit for as much as $300 per night in untaxed dollars they are keeping for themselves.

Airbnb is making condo owners into their own real estate agents, without the condo association getting a cut of that short-term rental revenue. This affects the property management company because this leaves the condo association out of pocket from paying for the contract renewals to the service via condo fees.

Issues Resulting From Using Airbnb:

• Security is a major concern where owners are seeing an increase in people they do not know access their home with travelers who are typically in a vacation mode which could lead to rowdy activity and inviting even more strangers back for parties. Building keys could also be copied by an airbnb guest leaving unauthorized access

• Landlords and investors seeking more profits by changing traditional housing into short-term units, reducing the housing supply. 

• Airbnb homeowners and renters are at risk for being hosts because the city can fine them for running a non-licensed bed-and-breakfast. This could lead to big fines in the ballpark of at least $10,000.

• Those who come for short stays are taking the risk of neglecting their property value from frequent guests who don't respect the property because they are not signed to the lease. Read more property damage control tips

• The amount of foot traffic that neighbors must deal with from the frequent exchange of new guests on the premises moving in an out of the building. Also how is maintenance and emergency support resolved with short term rentals?

• Increased janitorial costs where guests have no vested interest in taking care of hallways, railings, doorways, roof decks, etc. 

Neighborhood Watch: Avoid Clustering in Your Property

The condo craze in Boston has steadily risen since the start of this decade.

The shortage of home supply, influx of transient college kids, and tourists has made the caused the local groundswell of over 300 Airbnb hosts to register on their site.

For someone like an empty-nester or a tenant who does not have kids, marketing their extra room to some international guests going to explore America for the first time makes for good business. This home-sharing model helps the owner or renter pay their bills and profit.

On the flip side,  clustering of random people could lead to true nightmares for owners who don't have a registered "neighborhood-use permit." You can see the consequences in this video here of this San Diego woman who learned her lesson from using Airbnb.

 

Final Thoughts

Airbnbs in condos may seem generous from the owners, but they are a violation to the condo association and the city of Boston if they are not registered properly.

Have you had any bad experiences dealing with neighbors who are Airbnb hosts with multiple guests every month? Or are you a homeowner in support of home-sharing?

Tell us your thoughts in the comments why Airbnb is good or bad for the community. 

 

Allston Christmas: Tips and Warnings for Boston Move-In Day

This article is a guide to help you understand how the old phrase "another man's trash is another man's treasure" firmly applies to what is called Allston Christmas.

You might also be interested in our Boston Sept. 1 Move-In Guide

A Guide For Success During Boston's "Allston Christmas" 

Allston is the section just outside of Boston that is a haven for lots of college students, post-grad upstarts and twenty-somethings, and other longtime residents that are outside of the 20-34 year-old demographic that comprises almost half of Boston's workforce.

Most of Allston is made up of renters who move yearly from apartment-to-apartment at the end of August once their lease ends. During the moving process, plenty of people will be tossing out old furniture and unwanted decor from their homes out onto their buildings and rental house curbs and sidewalks for all other migrants to rummage through.

For landlords and Boston Property Management companies, this guide will help you have a successful Allston Christmas and how to use multiple communication methods with tenants to address what is allowed in the property owner's units during Boston's most hectic time of year.

Moving In Sept. 1: A Boston Cluster-Land

September 1st is the date when the entire city becomes a zoo for professional movers, newly transplanted residents, and students who cram the city's streets, and mainly cause traffic on the city's longest strip, Commonwealth Avenue.

This main congested street runs from the Back Bay area near the Boston Public Garden through Allston, Brighton, to Newton.

Property management crews usually can help diffuse this chaos and help with the flow of traffic if you are living in a building that has multiple units. But not everyone is moving into an apartment complex or condo association.

This could cause many of you to double-park outside of the new apartment building to unload moving trucks and cars, but this only adds to the chaotic traffic.

Luckily, the Mayor's office is being a little more lackadaisical for parking permits this September 1st. But it's still best for you to believe that meter maids and police will be on the prowl to fill their month-end quotas for cutting parking tickets and moving violations on movers.

Allston Christmas Is Not Just for College Students

College students who live off-campus usually don't have much money to spend on new furniture. That is why you see them scavenge through piles of chairs, picking up old couches, coffee tables, and other home decoration items. But that does not mean they are the only people by age who are looking for new items to put into their homes.

Longtime residents are also looking for other items to place in their homes. Also, they may be looking to get rid of stuff for free.

So if you are a property manager or a landlord that has older residents living in some of your units, communicate with them to see if they are looking for items to place in their living quarters so you don't end up with piles of junk laid out in front of your building for the following weeks after moving day. Also, piles of trash can lead to rats, bugs, and other debris that can either cause you a city violation fine, or just a bad look for your property entrance.

Know What Types of Allston Christmas "Gifts" You Bring Into Your Home

Sometimes all the glitter of a displaced item is not gold. There are items that you should not be bringing into your home, that may appear safe when viewed on the street.

• Displaced mattresses - You never know who had been sleeping on that mattress, or used that mattress for other things beyond slumber. These may contain dangerous bed bugs, or may have broken springs inside the mattress.

• Chipped coffee tables - This is to expand on my previous point regarding bugs. If a coffee table looks old or chiseled in certain spots, it may not just be due to damage from the previous owners. It possibly could be due to termites that weaken the coffee table, if it's a wooden one. This adds potential for the bugs to relocate into your home!

• Old refrigerators - Don't bring these into your place just because it has a plug. It may only work temporarily until it permanently loses it's cooling ability. Also, older refrigerators can work so extremely that they can freeze your food to the point where it is no longer edible.

Make sure that you communicate with your landlord or property manager first to get their approval on what new items are allowed into your rental unit. If it's a new couch or something large in size that requires more than two people to move, notify the landlord or property manager before you move the items because it could potentially damage the walls. And that could hurt your security deposit return at the end of your lease.

Talk With Item Owners To See If They Are Trashing the Items Or Not

Looks can be deceiving during Allston Christmas because everyone is putting their items outside in stockpiles. This may not always mean that the owners of the items are throwing them away.

You don't want to look like a thief running off with items that are considered stolen by the owners. This is why it is important to simply ask questions about the items with the owners. Or if you don't know who the owner is and don't have time to wait for their return outside, leave a note on the item with your email address to ask and see if they are willing to hand over or resell you the items.

Final Thoughts on Allston Christmas in Boston, MA

This is a crazy time period, but it can be navigated well if you simply stay patient, do your research, and communicate with the landlords or property managers for advice. The weather is generally hot since it's still the summer, technically. But you can certainly become successful if you prepare well the night before Allston Christmas.

Have you ever moved during this timeframe? Or are you scheduled to move this year at the end of August? Tell us your best and worst experiences about moving during this time, and we can help you with answers beyond this guide.

Why Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Property Management Matters

During the past decade, there is much to be said regarding sustainability for home energy usage.

So what steps have you made to be more environmentally efficient?

The United Nations officially declared 2012 to be "The Year of Sustainable Energy For All," primarily third-world countries, across the globe.

How Energy Efficiency Can Benefit Your Community

This article is an examination on the legislative and residential aspects so that you know about the best property management company to hire that can provide these types of environmentally conservative services, plus help you save money and energy in your building.

On the home front in the U.S. There has been more hot summers and rough winters that have come forth from drastic climate changes. Plus, California residents are currently facing a water crisis due to a lengthy drought that has caused more home fires than we can recount in our recent memories.

The demand for natural energy resources has increased, and the U.S. government and Environmental Protection Agency have collectively moved forward to reduce emissions of carbon for the sake of public health. 

It's essential homeowners, property managers, and HOAs to have the knowledge of these energy alternatives for their property to adhere to the upcoming changes in the state regulations regarding energy usage to combat climate change and increase sustainability. 

Eco-Friendly Property Management Solutions

There are many ways to minimize your expenditures versus your residual income from your tenants paying their rental costs and/or condo fees to keep your financial balance sheet in the black with great energy solutions to keep in mind during the rest of the summer. But for all times of the year, these following landscape construction techniques can help you reduce energy usage for your community and save you money:

• Recycled Mulch - When you put this on your property's soil around hedges or other plants, the use of recycled mulch can help improve irrigation and water evaporation. If you have use city-supplied water, this could help reduce monthly water bill costs. Also, make sure that you are following the fire-safety regulations for mulch to reduce the chance of burning down your house and land.

• Don't Send Scrap Items To The Landfill Right Away - Some stuff could be put in storage instead of dumping it in the trash. Waste management costs are very high nowadays, so you can minimize the amount of your tenants trash heaps by telling them to save items like cardboard, old china plates, or paper. If you have a common room in your building, or a multi-family house with children, set up an "Arts & Crafts" event to recycle these items for them to create something new for their home. Also, this can help your tenants get to know some of their neighbors.

• Solar Panels - There are two sets of phrases "tax credit" or "tax exemption" that will make you really like this idea. The costs of solar-powered energy from the installation of panels on roofs and on the property to give greater photosynthetic effects to the grass or other horticulture on your property can come back to you basically as an account receivable. This can save you lots of money for your real estate investment. In Massachusetts, owners of residential businesses are eligible for these tax write-offs annually.

  

• Use Natural and Organic Pesticides for Landscape Maintenance - "Organic" is still the craze in 2015 as Americans look to become healthier in what they consume or live around. Items such as fertilizers and pesticides can certainly make a difference for you and for tenant's pets.

• Use Rain Barrels To Irrigate Your Plants - Instead of buying or using city-supplied water by the boatload that can run up your water bill, you should try using rain barrels to store some natural water for later usage on your plants. In Boston, we have more than enough rain that comes throughout the year, so use that to your advantage by use of water collection as it comes. You might also want to think about getting flood insurance for the rainy weather.

• Use Electric Lawn Mowers - Lawnmowers are a necessity for any type of lawn care if you do not have an eco-friendly landscape construction company. Yet it's the type of lawnmower that can help you save money and on gas to power them if you use an electric battery-powered lawnmower instead. Also, it's non-polluting and efficient just much as gas-powered lawnmowers. This will keep your property "greener" than ever in terms of its look, the energy sustainability involved, and in terms of your wallet in the long run.

Breakdown of the U.S. Government's "Eco-nomic" Plans for 2030

The U.S. government looks towards the long-term needs for its citizen's health, and budget their economic plans accordingly. This is considerable for your long-term home value plan because a major part of your expenses will be from the various levels of energy usage of your tenants in your rental units.

One example of this is how they went into experimental measures in 2005 by increasing the start date for Standard Time in the fall season to increase solar light usage and lower heating and electricity usage in home nationwide. Another example came recently this month when the Obama administration announced their Clean Power Plan, a two-year plan to combat climate change and boosting the U.S. economy. The crux of the plan is to lower of renewable energy costs, creating a plethora of jobs, with a benchmark of 30 percent more renewable energy by the year 2030. 

This will be state-regulated on weather natural gas or renewable energy sources, but the plan will affect landlords and tenants inevitably. Under this plan, the biggest takeaways are the following:

• Saving the average American family about $85 per year on their energy bills in 2030
• Save enough money to power 30 million homes
• State and federal government initiatives are to save consumers $155 billion between the years 2020 and 2030

Eco-Friendly Final Thoughts

Do you have any experiences with creating sustainable or "greener pastures" for your property?

Or is there something that you learned that can be valuable towards your knowledge and bank account in this blog? Energy usage is a complex topic, but it can be made simple if you continue to do your research and not be too caught behind before it's too late when your investment is in the red.

What other ideas do you have for creating renewable energy? Tell us your thoughts.