Snow Removal Tips

How and When to Protect Your Property

You should have your snow removed every day. Ice should be removed on an hourly basis if needed, especially if there is a rainstorm. If you use a contractor, frequent talks with them to determine the best times to visit your property are recommended.

Mark the date and time you did snow removal at your property. Also have your contractor do the same. If you are sued for a slip and fall, you can use the dates and times the property was serviced as a defense with your homeowner’s policy.

Some homeowners think that shoveling a path through the sidewalk is sufficient. Not only is it not sufficient, but also one snowstorm after snowstorm will make shoveling harder to complete. Snow not shoveled will be packed down, and heavy. Also, you will find it hard to find someplace to put the snow. A good path clearing should be at least 42 inches wide. Designate yard or driveway space in anticipation of a big winter of snow.

When there is a blizzard, it could snow day and night. You will want your snow removed so your tenants can go to work in the morning to avoid slip and fall suits. Also, research your city ordinances about required snow removal. For example, in Boston, Massachusetts, landlords must remove the snow and slush from their sidewalks within 3 hours of a storm, or they will be fined every day of non-compliance.

Make sure the path to the trash cans or dumpster is cleared. If not, people will not put their trash there any more. When it snows, they will leave it at the nearest convenience to the trash cans.

If your commercial tenants have a lease stating they are responsible for their own snow removal, take a ride and see if they are doing it properly. If not, send them a warning letter, with a specific deadline for lease compliance.

Again, check your local ordinances on snow removal. Some cities charge a substantial fine for shoveling your snow on the street or on someone else’s property.

Hire Someone Else to Shovel the Snow

Your back is killing you, your legs feel like jelly, and your head is throbbing from a head cold. I think that is when it is time to call it a day. A shovel full of snow could average 7 lbs., not including the weight of the shovel. Add to that the exertion of throwing the snow over your head into the front yard.

Do you have any form of asthma or bronchitis? If there is one snowstorm after another, and you have a full time job, why are you out there shoveling snow and throwing down ice melt? Hire a company whose job it is to make sure your sidewalk and driveway is always clear when you leave for and come home from work. It’s a tax deductible property expense.

When you hire a snow removal company, the liability is on them. Make sure the company has liability insurance. Give clear directions as to when you want the snow removed from your property. Talk about what to do if it rains, and the sidewalk freezes over.

This is a high-risk time for people to fall on your property. Protect your investment by having someone remove snow and ice, regardless of when it snows or rains. You can still go by yourself and throw down some salt and sand.

If your back goes out, you are sick, or have to stay at work for overtime, having a contractor will save you the aggravation of doing it yourself. Also, your contractor can hire people to do this work even if one of his employees take sick.

If you live on the property, have your contractor shovel out your car, too. Again, why shovel and sand your property in your business suit before you have to go to work?

Consideration

1. Fire Hydrants – A large snowstorm will cover what could be a life saving device. Remember to clear your fire hydrants, and instruct your snow contractor to do the same.

2. Wheelchair Accessibility, the Disabled, and the Elderly – Winter is especially difficult on disabled people, the elderly, and those who have to go to work using a wheel chair. Give them enough clearance to navigate your sidewalks with ease. Don’t just shovel a path – shovel the entire sidewalk.

If your property is next to the end of the sidewalk, shovel the handicap ramp.

3. Plant Life – Do not plant flowers or shrubs where you plan to dump your snow for the winter. The sand and salt from the street mixed with the snow will kill your plants. I have found that bulb plants can survive. Yet, if you have an extended snow season that goes through April, your tulips may start to come up while snow and ice is still on the ground. Better to strategically plant your flowers and bulbs where you do not intend to dump snow and ice during the winter.

4. Rock Salt vs. Ice Melt – Rock salt, which contains water, will only melt snow and ice up to the freezing temperature. Rock salt also has a corrosive nature, and will wear out the cement on brick stairs. Ice melt is a bit more expensive, but is better long term as a preventive protection. Ice melt is better for indoor carpeting.

Use sand to give people some traction on icy areas. Sawdust is really messy when tracked inside your apartment.

5. Maintenance – Keep your snow blower tuned up after every snowstorm. It will increase its longevity. Do not store gasoline in your house.

Maintain your snow removal efforts in a preventive manner to reduce risks and liability. You will also find that consistent and considerate snow removal management will give your property a good reputation.

Storms can do great harm to roofs. After the storm has completely passed, you should immediately check for roof damage. Check your roof from one end to another so you can properly diagnose the storm effects. If you miss just one spot or neglected one problem area, you may pay dearly, not just for roof repairs but also for replacement of damaged valuable furniture and home furnishings.

The Need for Temporary Storm Damage Roof Repair

Unless you are a trained carpenter or an engineer, or you know someone skilled who can get to work immediately, all you can do is try to perform minor and temporary repairs on your roof immediately after a storm. Temporary roof repair is necessary so that you can prevent further damage when another storm hits before you get your roof permanently repaired. Temporary roof repair is also necessary to ensure your home’s integrity and ensure that your family has adequate protection against the elements.

After you have assessed your roof and identified problem areas, get to work. The most pressing problem is roof holes. You need to plug up these holes immediately. Obviously, holes in the roof will mean leaks when it rains. They also mean that cold air or hot air can escape from your home. This inefficiency will cost you dearly in your electricity bills. Sure you may be able to do a little stargazing from the comfort of your living room recliner, but I think most would agree that a hole in the roof is very high priority on temporary repair lists.

How to Do Storm Damage Roof Repair

The most expedient way to repair your roof after a storm is to spread tarpaulin or water-proof canvass over your entire leaky roof. It is better to use the tarpaulin over your roof rather than under the roof and inside your house since doing the latter will lead to water collecting and leaking inside your home.

Remember to do this very carefully and with adequate assistance from capable members of your family. Be sure, too, to cover your roof up really tightly so that the wind cannot get under the tarpaulin or canvass and rip it and the rest of your roof off. After you have pulled the covering over your roof as tightly as you and your assistant(s) can manage, secure the ends with strong ropes and nails so that even a fairly strong gust of wind will not be able to undermine your temporary storm damage repair.

One other way of doing temporary storm damage roof repair is by going up there and sealing holes up with roof sealant. Use the appropriate safety paraphernalia like safety ladders and rope support so that you can prevent any accident from happening.

The Need for Permanent Storm Damage Roof Repair

After you have secured your home and fixed your storm damaged roof the best way you can, you need to call an expert carpenter or contractor to proceed with permanent storm damage control and repair to your roofs. An expert can perform the proper maintenance and thereby help you properly repair the damage the storm wrought on your roof.

Hiring a professional to repair your storm-ravaged roof may be expensive. However, in the long run, this is the most effective way of preventing other more catastrophic and more expensive damage to your home. Your initial assessment and your temporary roof repair efforts will never be enough to ensure your home’s survival on the next storm.

Heads up! With the winter on its way, we start spending more time at home and hence appreciating our indoor atmosphere. These cooler months are perfect for some home improvements, so here are some helpful tips.

1) While thinking about your home improvement, you can undertake many projects or one at a time. Garage conversions are done for that much needed extra space. You can convert all or some part of your garage into another bedroom, an office, a gym or even a beauty salon!

2) As the winter is progressing homeowners should plan well in advance. You could plan for upgrading your central heating to reduce maintenance and utility costs. Vents near the floor can be opened and those near the ceiling can be closed for better air circulation. Your heating system should be checked up by the expert.

3) If your air cooling / conditioning system is older than 15 years, then you should think of replacing it with a modern, efficient unit. Your air conditioners should be covered or should be removed and the opening should be sealed. Consider adding new and more insulation in your walls. If it is possible, make sure walls are insulated to R11. Insulating your basement walls will be great idea. It can reduce common moisture problems caused by condensation. Note: If your house is constructed before 50 years, it may need cost saving blown in wall insulation.

4) Ventilation should be given attention. Attic insulation should not cover ventilation vents in the eaves, which prevents winter ice dams. Ridge vent and vents at eaves should be free of plants and debris. And if there are holes in rodent and bird screens in attic vents, replace or patch them.

5) The minimum you should so is at least undertake the cleaning of your home rigorously in winter, even if you are not going to improve anything in your home. Vacuuming under and behind freezer and fridge, for example, is necessary to improve efficiency of the units. And chimneys need to be cleaned and checked by chimney sweeps regularly. Decks need to be power-washed and resealed after every 4-5 winters.

6) The older type storm windows should be replaced while you’re at it. Reinstall the window latches if they are not working. Repairs of any cracked or broken window panes should be undertaken. Exterior walls should be checked. Pipes and wires should be sealed while outer walls should be checked and filled up so that no air can leak in.

7) All garden hoses should be removed, drained and coiled.

8) Gutters should be clean at all times. If they are rusty, they should be replaced with new aluminum or vinyl gutters. All interior drains should be free of debris.

And of course the season’s special discounts and special offers have something for every home. Of course you can take advantage of great discounts by ordering before December 31. Here’s to happy remodeling. Search the web for many more tips, tricks of the trade and other helpful articles. No need to tackle your home improvements alone!

1. Turn off the Water
When you notice a leak, the very first thing you should do is to shut off the water. If turning off the water on the appliance that is leaking doesn’t work, or you’re not sure where the water is leaking from, then shut off the main water valve. It should be located where cold water enters your house, inside in colder climates and outside in warmer climates. Main water valves are also sometimes near the water heater.

2. Mop up the Mess
As soon as you have turned off the water, the leak will need to be cleaned up. Remove as much water as you can with a mop, rags, or towels, until there is no water visible in the leak area. This needs to be done as soon as is possible because water can soak into floors, ceilings, and walls very quickly.

3. Dry Completely
After you’ve removed most of the water, play it safe and ventilate the damaged area. Open doors and windows around the house to let some air flow through. You can also put some stand-up or sitting fans in front of the leak area for a few hours to make sure it’s all dry.

4. Check Surrounding Areas
After you’ve taken care of the immediate area, look around to make sure no other area is affected. Water has a way of getting around without being seen. If the leak occurred upstairs, go downstairs and check your ceilings and walls.

5. Check Ventilation
The best way to prevent leaks from the roof (from melted ice dams or heavy rain) or another room upstairs is by having proper ventilation. Make sure the soffit is properly ventilated; with holes all down the side. Even after a leak has occurred, checking and updating your ventilation will help keep fresh air in the room and prevent mold and/or decay.

6. Install Leak Detection System
One easy way to prevent water damage is to install a water leak detection system. This system will alert you when a leak in your home is detected, saving you possible thousands the first time it works. Some systems even shut off all the water in your home automatically when a leak is detected, giving you peace of mind when you’re away from home.

7. Call a Specialist
After you’ve done all you can yourself for the water leak, call a specialist to come and take a look at the effected area. If the leak was small and easy to manage, don’t bother, but if the leak was large and may have sunk into the floors or walls then it is important to make sure damage isn’t still being done to your home.

As a landlord, your tightest months for cash flow are usually at the end of the winter and beginning of spring, in March, April and May. You’ve just finished paying for the extra costs that winter brings; sky-high utility bills, snow and ice removal, heating issues and so on. Not only that, but any vacant units probably took longer to fill because people are less likely to move during the winter. You might even have had damage from ice dams or frozen pipes.

The end of the winter is the worst possible time to get a huge unexpected bill. And yet here it comes; hundreds or even thousands of dollars due to your tax advisor.

Fortunately, there are ways to really reduce this bill without adding a lot to your workload. The key is to organize your tax documents in a way that will let your CPA or bookkeeper (or yourself, if you do your own business taxes) prepare your return in a lot less time.

I use property management software to organize all of my income, expenses and assets, and make sure that my bank account statements match up with my own personal accounting. It’s faster than maintaining my records in Excel, and it only takes a little longer than the method used by lots of old-school landlords; stuffing all their records into a shoebox and hoping for the best.

Because you’re organizing your landlording income and expenses in your property management software as they occur throughout the year, they are completely organized and ready for you at the end of the year, at tax prep time. Somebody’s going to be doing a lot less work then – either your tax advisor (which means you pay him less) or yourself (which means you get to bed earlier).

You want your records to be organized along the categories of the IRS Schedule E form, which you use to report rental property income and loss, along with income and loss from related investments such as partnerships and trusts. You’ll need to submit an IRS Schedule E along with your 1040 tax return. You’ll also take the summarized results from the Schedule E and incorporate them into your 1040 calculations. You can do all this with the correct property management software.

There are two Schedule E categories for Income and 14 for Expenses. For Income, any time you receive rents, you’ll record them in your rental property program as a deposit; thus updating both your bank account records and your ledger account records. For Expenses, any time you spend money on anything related to your properties, you’ll record those Expenses either through the check register or a journal entry. Your property management program should let you enter any Expense under a category that matches a Schedule E category; they are Advertising, Auto and Travel, Cleaning and Maintenance, Commissions, Insurance, Legal and other Professional Fees, Management Fees, Mortgage Interest, Other Interest, Repairs, Supplies, Taxes, Utilities, Other, and Depreciation. Some of these property management expense categories will make perfect sense to you, but others may need explanation.

• Advertising: this is really all of your marketing expenses, including things like signs and web postings.

• Auto and Travel: this is an easy Expense to miss because you won’t pay it with a check or something else that’s easily tied to your bank accounts. One option is to record all the actual expenses such as gas, oil and depreciation. The other, simpler way is to just record your mileage spent on business travel and multiply the total times the current per-mile expense rate (48.5 cents for 2007).

Not only is it simpler to record expenses this way, it may also be a better deal for you. That 48.5 cents per mile applies whether you are driving a new Hummer H2 or an old Toyota Corolla. Obviously you spend a lot less than 48 cents a mile driving that old Toyota (and it makes a better impression on your tenants).

You should record auto expenses by mileage every time you take a trip related to your investments; these include every time you drive to a building. Once per month, if you can do so, pay yourself for the mileage or any other expenses from personal funds with a check from your business account. Record that as well. You can also expense tolls and parking fees, but not tickets or other legal fees from parking or driving violations.

• Mortgage Interest: new landlords often think they can expense all of their debt service, which is your mortgage payments plus any other money paid toward retiring the loan. But you can’t expense the money that goes toward principal because it’s not really an expense. For example, suppose you make a $1,000 mortgage payment, $200 of which goes to principal and the rest to interest. By doing so, you spend $1,000 from your checking account, while increasing your equity in the property by $200. The correct transaction will be a $1,000 credit to the checking account, an $800 debit to the Mortgage expense and a $200 debit to the Building Equity Asset account. Your rental property program should calculate this automatically.

• Depreciation: this expense relates to the natural deterioration that happens to almost any long-lasting asset. Most landlords think of depreciation in terms of buildings. For example, most residential buildings have a depreciation period of 27 1/2 years. This means that you can take 1/27.5 (3.63636… percent) of the building’s value as an expense each year; until you’ve owned it for 27.5 years or sell it, whichever comes first. How are you going to determine the building’s value? Multiply the purchase price by this ratio: building assessment / overall assessment. You can usually get the assessments from the town or county.

It makes a lot of sense to depreciate items in a building separately from the building itself, because such items usually have shorter recovery periods (meaning you can take more of the value – as much as 20 or even 33 percent – each year until the end of the period).

Depreciation is tricky – one reason is that the federal government frequently changes depreciation rules in esoteric ways. For example, they changed the rules to make investing in New York City more appealing after the 9/11 attacks. It may make sense to get some additional help from your tax advisor here.

Around February 1st of the new year, print out a profit and loss report and all of your bank reconciliation reports for the previous year. All of this information will be neatly organized by your property management software. Review the reports carefully and either send them to your tax advisor or enter the information into tax forms yourself. If you send them to your tax advisor, include the actual bank statements as well. He’ll want these records to prove that you recorded all of your financial transactions honestly.

At the same time, make sure your CPA or bookkeeper knows that you’re NOT expecting him to do your Schedule E calculations all by himself. You don’t expect to be charged for all that work, either.

Last point – even though property management software is going to help you with your recordkeeping and calculations, don’t throw out your paper records. You’ll need them if you are ever audited.

When repairing a roof, keep in mind that 90% of all roof leaks are caused by improper installation or defective flashings. Examples of flashings include chimney, step, apron and valley where two roofs join together. During the roof repairs, it is necessary to look for any roof deterioration that could possibly lead to further problems if left untreated. If leaks are ignored, the structure of the entire home may be weakened if and when the frame begins to rot from continued exposure to dampness.

In addition, the improper installation of roof shingles, which are sometimes fastened incorrectly, may be a necessary repair that needs to be addressed. If roof shingles are missing, these will need to be replaced as soon as possible.

There are a number of factors that may lead to roof leaks, including clogged or improperly installed gutters. This will cause water to overflow over the back and leak along the inside walls and inside the home. In addition, flue pipes inside of a chimney may cause water to leak if they are not properly aligned. Improperly installed or defective siding and windows are among the remaining common causes for roof

leaks.

When a roof leaks after heavy, wind-driven rain, it is usually caused by a problem with the windows or siding. During the winter, a roof leak along the inside walls or basement is most commonly caused by an ice dam. In this scenario, melting snow and ice will travel over the back of the gutter or through the side of gutter spikes and down the walls. An ice dam is caused by inadequate intake and exhaust ventilation.

Did you know that most roofers believe that, providing the roofing procedure was done properly around a skylight and there are no additional problems further up the roof that may cause water to find an opening in the skylight, there is no need for concern? In actuality, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the sealant around the glass can deteriorate over the years and water will be able to enter through the skylight. This is a very common problem in older skylights, but the remedy is quite simple. The best approach is to seal the perimeter of the glass with a quality outdoor silicone