Dear Maintenance Men:
www.JLE1.com
Dear Maintenance Men:
I own a four-plex with an average amount of landscaping around the property. It looks OK, but nothing to get exited about. I have a garden service that comes each week, they cut and edge and do what their supposed to do, but the property just looks tired. The other day I was working in a vacant unit when the gardeners showed up. I went to the storage room to get some parts and when I got back to the unit, the gardeners were gone already … what’s up with that? What should I expect from my landscapers.
Frustrated
Dear Frustrated:
We understand how you feel, we once timed a landscape crew from the time they pulled onto the property, unloaded the equipment, cut and edged the grass and used the blower. Reloaded the truck and pulled away from the property. Elapsed time: 8 minutes! You might think the owner was getting ripped off … not really. The owner was paying $45 per month for the service. That’s $11.00 per week! The owner got his money’s worth. The competition between gardeners is very big. Almost anyone with a lawnmower can have a landscape route. Thus, the prices are very low, as is the service.
Now, getting back to what you should expect from your landscape gardeners. We have a minimum list of items that must be completed at a property. If these items are skipped or ignored, we feel the property will suffer. On a weekly basis, we expect the garden service to provide the following:
1. Cut the grass.
2. Edge the grass.
3. Pull out weeds between the sidewalk cracks, walk around the building, including the alley.
4. Turn over the dirt in all the flowerbeds each week.
5. Pick up any trash around the property.
6. Hose down the walkways.
7. Turn on the sprinkler lines, check for clogged heads, broken lines etc.
8. Check that the timer is set properly.
9. Cut, trim and thin any shrubs or bushes.
10. Maintain communication with the owner about problems or improvements
The above list takes time, half hour minimum at a small property. If your landscape gardener completed the list on a weekly basis, you could very well have the best-looking property on the block! Which means higher rents … if you add color flowers … even higher rents!
Finding a landscape gardener to do above list consistently is not easy. Start in the Apartment Association magazine, then look in your neighborhood or city for a property with outstanding landscaping and ask who the gardener is. Have him give you a quote according to your “list”.
Dear Maintenance Men:
I have a unit with old laminate counter tops. The counter tops are sound, but are very dull and faded looking. Can the tops be saved? I don’t want to replace them at this time. Do you have any suggestions?
Bill
Dear Bill:
It will be impossible to make your counter tops look new again, but with a little bit of elbow grease, we can give them a new lease on life. First thoroughly clean the counter top with Soft Scrub or similar product, rinse completely. The laminate rehab products are wax-based sealers. Gel Gloss or Minwax can be used. They can be in paste, liquid or spray form. Do not use auto wax. You may want to apply these products from time to time as the counter tops loose their luster.
Dear Maintenance Men:
I know I need to have smoke alarms in each rental unit, but where is the best place to install them? How many per unit should I install?
Liz
Dear Liz:
Placement of the smoke alarms is very important. The alarm can be place on the ceiling or for wall placement; 6-12 inches below the ceiling. Locate the smoke alarm away from bathroom openings, kitchen or dining room areas as well as air vents or registers. The number of smoke alarms per units may vary. In a two-story unit, an alarm on each floor would be minimum. Building codes vary from city to city; some say one alarm per floor is adequate while other cities want a smoke alarm in each room. We like to see one smoke alarm in each bedroom, one in the hallway between the bedrooms and one in the living room. Smoke alarms are cheap, better to have too many than not enough.
Bio:
Jerry L'Ecuyer is the owner of JLE Property Management & Buffalo Maintenance and is a licensed contractor & real estate broker. He is currently on the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Education Committee for the Apartment Association of Orange County. Jerry has been involved with apartments as a professional since 1988 and can be reached at (714) 778-0480. Frank Alvarez is the Operations Director for Buffalo Maintenance. He has been involved with apartment maintenance for over 14 years. Frank can be reached at (714) 956-8371 or visit the office at, 202 E. Broadway in Anaheim, CA 92805. Please visit our web site at: WWW.JLE1.COM