1. To remove candle wax, freeze the candleholder and the wax can easily be chipped off once frozen.
2. If you have a CD that skips, put toothpaste on a soft cloth and rub the CD. Rinse with water and dry well.
3. If you have sparkling wine that has lost its sparkle, drop a raisin in the bottle. The concentrated sugar in the raisin will help make your wine bubbly again.
4. To quickly dry nail polish, plunge freshly polished nails into ice water. Be careful while drying.
5. To clean vinyl, put a drop of lemon extract on a clean cloth and wipe the vinyl down.
6. Instead of burning newspaper as kindling, use dried orange and lemon peels. They’ll burn hotter and longer than paper.
7. Run a 1/2 cup of rice through your coffee grinder for a quick clean.
8. To clean your antiques, use 2 parts turpentine to one part boiled linseed oil, or mix equal parts of turpentine with linseed oil and vinegar. Apply with a soft cloth and rub with another soft, dry cloth to polish.
9. To remove blood stains, as soon as possible, cover with a paste of cornstarch and water. Let it dry and brush it off.
10. Do your seat cushions slide off? Pin or sew a washcloth or hand towel to the bottom of the cushion or to the couch under the cushion to create a slip-resistant surface.
11. When dusting your TV, use a cloth dampened with fabric softener. This reduces static on the screen, which draws the dust to it.
12. When moving or rearranging a room, put socks over furniture legs to prevent scratching the floor.
13. To erase scuff marks on linoleum, try toothpaste on dry cloth, or use a gum eraser like you would with a pencil on paper.
14. To remove crayon or marker marks from wallpaper, walls or any other painted surfaces, once again, try toothpaste on a soft cloth.
15. Wait for a cloudy day to wash your windows, because then they won’t dry with sunspots.
16. Fireplace cleaning: use an art gum eraser to remove soot marks from stone or brick fireplace fronts.
17. To keep ashtrays clean and manageable, coat the inside of the tray with some floor wax. This will prevent the ash from sticking and make the trays easy to clean.
18. To remove odor from tobacco smoke, place several trays of open vinegar around the space, or use activated carbon (charcoal or fish tank filter carbon) in the same way, placing small amounts in saucers around the room.
19. Don’t hang heave pictures, mirrors or frames above the head of your bed. You can never be to careful living in earthquake territory.
20. To easily distinguish between keys, try marking the top with brightly colored nail polish or acrylic paint, and keep a record of which color is to which lock.
21. To prevent laundry soap from clinging to clothes in the washer, dissolve the detergent in warm water before adding to the wash.
22. Sometimes washing machines need to be washed too. To wash your washer, pour a gallon of distilled vinegar into the washer and set to a warm cycle. The vinegar will cut through built-up soap and leave your washing machine sparkling clean.
23. To make socks be their whitest white, soak them in hot water mixed with the juice from ½ a lemon.
24. Hate trying to thread needles? A bit of hairspray or starch applied to the end of the thread will make your life much easier.
25. Scissors too dull? Snip through a piece of sandpaper a couple times and your scissors will get their sharp edge back.
26. To make a sleeping bag for your baby, cut the arms off an old ski jacket and sew the arm holes and the bottom closed.
27. To help your baby get to sleep or calm down when with a babysitter, record your voice or your spouses on a tape telling a bedtime story or singing a lullaby. The babysitter can play the recording back to calm the baby when you’re gone.
28. Any artwork your child does that you want to save, spray with hairspray to keep the colors from fading. Just make sure the drawing isn’t done with ink, because when mixed with ink, hairspray can make the colors run.
29. To prevent children from sneaking out, tie a small bell to your doorknob. When turned, the bell will ring, alerting you that they may be trying to sneak out.
30. To help kids not run into sliding glass doors, put a piece of brightly colored tape at their eye level.
31. If you’ve ever tried to give your child a pill and they have trouble swallowing it, give them a frozen popsicle to suck on. It’ll help anaesthetize their taste buds for enough time to make swallowing it a little bit easier.
32. When a child falls and cuts themselves, use a dark colored cloth to dry up the injury. This will help them not be alarmed by the sight of their own blood on the cloth.
33. If your child has an earache, fill a hot water bottle with warm water and have them lay down and put it on their ear. It’ll feel a lot better while the water is hot.
34. To help lessen the pain of bee-stings, apply a paste of baking soda and water. Or try dabbing with lemon juice. Another thing to try is to cut a green onion and hold it on the sting. Or, if that doesn’t work, try a banana peel.
35. To help lessen the itch of a mosquito bite, soak a cotton ball with vinegar and apply to the bite.
36. Looking for an easy way to dry up pimples? Dab some lemon juice on it and it should dry up in no time.

Ok, we just had Earth Day, and the current trend in marketing is to say you are Green. What does being green mean in property management and our daily lives and can it also save us some green – money?

Here are some things I do in my office and things I recommend to Owners/Tenants.

My office:
 We print lots of paper. We use the back of the printed side. Then we recycle our paper.
 We water the plants and yard at our office once a week. That is it.
 We don’t wash our windows until they really need it.
 I have started walking to and from work and I leave my car at work.
 We open the blinds in all offices and don’t turn on the lights
 I purchase recycled products for my office – paper for one
 We each have our own coffee mug instead of using paper cups and tossing
 My house cleaners use non-toxic products
 My contractors know to recycle paint and building products.
 Install energy efficient bulbs
 Lower the water level in the toilet tank (less to fill up each time)
 We stopped providing copies of all maintenance invoices with monthly statements to owners.
The info is on the statement. This saved employee time, paper, and postage.

Owners:
 Put in a drip system on landscaping
 Consider removing grass from yards and landscaping with draught tolerant plants
 Change out toilets if really old to low flow
 I offer monthly owner statements via email instead of print, and put in envelop, post and mail.
 Pay bills on line.
 Participate in our Preventative Maintenance Program – catch the small stuff before it becomes big.
 Install energy efficient appliances even if not the cheapest
 Use non-toxic paints, carpets in rentals
 Change out heater filters annually
 Ensure good insulation in the attic or ceiling to roof space.
 Install dual pane windows
 Consider solar installation for a very large home
 Install energy efficient light bulbs
 Lower water level in toilet tanks

Tenants:
 Report drips and leaks immediately
 Water yard or plant a garden and eat the food produced
 Lower temp on water heater
 Lower thermostat to save on PGE
 If no problem with HOA rules, hang clothes on a clothes line instead of dryer
 Wash laundry less. Even one load less a week makes a huge difference.
 Wash dishes without running water continuously
 Brush teeth without water running continuously
 Take a little shorter shower
 Recycle trash (Santa Cruz requires)
 Wear your clothes more than once before washing
(I grew up with school clothes and play clothes and church clothes)
 Use less soap/shampoo/toothpaste. I traveled for 1 year and learned very quickly how little
you actually need to use to get the job done.
 Pay rent on line – saves paper and postage.
 Have a garage sale at least twice a year. My rule. If I haven’t used it for a year it goes.
And, you know what I never miss it.
 As light bulbs die, install energy efficient ones.
 Lower water level in toilet tanks
 Turn off lights when not needed.
 Unplug counter appliances when not in use

I would argue that most of these Green things that we can all do will save us Real Green – Money. In today’s economy we can all find better uses for our Money than watching it go down the drain literally.

A great resource for FREE stuff is: www.freecycle.com

What Green ideas do you have? Share them and I will post and share with others.

Kathleen Richards

Things You Should Know To Protect Yourself

Tenant Red Flags

• Need to move in FAST
• Offer to pay 6 month’s rent in advance
• Have a sad or complicated story
• Someone looking for another person – parents looking for kids, friends looking for other friends
• Won’t answer questions directly
• Self Employed but can’t show financials
• Trust Fund Babies

Why are these Red Flags? Why does someone need to move FAST – maybe they are being evicted…They offer to pay rent in cash in advance. Who in their right might would give up 6 months worth of money? Just put in the bank and pay monthly. This could indicate they have really bad credit. The other option that IS valid if you can see the proof is they are in a commission job and income isn’t steady.

I will not rent to anyone who hasn’t seen the property. Someone is trying to hide something. Not answering questions or changing story all the time means they may be lying on their application as well. Again, what are they hiding?

Self employed must show financial documentation, bank statements, past tax returns. Do not accept the answer my docs are in files in storage. Then go get them. I have seen falsified tax returns that were completely made up. Get more than one source of financial documentation.

What are Trust Fund Babies? They don’t need to work. They get money deposited into their bank accounts monthly – inheritance, won a lawsuit etc. The Red Flag is they don’t have to work but they have cash monthly. My experience has shown, substance abuse and people, friends, coming and going at all hours. Lack of respect for those that do work – meaning parties all night. Not all Trust fund recipients fall into this category but make sure to check all info on lease. Look at bank statements you might see how they spend their trust fund money monthly. You might also see lots of NSF’s or bounced checks. Be wary of anyone who has money deposited into their accounts. Students fall into this category. That is fine if you look at their GPA and see they are good students. This isn’t ok if they are 30 and have been in college (junior college) for the last 10-15 years and the parents are still supporting them. Red Flag!!!

If things feel strange or the applicant can’t provide the info you are requesting then let them know this may not be the property for them.

Owner Red Flags

• They live on the property or have a workshop on the property
• The house needs work and they promise to do it before move in
• Want first, last and security deposit
• Charge way above the market rent
• Want to do a verbal lease with you
• Want rent in cash only

Why are these Red Flags? If there is a reason the owner is on the property daily get in the lease that they will give you 24 hour notice to enter property. They may feel it is their house, their workshop and therefore they have the right to enter your unit without permission. Make sure you and the Owner are clear about boundaries.

The unit should be ready to go when you see it. Don’t trust that the walls will get painted or the unit cleaned if they are showing it in a bad condition. Chances are what you see is what you will get. They have no shame if they are showing you a terrible place and be assured they won’t fix anything either once you are in.

Rent & Security are all that are allowed to be collected.

If they are charging way above the market rent, the house needs repairs and this is a ‘student’ housing or ‘roommate’ situation be aware the owner may be just a slum lord. They rent the rooms out individually and collect as much as possible and won’t do any repairs because their rational is the place will just get beaten up by all the tenants. Stay clear of this type of landlord. You won’t get your Security back.

Never do a verbal lease. Protect yourself and have it in writing. Any agreements put in writing.

Never pay rent in cash. Always pay with check, money order or cashiers check. You want proof that you paid. I would be suspicious if the owner wants only cash…something illegal going on or the owner is trying to fly under the wire.

See our list of Santa Cruz Rentals and call if you have questions.

Kathleen Richards

Broker/Owner/Property Mgr