Moving Helpful Hints
Moving into your Student Apartment? Don’t Forget These Simple Tips
Moving into your new apartment as a student is an exciting time, but before you get to all the fun, make sure you take care of a few simple things.You will be glad you did later!
Tips for Moving Into Your Student Apartment
For security, check that all of the windows that can be opened also have locks, especially if you are on the ground floor. If any of the windows cannot lock, tell your landlord immediately.- Think about a fire escape plan and discuss it amongst your roommates. Know all of the doors and windows suitable for a safe exit from the apartment in the case of an emergency. Make sure that fire-escape windows are not screwed or stuck shut. If they are, have your landlord make them openable immediately.
- Learn where the gas and water shutoffs are. In the case of an emergency or a pipe burst, knowing exactly where to go to shut off gas or water can save lives or at least costly damage to the apartment and your personal property.
- Inspect the apartment and make sure that everything is as you expected and matches the contract. It is good to catch any problems that you may not notice immediately. It is not uncommon that a landlord did not tell you about a problem, either because they wanted to get a tenant or they did not know. If anything is unsatisfactory or does not match the contract, make a note of it and contact your landlord.
- If you and your roommates pay for utilities independently from the rent, record the meter readings as soon as you move in. Tell the utilities companies the readings and the dates you moved in. You would not want to pay for extra utilities that were used when you were not even occupying the apartment. While you are at it, give all of the names of the apartment’s occupants to the utilities companies to avoid any confusion with billing.
High Temperatures and High Humidity Expected, Beat the Heat!
Info + Tips and Tricks to Beat the Heat
Boston is amidst a serious heat-wave that is expected to last for a few more days. In Massachusetts, a heat wave is defined as three consecutive days with temperatures over 90 degrees. Alan Dunham, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton, spoke regarding today saying, “It’s mainly just going to feel miserable.” A heat advisory is in effect for today, July 21st, from noon until 9 pm. Temperatures will be in the 90s, but combined with the high levels of humidity, the weather is expected to feel as if it’s 104; this will be 105 tomorrow.
Intense heat combined with high humidity can be more than just uncomfortable. It can be unhealthy. This combination of factors causes significantly higher than normal ozone levels in the air, which is not healthy for anyone. Those especially at risk are persons with asthma and other respiratory problems, children, and the elderly. People have been advised to check on senior citizens in their community throughout the day.
Beating the Heat:
Make sure to stay hydrated throughout the day. Your body cools itself down as perspiration (sweat) evaporates from the skin. When humidity is high, your perspiration evaporates at a much slower rate, making your natural cooling techniques much less efficient. Your body compensates by increasing perspiration, which can quickly dehydrate you. One should always try and stay hydrated, but during weather like this it is especially critical.
Stay cool. If you do not have air conditioning or access to a cool place, try seeking out one of Boston’s “cooling centers.” Mayor Tom Menino announced that Boston and some surrounding areas are keeping public pools open late and opening a series of cooling centers when people can refresh themselves.
Try a non-outdoor activity. Sure, you may feel guilty not enjoying the outdoors during the summer, but you do not have to feel guilty when the weather is like this! Try catching a movie or going to a museum. These activities almost always involve environment-controlled, air-conditioned spaces.
Still too hot? Maybe you need air conditioning or a cooler place, contact Phoenix Realty today!
Breaking a Rental Agreement Due to Unlivable Conditions
Finding the right Boston rental property can be a pretty overwhelming process. After a seemingly endless search for the perfect place, you think you’ve finally found a good fit. Then you meet with the landlord, sign a lease agreement, get your set of keys and before you know it… It’s move-in day. During the moving process you discover a few unpleasant surprises that you didn’t notice during the original tour – or maybe the living conditions have significantly deteriorated since you moved in due to circumstances out of your control. Now you want to break the rental lease as a result of the uninhabitable living conditions. How do you go about doing so? Here are some general tips for breaking a rental lease due to unlivable conditions:
- First you should research the minimum housing rental standards in your area of residence to prove that your property is unlivable.
- Take pictures of the living conditions which make your situation unlivable. Some reasonable conditions include toxic mold, infestation, holes in the ceiling or floor, flood or fire damage, etc.
- Set up a meeting with your landlord. Either bring him pictures or have him walk through your apartment. If there is time and your landlord is willing to correct the problem then you might not need to break the agreement.
- If your landlord disputes your complaint, have a third party – this person depends on the property code of your state – to check out your apartment and determine whether or not it is habitable. If this third party deems the property uninhabitable, your landlord must follow your specific state’s property code and let you out of your lease (a copy of your state’s property code can usually be found online).
- If your landlord still refuses to let you out of the lease agreement set up a meeting with your local housing authority for advice on how to get out of the lease. Make sure to bring the pictures of the unlivable conditions as well as a copy of your lease agreement.
- If you are still unable to completely break your lease agreement you may be able to reduce your rent payment until the uninhabitable living conditions are corrected.
To prevent against this exhausting process make sure to thoroughly examine your new apartment before signing any type of contract. Or better yet, hire a real estate agent to help with the search – contact an experienced Phoenix Realty agent to get your apartment search off on the right foot!
Bed Bug Myths Debugged
10 Need-to-Know Myths to Protect Your Boston Apartment
Your parents used to say “don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Now that you’re moving into your own Boston apartment, it’s time you give this advice another thought! As reported in the NBC New York news story, “Beware of Bed Bugs: Cases Set to Surge This Summer,” bed bug complaints in New York City apartments are up 8 percent from last year with over 13,000 bed bug complaints in 2010. Jeffrey White, a research entomologist for bed bugcentral.com anticipates worse bed bug outbreaks this year than last. Boston apartment residents are lucky that our city hasn’t shown up on the Top Ten Worst Bed Bug Infested Cities, but the bed bug problem persists even here.
You need to know the myths and facts about bed bugs in order to identify and fight these bugs. We’ve compiled a list of 10 bed bug myths to help you protect yourself and your Boston apartment from the Back Bay to the West End.
Myth 1: Bed bugs only show up in dirty apartments and on dirty people.
Bed bugs aren’t attracted to dirt; they’re attracted to exhaled carbon dioxide and heat. They feed on blood and can infest any location regardless of how clean it is. Bed bugs have been known to show up anywhere from South End to North End apartments. You can bring bed bugs home with you merely by coming into contact with a person or location contaminated with bed bugs.
Myth 2: Bed bugs only live in beds and mattresses.
Bed bugs spend 90 percent of their time hiding and can live almost anywhere: on furniture, walls, clothing, carpets, or pictures. Don’t think that just by throwing away your mattress will solve your bed bug problem because they often spread to areas around your bed as well: within the cracks of furniture, along the baseboards of walls, inside electric outlets, laptops, and even cell phones!
Myth 3: Bed bugs are too small to see.
So you’re sitting in your Brookline or Charlestown apartment; can you spot a bed bug? Adult bed bugs are relatively easy to spot; they are reddish-brown and 3mm–5mm in size. Recently hatched larvae tend to be harder to see at 1mm–2mm in size. Until the larva feed on blood, they remain a pale white.
Myth 4: I have bite marks, but my partner doesn’t. I can’t have bed bugs!
Bites can differ in size from person-to-person based on individual allergic reactions to the bites. Bites may leave no marks, small bumps, or even large welts. If your partner doesn’t have bite marks but you do, your Boston apartment could still harbor bed bugs.
Myth 5: Bed bugs are killed by the cold.
Houses heated to 70 degrees Celsius for 3 hours only kill about 78% of bed bugs on average. Cold temperature treatments don’t fare much better. In fact, bed bugs can survive for a long time in below freezing temperatures. Overall, the cold treatment is unreliable even during a Boston winter. Although hot steam treatments work, you must remember that you may not be killing all of the bugs that are hiding.
Myth 6: Bed bugs transmit diseases.
Many scientific research studies have found that luckily bed bugs don’t transmit diseases; however, scratching bed bug bites can lead to secondary infections. Make sure to get medical attention if your bites appear infected.
Myth 7: You can feel a bed bug biting you.
Bed bugs inject their saliva before feeding on blood so you won’t feel their bite. However, like a mosquito bite, bed bug bites can be itchy later based on how allergic you are to their saliva. Also, beg bugs are generally more active at night and may bite you while you are sleeping.
Myth 8: You can kill bed bugs with any insecticide.
Although bug bombs may kill a number of bed bugs, their use generally causes the bed bugs to scatter and actually make your Boston apartment’s infestation worse. Directly spraying bed bugs with insecticides may kill the ones you hit; however, you can’t count on getting all of them with a direct spraying. Also, many insecticides will not work on all the stages of the bed bug life cycle.
Myth 9: Bed bugs are resistant to all pesticides.
Not all pesticides kill bed bugs, but many pesticides do. Consult a professional exterminator to determine which methods will work best for your situation.
Myth 10: Leaving bed bugs alone in an empty house will kill them.
Adult bed bugs can live for a year or more without feeding so ignoring the problem will only make it worse.
Understanding these myths will hopefully make you more aware so that you can effectively deal with any buggy Boston real estate situation. Your best bet is to consult with a professional exterminator to prepare an integrated pest management solution, which involves a regiment of spraying, vacuuming, steaming, laundering and sealing in order to kill and prevent the infestation of bed bugs. We hope you sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite! Now, let’s hear your bed bug stories!
Moving Day Strategy
The dreaded September 1st Boston apartments for rent move-in date is fast approaching, and now’s the time to get together your move-in strategy for the day. Follow the strategy tips below on how to streamline the moving process, and make the day go by with the least amount of stress as possible.
Be Packed and Ready to Go BEFORE Moving Day
You need to be prepared to successfully conquer Moving Day. You don’t want to be packing things up last minute, as this can lead to disorganization and not remembering where or what you packed. So begin organizing boxes days or weeks before the move, and this will definitely save you a great deal of time. Carrying stacked boxes to a moving van is efficient, but stuffing clothes into grocery bags on your way out isn’t.
Another advantage to planning ahead allows you to sort through the items that you no longer want or need, thus saving you from unnecessary packing and unpacking. Why spend all the effort packing and moving when you are just going to throw it away?
Get Friends Involved and Assign Roles
Once you have determined the move-in date for your new Boston rental property, enlist the help of friends and family to get you moved in. The more people you can get, the faster you will be able to move in: and if you have 3-4 strong movers, moving the particularly heavy items will be a lot less taxing than just having your parents help.
Also, determine who will be doing what BEFORE you begin to move. The stronger movers should handle the large items, and those less strong can handle smaller boxes or help you clean as you move in: which will be HUGE time saver later.
Move Heavy or Large Items First
Moving is exhausting, and it’s easy to get worn out. But it’s better to get worn out AFTER moving the large, heavy objects into your building. These are typically furniture items, and should be moved first: after you get these in, the rest of the lighter-weight moving will be easy. Well, easier.
Stair Strategy / Elevator Use
Use the elevator whenever possible, if one is available in your building. You can also save trips by carrying as much as you can – safely – up the stairs, but don’t waste time and energy carrying items that can be transported via elevator.
With over a week left until move-in, make the most out of your time and get started on your moving strategy!
Source Article: http://ohmyapt.apartmentratings.com
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