- Important Dates to Remember
- Updates at Hales Property Management
- How To: Painless Spring Cleaning
- Best of the Hales Blog
- Maintenance Tip: Unclogging a Bathtub Drain
- From the Desk of Keith Hales
| April 1-16: | Easter Egg Hunts |
| April 8-15: | Robots at the MSI |
| April 16: | Easter |
| April 19: | HPM Open House |
| April 21-23: | C2E2: Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo |
| April 23-30: | Money Smart Week |
| April 30: | Annual Greek Independence Day Parade |
Updates at Hales Property Management
How to: Painless Spring Cleaning
Get on top of clutter. It’s hard to keep your condo clean when there’s a big pile of old mail on the countertop, random boxes from online shopping in the hallway, and sports gear randomly stashed against the wall of your second bedroom. Clean through these piles, discard what you don’t need, and find a storage space for the items you do keep so that they’re not always cluttering up your home.
Clean your windows. Chicago’s winter precipitation combines with the city’s grime to leave windows less than sparkling come spring. You have to wait for a professional window cleaner to tackle the outside windows of your condo, but for the moment you can still make a difference by cleaning the interior of the windows.
Deep clean your carpets and upholstery. Even if you vacuum every week, dust and grime gets embedded into your carpet and stays there. Spring is actually the perfect time to do a deeper cleaning by either renting your own machine or calling in a service. While you’re at it, you may also want to deep clean other upholstery items like couches and chairs.
Change up the decor. This is not a cleaning tip, but one that can help your home gain a fresher style for spring. Relatively inexpensive updates like a new bedspread or curtains can help change up the look of your place and give it some new energy for the new season.
Q & A
Q: What does my monthly assessment payment cover?
A: Your assessment amount is determined by your HOA and can vary widely based on the size of the building, its amenities, and a variety of other factors. Generally speaking, the assessment pays for the following, in addition to helping to build up the building reserves for future expenses:
- Maintenance of common areas & building exterior
- Building amenities
- Building utilities
- Snow removal in winter
- Landscaping
- Parking lot maintenance
- Trash removal
- Insurance policies
- Property management fees
Your HOA’s financial statement, which is made available to all owners, should have specifics about your building’s expenditures.
Maintenance Tip: Unclogging a Bathtub Drain
No matter how careful you are, it seems we all eventually face a bathtub drain that just refuses to drain. Before you know it, you’re showering while sloshing around in 4 inches of water. But unclogging your bathtub drain is actually very easy. Here’s how to do it:
From the Desk of Keith Hales As the old saying goes, April showers bring May flowers. To property managers, heavy spring showers often translate into building leaks and potential floods. The freeze/thaw cycle of the winter months can turn hairline cracks in masonry and roofs into larger holes that can funnel in water. More often than not, homeowners may not notice that their ceiling or walls have water stains and if left untreated, this may turn into a big problem. If you haven’t done so already, please check your unit for any signs of water infiltration and contact us immediately via your Association’s web portal so that we can address it as soon as possible. We are happy to report that we successfully processed over 108 tax returns this year on behalf of the Condo Associations we manage using electronic signatures, which allowed for ease of review and sign off by our Board members. In line with one of our 2017 initiatives, we will continue to look for ways to automate and improve our processes going forward. Lastly, please don’t forget to come meet your property manager at our Open House event at Lush Wine & Spirits on Wednesday April, 19th from 6PM to 7:30PM. More information about it can be found here. As always, your opinion matters to me. Please let me know how we can improve our services by sending an email or contacting me directly at 312.757.4651 with any suggestions. Keith J. Hales | President | CAM | Managing Broker |
