With the holiday season soon upon us, now is a good time to start planning activities for your entire family to enjoy. Visiting some of the spectacular Christmas light displays throughout the Charlotte area is a special treat that everyone can enjoy, regardless of age. These displays have become more elaborate each year with special lighting effects and choreography that will amaze all and put you in the holiday spirit.

Free Light Shows

Many homeowners are getting in on the act by creating their own light displays and the best thing is they are free. However, some do accept donations to give to their charity of choice. This year check out the following displays around the Charlotte area:

Lights at the Quarter – Located behind the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, LATQ offers thousands of lights that you can enjoy free from the comfort of your card. Check their Facebook page for start dates and any weather-related announcements.

Christmas Town USA – Enjoy the hometown feel of Christmas Town USA with additional entertainment and events throughout the holiday season. Located at 100 Main Street in McAdenville, the lights go on December 1.

Make it a Speedway Christmas

Returning again this year to the Charlotte Motor Speedway is Speedway Christmas. Drive through three and a half miles and taking in over 3,000.000 lights and take the children to see Santa, pet the animals at the petting zoo or watch a movie on their giant 16,000-foot movie screen. Ticket prices start at $20 per carload.

You do not have to pay much to make holiday memories holiday memories with your family. Just hop in your car and enjoy the festive entertainment

There’s no better time than the fall for getting your rental property ready for winter. Routine tasks that you address now – such as the ones listed here – will prevent serious issues that could arise when colder temperatures creep in.

Make service calls

It’s always a good idea to service those systems that are used heavily in the winter before the temperatures start to dip. Both you and your property management team can schedule these tasks, especially those that require the services of a professional – such as an HVAC/furnace specialist. If you own a fireplace, make sure it’s clean and inspected before using it for the first time.

Clear out gutter, drains, and down spouts

Your property management team can handle this routine but very necessary maintenance. Clogged gutters and drains can lead to expensive water damage. You never know when a winter storm is going to hit – whether it’s heavy rain or snow – this task will give you peace of mind.

Talk to tenants

Being proactive about getting your rental home ready for winter should always be the goal of you and your property management team, but it’s the tenants who will have the greatest impact on your rental’s condition during colder months. Talk with them about the importance of keeping the house ventilated, as well as the importance of reporting any issues, no matter how minor. Your property managers can also provide tenants with a checklist of potential issues they should be aware of.

Check window and doors

Loose caulking and gaps between windows, doors, and their frames are a source of heat loss that can raise your energy bill. Make sure to check if all of your doors and windows are properly sealed.

Inspect the roof

Your roof can take a beating during the harsh weather conditions of winter. Your property management team can check for loose or cracked shingles that may indicate more serious issues.

Disconnect outdoor hoses

Disconnecting and draining outdoor hoses is another important winter prep task – especially if you live in colder climates. This will prevent pipes from freezing.

Safeguard your A/C unit

Fall is a great time to safeguard your air conditioning unit for winter. Make sure it’s clear of debris, and cover it if you live in harsh weather regions.

One of the greatest benefits of having a property management company manage your rental properties is having the company handle the screening process for potential renters. The screening process leaves little room for error, because if you rent to the wrong renter, it could take you years to recover from the financial implications if the tenant defaults on rent or destroys your property. A property management company will do a comprehensive vetting to screen out risky renters and help reduce your risks.

Red Flags a Property Management Screens For

Potential renters are required to fill out a rental application that will provide financial and previous renting information. This information is used to conduct their screening to determine whether they are too much of a risk to rent to.

Checking credit scores and credit reports are pretty standard when screening potential renters, but these two items could be considered only the top of the iceberg when vetting new renters. There are other factors to consider, such as:

•  Confirmation of income and employment. Confirming that a potential rental is actually financially able to pay their rent is very important. If their income cannot justify their ability to pay their rent or they have a history of job-hopping, they would be considered too risky to rent to.
• Criminal history. It’s a serious red flag if an examination of a potential rental’s criminal history shows that they have multiple convictions for offenses other than traffic-related violations. This usually means they have issues with following rules, so it is more likely they will not obey the terms of a rental lease.
• Bad or no references from previous landlords. A prospective renter that doesn’t have good references from previous landlords presents a risk. They may avoid giving this information to avoid tipping you off that they have prior evictions or are not responsible renters.
• Previous evictions. Checking nationwide eviction data is important to avoid renting to people who make it a habit of not paying their rent or destroying rental property. Multiple evictions show that a potential renter would be too risky to allow to rent your property.

Hiring a property management company that will screen your prospective renters for you will save you some of the headaches associated with the screening process. This allows you to focus on other areas of your property dealings.

We are always proud when we use Language Line as it shows that we give our international prospects & residents the very best service available.

We thought you’d be interested to know that Leasing Dept is becoming the poster children for Language Line!

In October, we used online translators 12 times for a little more than 2 hours.