Talking Trash!

Freeport's Annual Bulky Waste Pickup Starts on November 14th.

This annual service is totally separate from your regular weekly garbage pickup.  You must make arrangements with your regular trash hauler (Gill's Freeport Disposal (815-233-5644) or Moring Disposal (815-233-9216) ) to sign up.  There will be a $51 charge per residence to help the city offset the cost of the program.  When you call to sign up you will need to provide your water and sewer account number, address and phone number (the charge will show up on your water bill).  There are limits to the amount of trash that can be disposed of in this program.  Each participating home may place four (4) bulky furniture items along with one (1) cubic yard of miscellaneous bulky waste at the curb (one cubic yard is the equivalent of six 30-gallon containers). 

The deadline for making arrangements with the appropriate hauler is November 12th.

 

Here is a list of what is considered acceptable items for the Bulky Waste Pickup:

Couches, sleeper sofas, major appliances, coffee/end tables, kitchen tables, sectionals (limit one), rocker/recliners, mattress/box springs, baby cribs, dressers, pillows, picture frames, foot stools, baby swings, grills, lamps, small area rugs, child car seats, push mowers (you must drain the fuel first), bicycles/tricycles, boxes and small items, swing sets (disassembled into 4' sections).

Here is a list of unacceptable items that you should NOT put out:

Dehumidifiers, tires, air conditioners, plate glass windows, water heaters/softeners, mirrors, cement, rock, brick, riding lawn mowers, auto batteries, open dry paint cans, car parts, or liquid waste.

This is a great time to take advantage of cleaning out your larger waste for a very reasonable cost.

BOO to you!

So the funniest costume I've heard of this year so far is: a guy wearing a t-shirt that reads: "GO CEILINGS!"  Can you guess what he is?

Have a safe and spooky Halloween!

October is Fire Prevention Month

     There are always more residential fires in the winter months because more residents are using supplemental heat sources (some safe, ...some not so safe) during the colder months.  Be sure all your smoke detectors and CO detectors have fresh batteries and test them to make sure they work.  A properly functioning smoke or CO detector could very well save your life! 

     Our local fire department says if you know someone who doesn't have smoke detectors, let them know.  They will come out and install them free of charge! 

     There should be at least one smoke detector on every level of your home. Replace batteries at least yearly and test them at least monthly.  Ensure that everyone in your household knows 2 ways to get out of every room and pick a designated spot to meet outside your home in case of fire. Practice your plan at leaat twice a year. 

     Simply put, you should always maintain your smoke detectors as if your life or the life of someone you love depends on them, some day it just might.

At Real Estate Options - we are VERY pet-friendly!

New Website Helps Tenants Investigate Landlords

Like Carfax for Renters

LDM Solutions LLC announced the launch of its tenant-friendly website, http://www.checkyourlandlord.com/, a service providing “due diligence for residential renters to easily and discreetly investigate their prospective landlord and property.”

The company says this information arms the renter with the ability to protect themselves from the recent rise in rental scams and rental foreclosures in a way that has not previously been available.

This service allows renters to assess the potential risks of a home rental transaction before signing a lease. According to a company statement, there has been an increase in recent years of rental scams and landlord fraud, as well as a rise in the number of renters who have faced foreclosure of their rental home. However, robust tools to help tenants avoid these situations have not existed in the market.

“Renters often don’t consider the risks involved in signing a lease agreement,” stated Michael Schaffer, General Manager of LDM Solutions LLC. “Through the introduction of http://www.checkyourlandlord.com/, we are making information about a rental property and its owner easy to obtain and understand. When a consumer buys a used car, it has become standard practice to review a Carfax report for potential problems. By educating renters, we look forward to the day when reviewing a CheckYourLandlord.com report is standard practice before renting a home.”

http://www.checkyourlandlord.com/ sources property and personal background information from real-time data aggregators covering thousands of public records sources at the federal, state, county and city levels. Each report is individually prepared by a trained analyst, and is unbiased, reporting only factual information.

Don't Pour Your $$$ Down The Drain!

Did you know that taking a bath requires up to 70 gallons of water (times that by how many people bathe in your household). A five-minute shower uses only 10 to 25 gallons!  Calculate the savings of showering - it will amaze you!   And, at 1 drip per second, a faucet can leak 3,000 gallons per year.  Talk about pouring your money down the drain!  If you are a current tenant of ours, please notify us immediately when you notice drips or leaks. We want to make sure you never have to spend more than necessary on your water bills.

Get Your Money Back!

How long have you lived in your home?  Do you know that after one year of "on-time" payments on your water bill in Freeport, that you are allowed to get your securty deposit back?  They won't just give it to you, you will need to tell them you want it back.  Why let them hold onto money that's yours... look at your calendar, figure it out, and after one year of timely payments, go reclaim your money!