5 Key Maintenance Tasks to Prepare Your Home for the Winter

The days are getting shorter, the temperature is dropping and the kids are heading back to school. The approach of autumn means that winter is just around the corner. The question is – is your home ready? Break out your checklist and let's run through five key maintenance tasks that will get your home prepared to face the winter.

Pack Up And Protect Your Outdoor Furniture

Unfortunately, the arrival of winter means that the patio has to be closed up for the season. It's time to get chairs, tables and other furniture covered up or stored if you have space. The BBQ will also need to be covered or moved off to the shed or another dry area.

Get Your Windows Ready For Cold Weather

Next, take some time to inspect your windows for drafts, leaks and other issues. This can be as easy as shutting them tight on a windy day and using your senses to determine if any air is leaking in. Depending on where you live in the country, you might need to do some additional work on your windows to get them prepared for the cold.

Turn Down Your Garden, Plants And Flower Beds

Unless you have a garden full of robust, cold-loving plants, it's likely that you will see most of them die off as we move from autumn into winter. Spend some time turning down your gardens and other areas. This can help to move nutrients into the soil where they'll be ready to nourish new plants in the spring.

Check Your Furnace And Heating Ducts

If you haven't used it in a few months, now is the time to fire up the furnace and check the home's heating system. The last thing you want is to discover that your home isn't heating on the first cold night!

Consider Giving The Roof And Gutters A Quick Inspection

Last but not least, don't forget to check your roof for any damage or areas that might be prone to leaking. You will also want to check the gutters to ensure they are clear of debris. Keep in mind that this does involve climbing up a ladder and physically inspecting these areas. If you're not good with heights or don't own the proper equipment, don't sweat it. Give a professional roofing team a call and have them handle the inspection instead.

The better your home is prepared for winter, the less likely you are to have a nasty surprise waiting for you in the spring. 

7 Event Ideas That Your HOA Can Plan for Community Togetherness During the Holiday Season.

The Holidays are a wonderful time to bring people together. Young and old, neighbors
gather together to celebrate the holidays with peace and joy. Most communities are very fortunate to have many diverse cultures, ethnicities, religions and traditions. One thing all people have in common is the belief that the holidays are for celebrating families, for helping one another, and for celebrating all that we have to be grateful for in life. 

 Residents who lead and volunteer on the HOA board often try to bring the community together during the holidays. They want to help residents get in the spirit of giving and sharing. 

Here are 7 event ideas that your HOA can plan for community togetherness during the holiday season.

1. A Charitable Donation Drive: Organize a toys for tots drive or canned goods drive to help needy families during the holidays.

2. Organize a White Elephant gift exchange. Have the event at the clubhouse or common area and have participating residents bring snacks to share.

3. Hold a holiday tree decorating contest. Ask residents to decorate small trees and select a winner.

4. Organize a Holiday cake bake off! Have residents get their best recipes and bake holiday cakes and have the HOA members vote!

5. Organize a community Progressive Party. Each participating homeowner provides a different item: appetizer, salad, side dish, etc and you eat "Dinner" as you move from house to house. Have a sign up for families that want to be involved in the event. Each family signs up for a time slot and opens their home to the group. First family has an appetizer, second family has first course, and so on. A few families can double up to lessen the burden of preparing the dish. 

6. Recipe Exchange - Have homeowners submit a favorite recipe for their favorite dish: chocolate dessert, favorite side dish, etc. Have the residents bring a sample of the finished dish to share and share the recipe.

7. Organize a volunteer day or evening event for your residents to participate in. Contact your local food bank or soup kitchen and arrange for your residents to help cook or feed the needy.  It's a great way for your community to give back. 

Community events come in many varieties with many different purposes. The holidays are the best time of year to get people involved.  Regardless of the purpose or the sponsor, involvement in community events can benefit all involved.

Announce a board meeting and delegate a special committee to start planning a holiday event in your community. You may be surprised how people come together. 

AMG Working With Charity To Benefit Underprivileged Children

AMG  Working With Charity To Benefit Underprivileged Children 

- AMG is participating in our 3rd Operation Christmas Child supported by Samaritan’s Purse and the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree. The charity benefits underprivileged children who otherwise would not receive Christmas gifts.

-To participate, please visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ or visit a public Angel Tree location at News & Record [200 E Market St], Whole Foods in Friendly Center or Morehead Foundry

-Donation cut-off is December 4

-Please drop off your donations to one of the three public Angel Tree locations or bring to Jamie Rettie at the Greensboro AMG office

-Help AMG make children’s Christmas’ this year a little brighter!

10 Tips To Secure Holiday Packages Delivered To Your Door

Burglars scout neighborhoods prior to the holidays looking for easy targets. Packages sitting on doorsteps , on lawn chairs or sticking out of mailboxes are all a sign of the residence being unattended. Most HOA's struggle with crime during the holidays. While it is not the responsibility of the HOAs to secure or accept  delivered packages, they can assist residents with support, resources and tips to reduce burglary during the holiday season.

Around 23 million people said their packages have been stolen from their homes, according to a December 2015 survey from insuranceQuotes.com.

UPS delivers 17 million packages around the world every day and much more during this time of the year. In fact, during December, they will delivering some 585 million packages, with single-day volume surging as high as 34 million on their peak day December 22.  

Here are a few tips that all of your neighbors can use to help keep your community free of crime this holiday season.

1. Ask a neighbor to watch your home for the delivery of holiday packages and to retrieve the packages until you arrive home.

2. Consider an alternate destination. Have your packages delivered to work, family or friends. Encourage residents to use different delivery options or addresses during the high-crime season. Have packages delivered where someone can accept them, or require a signature.

3. Instruct the delivery company. Find a non visible place at your home and leave detailed instructions as to where to hide the package. FedEx and UPS drivers will place packages behind a gate, shrub, or other location; residents should contact their carrier.

4. Be diligent about tracking your expected holiday packages. Residents can often receive a text message when their package is delivered. This will eliminate your package sitting in the open for long periods of time.

5. Help your HOA by volunteering a few hours in your Neighborhood Watch program. Extra eyes can help deter crime and stop burglary in progress.

6.  Require a signature so that your item won't be left unattended. It may be a little inconvenient, but you can have the package redelivered or go pick it up at the local station.

7. Most homes have a security camera so that, if a theft occurs, you have proof for insurance purposes and to help police find the burglar.

8. Customize your deliveries. Use FedEx Delivery Manager® to customize your residential deliveries. You can change the time of delivery. You can select the actual time you will be home from work. During the holidays they deliver late evening hours.

9.  Signs for security systems can be a great deterrent for thieves. Post a security warning sign near your front door. These warning signs can help protect your packages and your whole house as well. 

10. Insure your packages if they are valuable. At least if your holiday package goes missing you will recover the money for valuables. 

Security cameras may work well, but check with your HOA about policies regarding security cameras and where they can be located. Some HOAs may restrict usage of cameras (especially "dummy" cameras) for reasons of liability. If your community has a serious crime problem ask your HOA to support asking local law enforcement to patrol the neighborhood more frequently.

Strong communities can reduce crime. Owners who know their neighbors are more likely to report suspicious behavior. Although midway through the holidays may be too late, boards should try community-building events throughout the year. At minimum, make sure that everyone has the appropriate police phone number.

Help your neighbors have a great holiday season by stopping burglary of holiday packages. Involve your HOA and at least ask them for recommendations on how to handle the issue in your neighborhood.

Learning to Love Technology: 3 Tips That Will Help You to Embrace Home Automation

Learning to Love Technology

Are you still using a key to unlock your door and twisting a dial on the wall to set the temperature? Home automation technology has made considerable strides in the past couple of years, so it might be time to invest. In today's blog post we will explore three tips that can help those looking to make the leap into a fully automated home.

Tip #1: Start With Home Security And Go From There

Installing a modern home security system is the perfect place to start with home automation. Does your home already have an alarm? If so, it's likely to be one of the older "set it and forget it" models. You punch in a four-digit code when you leave the house to arm the alarm, and if someone decides to break in while you're gone the alarm trips and notifies the security company. Sound familiar?

The good news is that there are far better and more high-tech options on the market today. You can install cameras that connect directly to your phone, so you can see what's happening inside of your house. You can automate turning the lights on or off, as well as deciding what panic options you need in case a burglar shows up.

Tip #2: Consider Using A Central Hub

If you're not as technologically-inclined as some, then you may want to consider using a central hub to help control all of the other automated pieces in your home. Amazon's Alexa is a popular option, as are Mi Casa Verde and SmartThings. The idea is that you can use one single device to control everything else, rather than trying to figure out a myriad of apps and settings.

Don't forget that once you lock into using a central hub, you will need to make sure that any new pieces of tech you invest in are supported.

Tip #3: If It's Easy To Use, You'll Use It Regularly

Finally, be sure to test things out before you decide to buy. If a piece of home automation tech is hard to use, you're unlikely to stick with it over the long term. Ideally, setting up and using the device should be no harder than using your mobile phone.

Getting started with home automation is as simple as following the three tips above. When you're ready to look at high-tech, automated homes in the local area, contact us. Our professional real estate team is happy to show you around.