Miscellaneous Tips
Parker-Holsman Co.    1461 E. 57th Street    Chicago, IL 60637    773-493-2525 Your Neighborhood Realtor since 1931

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Parker-Holsman Co. was a charter member of the Institute for Real Estate Management in the 1930's. We continue to believe that it's our responsibility to educate our clients. We hope you will find this information useful.

Index to articles:

• Sidewalks falling apart?
• Remember your roof
• Smoke detectors save lives - and it's the law
• Vacation preparations
• Maintenance
• Laundry rooms

Sidewalks falling apart? (From The Primer, Spring 1998)
While the City of Chicago says sidewalk maintenance is the property owner's responsiblity, they do offer a 50-50 replacement program. You can get application forms from Parker-Holsman. If your whole block is in bad shape, try to get on your alderwoman's short list for city-financed ward improvements.

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Remember your roof (From The Primer, Spring/Summer 1997)
As soon as the weather is warm and the Spring rains are over, Parker-Holsman property managers inspect roofs, looking for the signs of Winter damage. If you notice any leaking or water damage in your apartment or the common areas of your building, please notify your property manager ASAP. This information can help the roofing specialist identify the problem areas more quickly.

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Smoke detectors save lives - and it's the law (From The Primer, Spring 1996)
All too often we read or hear stories about fire-related deaths where there were no working smoke detectors. The law requires smoke detectors in apartments and in common areas, but these important safety devices need to be inspected on a regular basis.

Batteries run down. A useful idea is to change the batteries in all your detectors twice a year, at the beginning and end of daylight savings time. After changing the batteries, hold a lighted match or cigarette lighter near the detectors to make sure they are operating properly.

We have instructed your janitor or maintenance engineer to change the batteries in hallway, basement, and common element areas on this schedule.

The life you save may be your own.

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Vacation preparations
When you go on vacation, please follow these tips to increase the safety of your apartment and your personal property while you are away:

1. Close all of your windows, including storm windows.
2. Notify either our office or your janitor (1) where you can be reached by telephone during vacation and (2) the duration of your absence.
3. Tell a neighbor or a friend to remove the mail from your mailbox (don't forget to give them the key) while you are away and to place your newspapers inside your apartment if you do not stop your subscription for the duration of your absence.
4. Assure all water and gas fixtures are turned off.
5. If you are vacationing in the Winter, leave at least one large radiator turned on, preferably the one in the coldest room of your apartment.

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Maintenance
We strongly urge you to report any maintenance problems that arise in your apartment or the building to the janitor, as they occur. Particularly in old buildings, prompt attention to seemingly minor problems can prevent them from becoming either emergencies or problems to other tenants. If an emergency occurs and you cannot reach the janitor, do not hesitate to contact our office. If no janitor is listed for your building, then you must contact our office for any maintenance problem. Our office telephone number has a recorder that is monitored during evenings and weekends for emergencies.

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Laundry rooms
If your building has a laundry room, it is for tenant use only. Please keep it neat. Do not leave your laundry in the machines without periodically checking on it; not only do you risk losing it, but it inconveniences other tenants who want to use the machines. An average washing machine cycle is 30 minutes, and the average dryer cycle is 40 minutes.

If there is a problem with the machines, please direct your complaints to the number listed on the machines, not our office.

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