A.D. Cantelmo Property Management
Our Business is Property Management in Orange County California
Stay away from fancy
Whether you are talking about your personal residence, or an
investment property, anytime you do an improvement think simple. Now simple
does not have to mean boring, on the contrary. What I mean by simple is practical.
Practical could also be considered boring but look beyond that misconception
and think about what is really useful and what is going to be a real pain in
the you know what.
Olympic Athletes are practicle
Watching the Olympics and seeing the incredible athletes,
you are looking at the most practical human beings on the planet. These athletes
do everything they can to get the most out of their talents without wasting
anything. They cut the frills and get down to the basics and no one would
consider them boring. They do everything they can to get rid of anything that
will get in their way. Let’s look at the swimmers for an example; they wear
outfits that allow them to streak through the water without slowing them down. There
are no frills or fancy ornaments, in fact they are trying to basically get as
close to skin as possible. All the Athletes work very hard to simplify their
performance and get down to basics. Their training may be advanced, but when it
comes to their performance the more basic the better. In fact, they make it
look so simple, the rest of us think we can do it, of course, when we try,
simple would not be the word we would use
Simplicity is beautiful
Simplicity is beautiful and when it comes to your home, the simpler
the more useful an improvement becomes. Have you ever been in someone’s home
and they have a beautiful living room. Fancy furniture and fragile nick nacks.
In fact their room is so fancy they never use it, because they fear ruining it
or having to clean it.
Let’s start with the cleaning. The more fancy something is
the harder it is to clean, so when you install something in your home, remember
you will need to clean it. If you put a piece of furniture in your home with
fancy and ornate decor, cleaning that piece of furniture becomes a job and the
thrill you had when you bought it gets lost in the frustration you get every
time you have to work on it.
Plastic burn
Remember the plastic covers people use to put on
their couches many years ago. They were not only trying to keep the couch
clean, but they wanted the couch to last a long time. There is no difference between the plastic couch people and the people who never use their fancy rooms. Both are concerned about keeping their stuff clean and not ruining it. What good is having something if you can't enjoy it. Today, we rarely see the plastic covers, but the only difference between the two is no plastic burn.
Down and Dirty
When you buy or build something, try to think about how practical
it will be over time, not just for a few weeks. Now I say this with the
understanding that if you have enough money to hire someone to spend the time to
clean your fancy things, then go for it, but most people do their own deep cleaning.
When you have the cleaning people come in, most of the time they do the cursory
cleaning and they don’t get down and dirty.
Here is another good example, French doors and windows. If
you have grids on your windows, those grids will need to be not only cleaned in
the corners and there are many corners, but they will need to be painted every
now and then. Painting those grids is very tedious and time consuming and if
you need to pay someone to do the work, it is very expensive. Why not get the
same door and windows without grids. Clear glass. Looks better then grids and
very little work.
The window example sums up what I am talking about when I say
simple does not mean boring. The windows and doors with clear glass are just as
beautiful as the ones with the grids, in fact in my opinion more beautiful, but
the maintenance difference is huge. Just like the Athletes in the Olympics, get
rid of the frills and be a star, or at least enjoy your home more and if it is
a rental property, cut down on your maintenance cost and make more money.
A.D. Cantelmo Property
Management Specializes in Property Management in Orange County
Ca.