What can a Tenant do to prevent common issues from occurring at an Outer Banks long term rental property?
Here are some tips and advice to OBX Housing Residents to help you live more comfortably in your home:
-Keep grass and vegetation cut back around your house. This will help prevent bugs, spiders and rodents from trying to come inside to get out of the heat or cold. Also, make sure that no shrubs or tree branches are touching and scratching the house or roof.
-Empty any containers that might hold standing water to help keep mosquitos from breeding and hatching.
-Keep an eye on your condensate line that exists your home from your heating and air system. During the summer when running the Air Conditioning this drain line should have water dripping out. This water comes from the air handler inside your home which is cooling the air from outside and also extracting the moisture and depositing it outside instead of into your home. If this line becomes clogged it can cause a backup inside the house and could cause ceiling damage.
-Be sure to change your HVAC return filter each month and clean the grate. Not changing your filter will cause your heating and air system to run hard which could run your bill up. Also, not changing the filter can cause a backup of the condensate line which could cause a leak inside the house. DO NOT USE THICK 3 MONTH FILTERS. Our vendors tell us that this heavy paper filters make your system work harder and can make your bill higher.
-If you use an outside shower at your house to rinse off after coming back from the beach, be sure it is working and not leaking. This is an item that you as a Resident must shut off and drain in the fall so that the pipes do not freeze in cold weather.
-Same goes for your watering hose. In the fall and winter months, be sure to disconnect your hose and store it for the winter. You should not leave it connected to the hose connection because the water in the hose will freeze and back up into the connection causing the pipes to rupture.