Blue Cover Homes

The Apartment Dude asked:


Getting good sleep may be one of the most important factors on happiness, health, and hanging on to those youthful good looks that you have.

Living in an apartment gives you an opportunity to get better sleep than any other living situation. It’s warmer than a cardboard box. It’s your own place, so Mom doesn’t come screaming about breakfast when you are trying to sleep. Most importantly, you don’t have to lose sleep about the money that you are spending on repairs and maintenance to a home you own…all you have to do is call the office.

It’s little known, but I am actually an expert on sleep. There are a few things out there that can help you sleep more soundly at night in your apartment.

Turn down the fan and sleep on your side- Sometimes trouble sleeping can be applied to the actual way you are sleeping. Many times, if you sleep on your back, your mouth has a tendency to hang open when you are asleep. This in-turn causes wake ups with a dry sore throat and sadly…loud snoring that can wake you or your significant other as you breath from your mouth. Try intentionally laying on your side or stomach as you fall asleep. You could even scotch tape your mouth shut if you wanted. Ha! Really though, try switching it up and see if it makes a difference or turn down your fan when you are down for the count. A fan on blast will certainly circulate the air, but it can also stir up dry air and late night cedar fever…..and more SNORING…..

Rest Your Mind- Ever been laying in bed and can’t stop thinking about something that has you tossing and turning for hours? Of course you have. You should practice what is called “thought stopping.” As the thought creeps into your head, tell yourself to “STOP.” If it creeps back, do it again. The word Stop! forces an immediate shifting of our attention, which will lead us away from preoccupying thoughts. Worrying about having to be asleep will only cause anxiety and keep you awake. Try and relax your mind…sleep will soon follow.

Sleep Items- From aromatherapy aides like a Lavender Pillow Mist to relaxing sounds or music cd’s to a warming blanket, there are a number of items available that can help you get a few more zzzz’s. The important thing is to try a few and see what works.

My friend’s Granny used to always have a hot toddy before sleep. His Grandpa had a shot of whiskey. Neither one of them ever had sleeping problems. I would **** to know the long lasting effect it had on their livers though, so if you use that therapy, make sure it’s a last resort.

Get some rest!

For more info on having fun in your apartment check out: ApartmentHomeLiving.Com

The Apartment Dude asked:


Community laundry is such a joy.

Really though, having laundry centers in your apartment community is a huge, HUGE bonus over having to go to the laundromat next to the stop and go. Although some communities actually offer laundry hookups and even washers and dryers in their actual units, most other communities offer on-site laundry centers.

There are a few really great benefits to having a community laundry center. Check it out:

1) Money Saving- Running the washer and dryer at home is convenient, but it eats up electricity and if you are constantly washing loads, you will run up your bill quite quickly. Not only that, but if you have the connections, but don’t have a washer and dryer yet, they can be quite expensive and a pain to lug up to a second or third floor apartment.

2) Noise Prevention-Then there is always the unbalanced dryer that bangs around and can cause all kinds of disturbing noise through out your building. Do you really want to be the cause of all that noise?

3) Meet People- Honestly, if you are an outgoing person…its a good place to meet your neighbors and make friends in the community.

4) Time Saver- If you can get into the laundry center when noone else is in there, you can start a few loads at once and save time by washing several loads at one time!

5) Maintenance– If a washer or dryer breaks, it’s not your responsibility to get it taken care of.

So keep things clean and don’t be afraid to use your community laundry center. Make sure to bring a book, laptop, or good conversation topic while you wait. AND REMEMBER YOUR QUARTERS!

I think it’s time for me to wash and dry!

For More info check out: ApartmentHomeLiving.com

The Apartment Dude asked:


Hey Apartmentites! Brianne here, your apartment decorating and style expert, and I want to share with you a little insight on making your apartment fit the mold of the motto at Apartment Home Living.

Okay, so at this point I think it is safe to admit that there is a huge variety of things that people “Live 4″ out there, but one specific “live for” is our motto around here and it rings true with just about everyone…(except those sad and forlorned emo-kids.) We (most of us at least) Live for Fun!

So why not let it show in your apartment decorations too? Here are a few simple ideas to help you decorate your apartment to reflect playfulness and energy.

1. Keep the Dining Area Simple- Try a small wooden table and don’t decorate it too heavily. Allow the wood grain to shine and show off the simplicity. Let all the attention be put on the furniture. It becomes cheaper for you and makes a bolder statement. Avoid bulky drapes and let the sun shine through using light fabrics and light colors on the windows. You want you kitchen area to feel fresh and rejuvenating. The light provides energy!

2. Extra Space Can Be Great- If you have a ton of extra space in your apartment, turn some of it into an area for you to do the things that you really enjoy. Whether its a game station or a reading spot, maximize your storage and space possibilities by building shelves to house your favorite games, DVD’s, or books! Nothing says “fun” like having a space that is purely meant to celebrate what you do for “fun.”

3. Mirrors and Candles- So you want to have some really energetic, expressive, and fun walls but not sure how to do it? Easy. Take a bunch of left over or old mirrors and attach them to a wall at varying levels first. Right there, you suddenly have created an “open” feel that goes beyond fun and free. Then if you are feeling like really make the place great. Take a ton of candles (if allowed in your lease) and place them on small shelves in front of each mirror. It gives off a classic almost Victorian type feel in a fun and energetic way!

4. Accent Wall!- Don’t waste the time and energy painting an entire room. Instead, roll one solid (and very bold) color of the most important wall in a room and let it draw all of the attention. In your living room, make this either the wall behind your entertainment center or couch. In your bedroom, make it the wall behind the headboard. In the bathroom, make it the wall with the mirror. Remember…everything on that wall is going to stand out more, so don’t put your ugly old stuff there.

5. Put Your Life Into Your Environment- You should always have your apartment reflect yourself. In fact, it should be a spitting image! If you have a bold, bright sense of humor, using bright colors and letting in lots of light can really help match your apartment to you. One of my friends once framed a dozen different jokes and hung them all throughout his apartment. Everywhere you went…you could have a laugh. If music is your thing, how about framing cd inserts and hanging them throughout. If you can’t express yourself through the way your apartment looks and feels, when can you?!

If you follow these simple tips and have a little fun while decorating, your place will feel incredible in no time with energy and tons of flowing freedom!

For more info on the apartment lifestyle, check out ApartmentHomeLiving.com

The Apartment Dude asked:


Living on the third floor at your apartment can at times be frustrating…especially when you are trying to lug groceries or furniture up three flights of stairs. However, as frustrating as it may be from time to time, there are some really great bonuses to living on the top floor.

1) No above neighbors- You will never have any upstairs neighbors pounding on the ground and bothering you with noise. If you start hearing noises above you, it could only be either thunder or some really big squirrels. You also don’t have to worry about an upstairs neighbor dumping liquid or a cooler full of ice over the balcony passed your balcony.

2) Best Views- Looking out of your windows or going out on your balcony from the third floor can provide you with some of the best views in the community. How can you beat that?

3) Further Away From Car Noise- Up high, you are further away from the parking lot and the cars passing back and forth. This helps you isolate yourself away from the noise as well and things are a little quieter.

4) Harder For Crime- It may also be more difficult for a burglar to break in to your apartment through the windows on a higher floor unless they are good at scaling walls. They also would be less prone to take things out of your place because they would have so far to lug that stuff.

5) Work Out- The best bright side of all is that you get a little more of a work out and burn more calories than you would in a downstairs apartment just by simply going to and from your place. (This is no way to get fully in shape, but every little bit helps)

So there you have the top 5 reasons that living on the top floor in your apartment building is a really awesome thing. Enjoy it! Relish it! Remember to live for fun!

Extra Tip: Keep a big brown box broken down in your trunk that you can put together and use to bring your groceries up in bulk and in one trip!

For more tips on apartment living and getting the most out of the apartment lifestyle, check out ApartmentHomeLiving.com

Austin Apartment Guy asked:


Let’s talk about apartment locators versus apartment magazine publications. Are Apartment Locators really Free? The Answer is Yes Apartment locators in Texas are a Free Service. Apartment Locators get paid by by aparmtent communities out of their advertising budgets. It is much easier and more efficient for an apartment community to pay a Real Estate agent to bring them people than it is for them to use other advertising mediums etc.

Many apartment communties use paid advertisers such as the Apartment Guide, Apartments.com, etc as well. However the problem with these types of publications are plenty. For one these types of magazines are paid per subscription. Therefore will NOT speak with you about your Apartment search, cannot advise you professionally as to what you may want to look out for or what questions to ask the leasing agent when inquiring about their property. They simply want you to pick up their magazine and look at their out of date pricing info and go to as many apartment communities as possible and tell them that their magazine is what brought you in. Then the apartment guide or whoever’s sales people go into the office when it is time for them to renew and ask what percentage of their monthly traffic was there because of their magazine. Then at that point the publication’s sales people get the apartment communities to resubscribe with ease based on the percentage number of traffic created by their book.

The problem for the consumer with these types of publications is that A. The pricing info is usually months behind and inaccurate. B. They have no mention of any types of specials and in some cases void out more valuable specials that the apartment community may be offering hence why they offer typically a $300 rebate to their users. C. There is no advantage to a consumer to use one of these books to search for an apartment then just going out to look at them and driving around stopping at apartment communities without one. To find the right apartment you need detailed info on pricing and availability. These two factors in leasing change frequently.

Typically I will try and contact properties for a client as close to their move in date as possible in order to maintain the integrity of the info I get. As pricing and avaiability are subject to change at any time. But don’t get me wrong using an apartment locator can be the best experience of your life or the worst experience of your life. The biggest problems that clients have mentioned to me lately about their previous apartment locator experiences are as follows; I have had several; clients tell me lately that they have gone out with apartment locators who have tried to push $1200 apartments on them when they ask for $1000 options..?? This boggles my mind. I have no idea why anyone would do that other than trying to boost their own commisions. If someone starts showing you units outside your pricrange it should be clear at that point that there is a problem. Another problem that runs rampid with apartment locators in this city is the fact that there are so incredibly many of them and the fact that a large percentage of them are just people who were failing at life and decided to get their Real Estate Licenses. Many of these people have no intentions of doing this as a career and absolutely no idea what they are doing but are rather supplementing their time between classes as they go to school. Then effectivley the consumer ends up with a complete moron and usually ends up picking an apartment that is far from what their best option may have been.

When soliciting an apartment locator ask them how long they have been in the business or better yet ask them to estimate how many people they have leased in their time doing this. Anyone with less than 2 yrs experience simply is not going to be as efficient as one of us old timers. I have been in the business for a little over 8 years and have leased thousands of people. Another thing to look out for when choosing an apartment locator is the fact that 90% of the local firms are small mom and pop shops do not even have a searchable database in order to review your options. My company plugs your criteria into a database containing the most accurate pricing info in the city, and all of your options come up. Then I narrow those down to the most fitting and begin to contact them. Just because they are in your area, pricerange and you like them does not mean they have an apartment available for your timeframe. You have to call them.

Another problem with these small apartment locating companies is that many of them have a numbered amount of places that they can work with. This business is a contract based business. If you do not retain a Broker’s agreement with these properties in order to ensure payment then you have no reason to work with them. If that happens then for the consumer their options are limited to only places that pay their crappy apartment locating firm. Effectively they will only show you options out of the 40% of places that pay them and that may cut out alot of other places that would have been your options, immediatley. I know it’s not fair. But that’s the real deal. Our company works with 90% of the available properties for rent in the Austin Metro plex area. The other percentage would cover complete crap and/or private owner listings, rooms for rent etc. Apartment locators are not miracle workers although I have performed a few for some tough clients, and we do not set the market. We have nothing to do with pricing availability etc. We simply have the tools to analyze the market and hopefully the knowledge to find you the best place possible. If you would like more info on apartment options in the Austin Texas area or just more info in general regarding the leasing process or how apartment locators work then let us know we’d love to help you out. You can contact me (Austin Apartment Guy) @ http://www.austinapartmentguy.com/ anytime. Take care and good luck!!

The Apartment Dude asked:


In most (if not all) apartment communities, burning candles is actually against the rules. Naturally so, because if you are burning candles, you may be putting an entire building and not to mention several people’s lives at stake. Sound severe? It’s not. Fires caused by candles happen more often then you’d think.

All it takes is a small gust of wind, a cat, or your uncoordinated-clumsy boyfriend to knock over that pretty smelling yankee candle and make the whole building go up in flames. That reminds me….did you sign up for renters insurance yet?

If candles aren’t an option you are definitely still in luck. There are several great alternatives to having yourself a little burning wick with melting wax. Check it out:

If it’s a fine scent that you’re after, try Glade® PlugIns®. They come in a ton of different smells that keep your place smelling way better than a measly apple cinnamon candle. Lamp oils or incense are also great options for spreading a little scented love around your apartment. The best part of all of these: none of them use an open flame!

I truly hope that you aren’t trying to go George Washington on me and read by candlelight, but if you are indeed needing the candles for light…please work your way into the present century with an invention called the “light bulb” You could go with electric candles, lamps, or a night light if you are needing to get around in the middle of the night. Needing it for mood lighting? Try opening the blinds a little and letting the moonlight spill in or use the calming iridescent glow coming from your computer monitor. Okay, I’m kidding about the monitor, but you may even want to try using small track lighting with dimmers. They can set the mood really well too.

And if you are using candles for heat…please…PLEASE…use something that can actually provide you with real warmth like your central heating unit.

When you actually think about it…candles really aren’t that practical…so I figure…who needs ‘em? Those archaic-old lighting utensils belong in a wax museum.

For more info on apartment living, check out: ApartmentHomeLiving.com

The Apartment Dude asked:


Maybe you are just now experiencing winter this year or maybe you are in an area that’s been hit several times by the freezes, ice overs and wintery mixes. There are a number of things that you can keep in mind to help make your apartment life a lot easier during these times of cold.

Drip, Drip, Drip- First off, protect those pipes! If you are expecting an overnight freeze, it is very important to leave one of your sinks dripping to prevent the pipes from freezing, busting, and your apartment building having a terrible leak.

Plants are People Too- Okay, so plants aren’t really people of course, but they are effected by freezes just as we are and can in fact be killed by being stuck out in the freezing cold. So, if you have plants on your porch, you’ll want to bring them inside if possible. If you can’t bring them inside, cover them with some bed sheets, to try and help sheild them from the blistering cold.

Pets- Bring any and all pets inside. Just because they have fur, means nothing in the face of a wintery mix.

Heaters- Crank up the heaters to be safe. With a central heating unit you should be in good shape, but to prevent your electric bill from sky rocketing, be sure to turn off the heater when your apartment is not being occupied. Try not using space heaters if possible, but if you do, always remember to use them safely!

Layers and Blankets- Break out the ugly old ski jacket or the millions of blankets. Whatever you need to do to maintain your comfort, do it! Trust me, staying warm is well worth the embarrasment of a silly old jacket, or the work of getting your old heavy blankets out of storage.

Parking Lot Care- If the roads freeze over and you absolutely must drive on the iced roads, use extreme caution everywhere…especially in the parking lot of your apartments. Let your car heat up a little before you begin driving and be careful if you are sliding around in the parking lot.

Many of us love the winter, but we ALL need to take the right precautions and most importantly, be cautious of the dangers and prepared to overcome them.