9 winter preparation tips you should know

Winter Guide: 9 Tips You Should Know

As the temperatures get more frigid and the snow falls, it is important to keep a couple of things in mind when preparing for the season.

Change your furnace filter

Furnace filters should be changed on a monthly or bi-monthly basis especially if you live in a newer home. If you’re furnace filter gets dirty, it will not heat your unit properly. For instructions on how to change your furnace filter, visit our FAQs page.

Clear snow from garage door area

It is important to keep your garage door area clear of snow and ice. If snow or ice is present, it could cause your garage door to stick and stop it from opening. If you garage door does freeze to the ground, it could ruin the rubber weather stripping that is along the bottom of your garage door.

Shovel 2 feet out from your garage door

If you live at a property that includes snow removal, be sure to shovel the 2 feet in front of your garage door. The snow removers will not clear this area as it could cause damage to the building or your garage door.

Make sure all windows are closed tightly and correctly

Keep all the heat inside your home by making sure all your windows are closed. Check for other gaps, specifically under your entry doors, that could let in cold air around your apartment and seal those with a towel or door sweep.

Park your car in the garage

In order for snow plows to clear snow from the lots and parking spots, park your car in your garage as frequently as possible. This is important especially after a large snow fall.

Keep your heat on when you leave

Keep your heat on when you leave for a weekend or for vacation. If your heat is turned off, it could cause a pipe to freeze and potentially burst. If you do leave and want to drop the temperature, set it between 60-68 degrees, it will still save you money and will prevent frozen pipes.

Use sand instead of salt

If you live at a property that was built in the last year or two, it is important that you use sand instead of salt on your driveway and walkways. Salt could cause the new concrete to weaken and cause damage.

Store patio furniture

Put all of your patio furniture away so that they don’t get damaged.

Insulate electrical outlets

Surprisingly, electrical outlets can let in cold air. To prevent them from doing so, purchase foam outlet insulators for each outlet.

 

Visit our FAQs page or our YouTube channel for more tips and tricks.

If you have any questions or are in need of maintenance, fill out a maintenance request or call our office at 701-356-3085. If you are in need of maintenance and it is an emergency, please call 866-955-2337.

 

Prairie Property Management named Best Apartment Rental Company

Prairie Property Management named Best Apartment Rental Company

We are so excited to announce that Prairie Property Management has been named Best Apartment Rental Company in the Fargo Forum’s Best of the Red River Valley Awards in 2018. This achievement means so much to us since we were nominated and voted for by the individuals in the communities we serve. We are so humbled and thankful.

Prairie Property Management serves rental communities in Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo, Minot, Mandan, Williston, Watford City, and Jamestown. We are dedicated to providing a quality lifestyle for you and your family by offering great service and quality products. We offer everything from efficiency apartments to single family homes. From move-in to move-out, we are your local rental experts.

We were founded in 1996 and have since moved into new cities and manage over 2,500 rental units. We continue looking for new ways to serve our residents to make the rental process as easy as possible. This year, we have started offering online leasing, virtual tours, and have added new team members. Our portfolio has grown with the addition of The Grand off 45th Apartments, Diamond Creek Townhomes, Shadow Creek Townhomes, and Cascades Townhomes.

We would like to thank everyone who voted for us and who has supported us over the years! We look forward to continue offering  you quality products and excellent service.

 

Important Rental Payment Changes

Important Rental Payment Changes

RentCafe has recently made some changes to the rental payment processing fees. These changes have made it easier and cheaper for you to use your Debit Card. While it use to be 3% of the transaction, it will now be a flat rate for Debit Card use. Here are the updates:

ACH Payments

  • $1.00/transaction (this includes autopay, online payments, and phone payments)

Debit Card Payments

  • $0-$100 = $3.95/transaction
  • $1,000.01-$2,000 = $4.95/transaction
  • $2,000.01 & up = $9.95/transaction

Credit Card Payments

  • 3% of Transaction (no change)
These changes will go into effect on December 1st, 2018. If you have any questions, please send us a message or give us a call at 701-356-3085. Visit the payment portal.

How To Effectively Prevent and Solve Roommate Drama

How To Effectively Prevent and Solve Roommate Drama

There is a lot of benefit to having a roommate, including always having someone around to chat, watch movies with, and share the rent with. But sometimes things go awry and one or both of you ends up feeling upset, mad, or annoyed. To avoid this, it is important to be careful when picking who you live with and making sure you communicate expectations prior to moving in together.

Avoid potential problems by following some of these effective tips:

Communicate Early

Before you move in together, talk with each other about what your expectations are as well as your wants and needs. If you like to go to sleep early, talk through what time you expect it to be quiet. Talk about who will be in charge of making sure the electric bill is paid so that you don’t end up getting your power cut off. We recommend using a roommate agreement so that you are all on the same page with responsibilities, financials, and rules. Here are some of the main points to talk about:

  • Discuss what you will share, if you will be having friends over, and who will clean what
  • Talk financials and who will be responsible for what
  • Talk about shared spaces and private spaces

There are plenty of free roommate agreement templates online, here is one from legaltemplates.net.

Treat Them How You Want to be Treated

Follow the golden rule. If you want to be respected, you have to treat your roommate with respect too. Be considerate of their space and their belongings. Always ask before using something of theirs and they will hopefully do the same for you.

Ask the Right Questions & Listen

When a problem arises, talk about it early so that it doesn’t have the chance to build up. When talking, do it in person and not over text. Avoid arguing and instead talk with the goal of clearing things up. When you are initiating the conversation be sure you are on common ground and you aren’t interrupting them when they are doing something else. Consider scheduling a roommate meeting to talk about everything.

During your conversation be aware of how you are communicating. By asking questions a certain way and communicating constructively, you can keep things from getting heated. Do your best to stay calm and your roommate will most likely remain calm as well.

When your roommate is talking, listen to what they are saying and try and understand their point of view. Do your best to stay on point and avoid getting off track.

Some other tips:

  • Don’t attack them or spring the conversation on them
  • Try using phrases like “I feel. . .”, I understand what you are saying, but. . .”,  and “You could be right, but. . .”
  • Do your best to remain calm

Ask a Mutual Friend to Help

If the two of you aren’t able to come to a solution on your own, consider bringing in a third party. Pick someone who is neutral to mediate the conversation who can hear both sides and offer unbiased solutions.

Be Open to Compromise

Try your best to come up with a win-win situation. If both sides win a little bit, you are both more likely to be happy roommates!

While not guaranteed to work, these tips will hopefully have you on your way to a more peaceful home where you can enjoy the fun of having a roommate.

How to get $200 off your next month’s rent

Refer a friend and get $200 off your next month’s rent

Friends make the best neighbors. At Prairie Property Management, when you refer a friend to your community and they sign a lease, we will give you $200 off your next month’s rent! Plus, there is no limit to how many you can refer. So if you refer 5 friends in a month and they sign lease at your community, you could get $1,000 off your rent!

To help you take advantage of this program and spread the word, we came up with a couple of ideas to help you make more referrals and save you money.

Host a house warming party

Invite your friends over and let them see your new home. Provide snacks, drinks, and give them a tour. If they seem interested in the community, connect them with your property manager.

Share your favorite parts about living at your community with your friends

Think about why you love your home and bring it up in conversation with your friends and coworkers.  If you have a community area, invite them over to come and see it.

Share the Prairie Property Management website with your friends

If one of your friends mentions that they are thinking about moving, send them to the Prairie Property Management website and show them which community you live in. Tell them what you like most about living there.

Share Prairie Property Management’s Facebook posts

Our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages are updated regularly making it easy for you to share posts and information. If you see a post about your community, share it to your own timeline and tell your friends that you would love to refer them.

Give us a follow on social media! We are on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Create your own Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter posts

Do you love your kitchen or your living room? Whatever room you love, share a picture of it on social media. Tell your friends that you would love to refer them.

Tip: Use #lifeatprairieproperty to be featured on our social media pages.

Once you have a referral, visit our referrals page for more information.