Homeownership and the Dreaded Upkeep!

Lots of people say they are excited to become homeowners and many dream about the day when they will own a big house.  For those of you who already own a house though you are intimately familiar with the reality of homeownership.  We all would love to believe that owning a home is nothing but fun and sunshine, however it's not.  The required yearly upkeep associated with owning a house is quite a time consuming and can at times be expensive.  Furthermore, the bigger the house the more there is to manage.  Let's delve into some of the regular upkeep that homeowners experience and effective solutions for them.

The appearance of your house and your property is important.  You don't want your property to look rundown because it can damage both your property value and those surrounding yours.  It also reflects poorly upon you and it raises the question of why purchase a house if you're just going to let it degrade.  One place where you'll always see homes being well taken care of and properly managed is by communities with homeowner associations.  They generally charge a regular fee to pay for the upkeep of all the homes in the community on a yearly basis to ensure outside appearances don't become an issue.

If you're on your own though, here are some of the most common things that need attention paid to.  The first thing people often encounter when approaching your house is your mailbox.  Your mailbox is usually pounded by the elements, exposed to accidents and can be targeted by vandalism.  Hiring a skilled and expert mailbox repair service is the easiest and best way to restore this blemish on your property and protect your mail at the same time.

Besides your mailbox one of the common issues that people forget about is their gutters.  This is a particularly big problem for those whose houses' are surrounded by trees because the leaves, seeds and twigs often fall into the gutters and can clog them up.  Having a roofing/gutter company scheduled to come clean your gutters on a yearly basis is ideal.  The last thing you need is small trees growing out of your gutters.

Another major way to improve the look of your property on the front is by installing tasteful and effective lighting.  Many homeowners leave the front of their property looking dark and rather creepy at night.  Believe it or not, potential buyers are strongly recommended to look at a house both during the day and at night in order to have a good feeling for it.  Having attractive lamp posts is also vastly superior in appearance to the typical flood lights that people install in the ground and have shining on trees or the house.   Remember when it comes to upkeep it's easier to take care of each task as it happens instead of waiting for it to pile up and appear overwhelming to begin.  Procrastination is the enemy.

Cluster Mailboxes – More than Meets the Eye

History

When Benjamin Franklin founded the first post office there was no such thing as a mailbox.  Before the 19^th century and really the 20^th century, mail carriers delivered mail directly to the recipient.  So if they were delivering a letter to a person's house they would knock on the front door and wait until someone answered to hand the letters.  A study was done and it showed that the average mail carrier lost around 90 minutes a day because of this.  Therefore in 1923 the Post Office Department mandated that all households must have a letter slot or mailbox to receive mail.  While this worked there was no regulation on mailbox shapes.  As America suburbanized more curbside mailboxes popped up.

Dawn of the Cluster Box

Then in 1967 the Post Office Department introduced the first cluster boxes.  The cluster boxes were built to service entire neighborhoods and buildings.  It was determined that the cluster box would not only save time, but also money.  The mail carrier would no longer need to stop each time to drop off one person's mail.  Since then the cluster box unit has seen multiple evolutions and has become the curbside locking mailbox that you commonly see.  As improvements happen every so often new specifications for their production occur.  The newest specifications released in 2005 required manufacturers to have a license in order to make them.

Advantages of Cluster Mailboxes

·   Multiple mailboxes at one location means mail carriers don't need to make as many stops, this saves them time and money because of reduced fuel costs.

·   Because the Post Office saves on delivery costs they don't need to increase prices for sending mail and other items which is good for the consumer.

·  The cluster box is considered safer than regular mailboxes and more durable.

·   A cluster mailbox can also have an outgoing slot.  This allows residents to drop off mail at the same time as they pick up their mail.

·  Cluster mailboxes help protect mail carriers from dog bites.  There really is an issue of people's dogs attacking the mail carrier when they try to deliver the mail.

·  For property developers cluster mailboxes provide savings over individual mailboxes for each resident or tenant.

·  A single combined mailbox can make a neighborhood more attractive because you will no longer have multiple unattractive mailboxes lingering around the area.

·  Cluster mailboxes do a better job of protecting the mail from the elements than regular mailboxes do.

People and Property managers looking to purchase USPS approved cluster mailboxes have a number of options for size, colors and configurations.  The mailboxes can even be utilized for commercial mailboxes.  So if you think a cluster mailbox will provide you with the benefits you're looking for don't hesitate to search for USPS approved manufacturers and dealers.