Renting with Family Survival Guide

As more and more of us are sharing living spaces to cut back on expenses, we find ourselves turning to family.  Living with family can be wonderful, harmonious, and healthy—not to mention an ideal way to save money or pay down debt.  However, the opposite can be just as easily the case.  Old patterns, frustrations, grievances, and annoyances with family can quickly resurface as soon as family members move in.  Despite this, by establishing a clear game plan, setting up solid guidelines, and remaining grateful, you can avoid these pitfalls and keep your family relationships in tact while living together.  

Have a Game Plan

Before your family member moves in, it is crucial to establish clear objectives, priorities, and timelines.  This way, all parties transparently know what the living arrangements include.  To do this, you need to have a conversation about what is hoped for and expected from the living arrangement, including finances (how much is required for rent and utilities), and timelines (when will they be moving in and out).  Determining the “what” and “when” of the living arrangement, in a clear and open manner, lets you avoid problems down the road.

Establish Rules and Guidelines

With a general agreement in place, the next step is to drill down to the details.  Every living arrangement will fall apart without clear guidelines, so take the time to determine, together, what the expectations are for cooking, cleaning, entertaining, and the use of communal space.  By figuring out what the roles and responsibilities are around groceries, meals, cleanliness, and individual boundaries, you can do a lot to create a harmonious home.  Being observant and respectful of each other’s space is particularly important.  For instance, if a parent is moving in and you happen to have children, be sure to implement clear ground rules governing when your child can knock on your parent’s door, and when they should allow your parent his or her privacy.

Be Gracious and Grateful

Unlike a casual roommate family is for life, so no matter how annoyed you might find yourself, remember to remain gracious, and to pick your battles.  Your familial relationships outbalance the small annoyances that might come from sharing a living space, so think twice before losing your temper.  It might be worth letting some dirty dishes go, if it means keeping the peace.  Also, by sharing your living expenses your family member is doing you a huge favour, so keep your gratitude level high when you feel the old annoyances and frustrations creeping back in.

How to Survive Winter in Your Apartment

Winter can be an incredibly trying time of year, with its sub-zero temperatures, salt stains, and frozen fingers.  However, winter also gives you the chance to get outside and embrace the snow, or to say in and really enjoy your space.  By following these simple guidelines you can ensure that whether you are cuddled up on the couch, or dashing through the snow, you and your apartment will survive winter.    

Prepare Yourself

One way to ready yourself for the cold is to ensure that your outdoor space is winter-ready.  Stack and stow all of your outdoor furniture, bikes, and barbecue, and, if you can, wrap them in a tarpaulin.  Also, have a sturdy shovel, salt or kitty litter handy, to ensure your outdoor space is free from ice and snow.  By keeping your outdoor space clear, little tasks, like taking out the garbage, or popping outside for a nip of fresh winter air, are less bothersome, and make you feel like less of a shut-in.  Another way to keep the winter blues at bay is to embrace the weather through skiing, sledding, or skating.  In order to make this easier, clear some space at your entrance to accommodate the bulky outdoor equipment you might need.  It is also worth your while to invest in a good floor mat for your entrance to catch dripping snow from your skates, skis, or boots.

Stay Cozy

If the cold is too much for you, then cozy up indoors.  Winter can be a wonderful time to have friends and family over, or to flake out on the couch with a good book or movie.  To better facilitate this, dust off your cookbooks and harness your inner chef.  There is no better time of year to make soups, and stews, or to bake bread or sweets than the winter.  Nothing warms you up more than homemade food, and the heat from the oven is an added bonus.  It also helps to make your living space cozy with blankets or throws, low lighting or candles.

Beat the Cold (or the Heat)

Depending on your unit or building, your apartment can either be extremely cold or unbearably hot in the winter.  If your place gets chilly in the winter, be sure to spend some time finding and blocking drafts.  There are window-sealing kits that can be quite effective, but thick curtains do the trick, and give your apartment a wonderfully cozy feeling.  Another option is to pick up a small space heater.  These little heaters, some of which come as imitation fireplaces, can really do a lot to warm your body and your heart on those frigid days.  If you have radiators, there is a good chance you might be too warm.  If your unit is too hot, and you do not have a thermostat, talk to your property owner about turning down the heat slightly, if your radiators are too old and stubborn for you to turn them down on your own.

Calgary apartments for rent - Boardwalk PM

We are pleased to announce that Boardwalk's Calgary apartments can now be found on our Calgary Apartments for Rent section and on our rental mobile apps.
Boardwalk began as a private company in 1984. The two brothers started the company by purchasing a building then renovated it. Within six months the brothers had turned the it into a desirable living address then divested in this property for nearly double the original purchase price, using the proceeds to finance additional properties.

Boardwalk became a publicly traded company in 1994 under the symbol BEI. During that year, Boardwalk was able to acquire approximately 1000 units within Calgary and Edmonton.

In 2004, Boardwalk became a REIT. Boardwalk REIT's principal objectives are to provide its unit holders with monthly cash distributions, and to increase the value of its units. Their mission is: "to serve and provide our residents with quality rental communities.". Today Boardwalk has grown into Canada's largest apartment landlord, owning and managing over 35,000 units.
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