How to Green your Rental

It can sometimes be a challenge to go green as a tenant.  When considering how to live in an environmentally responsible manner we tend to think of the larger initiatives reserved for property owners, like the use of energy efficient building materials in construction and renovation, or the installation of solar panels or low-flow plumbing.  However, there are numerous ways in which renters can live a greener life.  By remaining conscious of your energy use, taking advantage of your outdoor space, and making use of your urban density, you can do a lot to remain environmentally responsible while renting.

Use your Energy WiselyRemember when your parents yelled at you for leaving the lights on?  They were not wrong.  Small measures, like turning off lights in empty rooms, powering off computers and devices, and unplugging chargers when not in use, greatly improve your energy efficiency and save money in the process.  Also, by saving more energy-intensive tasks, such as doing laundry or running the dishwasher, for off-peak hours—generally from seven in the evening until seven the following morning—you can greatly diminish your household energy expenditure.

Enjoy your Outdoor SpaceIf your lease happens to come with a balcony, deck, yard, or outdoor space then you have some real opportunities to live a greener life.  Keeping a small garden, that lets you grow some of your own food, can go a long way towards offsetting your carbon footprint, and towards keeping your local bee population healthy.  Additionally, cooking outdoors on a barbecue is more energy-efficient then heating up an oven—especially during the summer when fans or air conditioners are needed to offset the heat generated by the oven.  Also, the simple enjoyment of your outdoor space lets you live greener.  Whether you are reading outside on a sunny afternoon, or sitting out for dinner with family and friends living outside keeps you engaged and entertained without having to resort to the more power-draining entertainments of television or computers.

Take Advantage of your Density Renting in more densely populated areas can grant you access to some wonderful and environmentally friendly services.  Community initiatives, like farmers markets, clothing and furniture exchanges, and community sales and barbecues offer local and sustainable food and shopping options with little or no environmental impact.   Also living in more densely populated areas can often allow you to walk, bike, or take public transit, rather than having to rely on the sizable carbon footprint that comes with owning your own vehicle.   
 

Decorating on a Dime: How to Adorn your Apartment for Less

Decorating your living space is vital in defining your sense of home and yourself.  But with today’s high cost of living, it can sometimes be a stretch to find extra room in your budget to spend money on home decor.  While shopping at some of the more high-end home stores or design studios might not be in the cards, there are still several options available that can allow you to truly make your space a reflection of your life.

The Ikea RouteIkea strikes a great balance between solid contemporary design, and great value.  You can find anything and everything at this Swedish giant, and they generally offer their products across an array of styles—from rustic and county to sleek and modern—that suit almost every palate.  Ikea also has more and more delivery options available, making them a great pick for the vehicle-less, and there are also installation and assembly services available these days, in case tiny Allen keys send you running.

VintageIf you are on a tight budget, but still want some truly unique pieces for your home, then you can’t go wrong with vintage.  The past is awash with wonderful style, and wonderfully made pieces, and if you keep a keen eye and an open mind you can find some truly exceptional items.   Antique stores can be quite expensive, but antique markets tend to be cheaper, as you can often haggle with vendors for a great price—especially near the day’s end when vendors are extra motivated to offload their goods.   Another great option for vintage, and one that is more likely closer to home, is your neighborhood thrift or charity store.  Stocked by the random largesse of donators, these Salvation Armies, St. Vincent de Pauls, or Bibles for Missions are all treasure troves for home décor items like paintings, pottery, plates, and curios. 

The Sharing EconomyAnother budget friendly option for home decor is to take advantage of the increasingly growing sharing economy.  There are more and more online spaces these days devoted to trading, and these can be wonderful places to pickup furniture, art, or anything at all for your apartment.  Through sites like Bunz Trading Zone you can troll through the posts to see what’s on offer, or create a post of your own if you are looking for something in specific.  Trading also has the added advantage of allowing you to offload something you might be keen to get rid of at the same time.

How to reduce your monthly rent expenses?

Rent is expensive especially if you live in the GTA, it's very hard to negotiate your monthly rent and ask for a rent reduction after signing a lease. Unless you live in AB where rent has been on the decline since it's peak in the summer of 2014. AB rent on average has seen a decrease of over 30% since the summer of 2014. If you live in Calgary you are most likely will be able to renegotiate your rent and ask your landlord to reduce your rent, it's Renters market!

CMHC’s fall 2016 outlook report forecasts Calgary’s rental market vacancy rate will reach eight per cent in October 2016, which would mark the highest level in more than a quarter-century

What can you do to reduce your cost of rent if you live outside Calgary?

First review all of your on top of rent expenses: 

• Hydro
  The cost of having lights ON run appliances other electricity consumptions.
  If you pay for hydro and planning to live for long term in your rental unit, then it's worth investing in LED lighting. Every time a regular light bulb burn out replace it with an LED solution. You can get discount coupons on some of the LED lights from
  SaveOnEnergy.ca

• Gas
  Widely used for heating, invest in a smart thermostat the will literally pay for itself if you are out of your home during the day.
  
  
  Some utilities companies in Canada are offering up to $100 rebate if you install smart thermostat like NEST and save up to $100 with Nest Energy Partners
  
  or other smart thermostats. Click http://en.knowyourenergyscore.ca/smart-thermostats for a complete list of Energy Partners thermostats.
• 
  

other tips to save on heating open the curtains when sunlight hits them; close them otherwise.

• Parking
  If you are renting a condo and parking is included, offer to rent your parking spot. Downtown condo parking can rent for as high as $150 a month. Same goes for lockers.
• Cable TV and that phone landline!
  You really have to watch out for this. I have cut cable since 2005 and never looked back. Invest in a good over the air antenna that will save you thousands of dollars in cable TV over the years.
  Lose the landline, everyone has a cellphone these days, if you need to make long use skype, google phone call or some VoIP phone service.

To Decorate or not to Decorate: the Renter’s Holiday Dilemma

As we dive into yet another holiday season many of us are pulling out weathered boxes of lights and decorations from our attics and crawlspaces to adorn our homes with seasonal decorations. This tradition of decorating, however, is a little more troublesome for those of us who are renting. When living space is at a premium, and when storage space is already devoted to the objects we use everyday, it becomes a big question as to whether or not we want to sacrifice some of that space for decorations used only a few weeks each year. Decorating, however, need not be the storage nightmare to which we are accustomed.

One solution is to make your own decorations. Popcorn strings and paper-angel chains are both classics, but there are countless craft and DIY tips out there that allow you to make and display some really interesting holiday flare. By doing it yourself you avoid the expense and the storage hassles that can come with store-bought decorations, and as an added bonus the DIY route is a nice way to creatively engage with the season.

For those of us a little less crafty, a good storage-friendly option is the “less is more” approach. By being selective and minimal in your decorating you can maximize your holiday joy and minimize your storage woes. Rather than buying boxes of lights, or plastic garlands or wreaths, use candles and pick up a natural wreath or seasonal floral arrangement from one of those ubiquitous winter craft fairs. At the end of the season, your candles are still useful to you, and your wreath can find its way into the compost just as it begins to lose its lustre.

If you do happen to be a lover of those more bulky, ready-made holiday decorations, there are ways that you can have your cake and eat it to. Renters are getting increasingly savvy about storage solutions, and there are lots of tips out there on finding space you didn’t know you had. More shelving, flat bins that slide under beds and couches, and storage bags that hang sneakily behind bathroom or bedroom doors are all great places to stow those decorations that bring the season home to you.

Decorating allows you to creatively transform your own space and to connect with your traditions. By being creative, selective, and resourceful renters can get into the holidays without over-burdening their already limited storage options.

Apple Watch update

 

Finding apartments for rent can be hard, RentCompass makes it easy. We have updated RentCompass App to support Apple Watch!

Now you can quickly find apartments for rent nearby you and access your favourite list from Apple Watch.

Available on your Apple Watch

RentCompass iOS App adds TouchID

4 years ago we have introduced RentCompass native mobile Apps to make it easy for anyone to search for rental properties anywhere in Canada. 

RentCompass was also first to introduced automated listings bot to make it just as easy for landlords to update their listings on RentCompass platform. 

Part of our continuous effort to provide efficient and secure service to our landlord to upload their listings on the go using their smartphone, we have added support for TouchID when available on iOS devices.

TouchID technology lets you securely access iOS devices with the perfect password: your fingerprint. Now you can sign on securely with TouchID on RentCompass iOS App and upload more listing.

How to list your property using RentCompass iPhone App?

On Tuesday Apr 1st 2014, RentCompass pushed another update for RentCompass iOS App. The latest  App update is fully optimized for iOS7 on the iPhone and the iPad.

We designed an easy to use mobile Apps to help our customers find a place to rent, because we all know finding an apartment can be hard. 
With our least iOS App update, we are introducing Air Listing. Landlords can use RentCompass App on the iPhone, iPad and even the iPod Touch to list a property.

You can take photos with your iPhone or update existing photos for your property, set the price and location and submit your property to RentCompass. It's easy to use air list with RentCompass iOS App, you can list your property under 1min.

Try RentCompass App today and list your property.
I am going to walk you through the process of listing a property using RentCompass App on the iPhone, you can also do this on your iPad and iPod Touch as long as you have access to wifi.



Step 1
- Choose New Listing.

- Sign in using your RentCompass account.
If you don't have a RentCompass account, click Create New Account to create a RentCompass account. If you don't remember your password, click forgot my password link.

Step 2
- Add your property Address details.

It's easy to locate your property on the maps, type in your property address or find it on the maps.
- Set the price, the description of the property and how long you would like to rent it for. 
- Select existing photos or use the camera to take photos of your property.

Note: you must submit at least one photo with your listing. 

To rent your place faster, make sure you update good photos of the place you are renting. 

Please note: Once you submit your property, it can take few hours for your listing to show up on RentCompass.com website and RentCompass Apps