December, 2024

Maintenance

Last Thursday I was tying down chairs and tables for the monsoon, this Thursday I pulled out my winter skivvies. I can imagine this job would be quite boring in an area where the weather is consistent. 

As temperatures will be down to 12 degrees this weekend, I’ll be keeping an eye out for freezing pipes. Here are some ways which you can prevent that from occurring. Though most are obvious, they often get unutilized. Better safe than sorry. 

1. Turn the heat up and open doors and cabinet doors that would restrict warm air from getting to the areas of the pipes.

2. Heat tape. If you have a headache area that always freezes, you could potentially wrap that pipe with low heat tape. Though it doesn't get hot, the heat tape keeps those pipes warm enough to prevent freezing. It’s as easy as plugging it in. Learned this one from one of the best and only other caretaker I know in South County. 

3. Leave faucets and lines dripping. The classic. Easy and effective. 

   

Community

With the housing market in RI still holding high prices and low volume, I wanted to discuss ADU’s. In the 2nd most densely populated state in the country, accessory dwelling units are going to gain popularity very soon. 

This little state is running out of land, and with the cost of new construction higher than ever, it’s updated the requirements to interest property owners in building an ADU. While that may not be of interest to you on your current property, it may spark consideration in the world of real estate investment. In an area with a division 1 college (9 month rentals) and where summer rentals do very well, having a property with two rental units could be appealing to some.

Here are some of the new requirements…

• Must be smaller than main residence and meet OWTS requirements (septic size)

• Must fall within your lots buildable parameters

• Studio/1 Bedroom - Approved up to 900sf or 60% of the main residence 

• 2 Bedroom - Approved up to 1500sf or 60% of the main residence

• “Must be used for year round occupancy, no short term rentals”.- I put these in quotations because a close friend of mine who owns a prominent local real estate company claims this restriction can be worked around. But should still be investigated before building.