BreAnn Stephenson
The construction phase is exciting, but it’s also one of the riskiest times during your project. Minimizing the risk of a severe injury during this phase is key to retaining your profit, and potentially, protecting your entire business. Whether you are a do-it-yourself-er, or you hire out the rehab process ...
Managing Property and Liability Risks When Renters Move
While tenants move every month of the year, peak rental season typically runs from April through September. Any time you experience a "changing of the guard" there is an increased opportunity for a loss to occur at your investment property. To lessen your chances of property damage or injury, you ...
Spring into Early Success this Season with these Six Maintenance Steps
For many of us, "springing forward” into Daylight Savings Time is when we leave winter behind. This year, it arrives March 10. Whether you invest in areas that experience dramatic or moderate temperature shifts, the following tips will help you stay on top of routine maintenance and avoid major expenditures ...
Protect Your Real Estate Investment from These Elements this Winter
Protecting your property in the winter can mean protecting it from the cold, but there are other elements that can be particularly punishing if you don’t develop a healthy respect for them, namely Earth, Water, and Fire. Read on to find out how you can protect your property from Earth ...
Prevent a Holiday Cooking Fire Disaster in Your Investment Properties
Cooking is the leading cause of home structure fires according to research conducted by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the number of cooking fires increases significantly around Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Cooking fires are also one of the most preventable losses in real estate. With regular maintenance and ...
Seasonal Steps to Protect Investors, Avoid Financial Loss
Fall and winter are two of the most punishing seasons on your property, so getting an early start is crucial. Though the U.S. boasts a variety of climates, the chief weather concern for most property owners during the fall is colder weather. At some point in the year, most areas ...
Most Preventable Property Losses for 2018
At Affinity Loss Prevention Services we see multiple property claim submissions each day. Some of the losses described in submissions aren’t avoidable, like hail damage. However, many losses we see are preventable, and to our dismay, those types of losses, if with a few subtle variations, happen over and over again. So, ...
Is Your Property Dressed Appropriately for Winter?
I went to college with a kid born and raised in Alaska. He still wore shorts and t-shirts when the fall weather ushered in highs in the 40s. All of us Midwesterners thought he was nuts. That was sweater weather! While he may have adapted to the colder temperatures just ...
Tenant Chefs & Holiday Feasts: Fire Safety
There’s a lot of preparation that goes into having people over for a meal. Especially holiday meals. But how many people are aware of the increased fire risk on these feast days? And even if they are aware, what are they most focused on? Having everything ready by the time ...
10 Holiday Cooking Safety Tips for Your Tenants
The peak day for cooking fires each year is Thanksgiving Day. For this reason, it’s important that your tenant chefs are in a “state of readiness” for the holidays. Here are 10 tips to share with your tenants so they can enjoy a turkey-licious fire-free feast. Top Tips 1| TEST ...
5 Insurance Takeaways from Oakland’s Ghost Ship Fire
Last year’s warehouse fire in the “Ghost Ship” building in Oakland, California, has been called the nation’s deadliest structure fire in more than 14 years. The fire was a three-alarm fire, requiring 52 firefighters to bring it under control. The fire caused 36 fatalities and building losses of more than ...
Property Insurance Series: “It’s Not Covered” – Flood
Welcome to our “It’s Not Covered” - Flood, series. We hope these quick reads help you increase your understanding of your insurance coverage, clear up confusion and avoid preventable losses! **Notice some unusual punctuation or capitalization in this insurance article? These anomalies are not typos, but deliberate. When covering insurance-related ...
Property Insurance Series: “It’s Not Covered” – Named Storms
Welcome to our "It’s Not Covered" property insurance series. We hope these quick reads help you increase your understanding of your insurance coverage, clear up confusion and avoid preventable losses! So, what’s the confusion? If you have properties in coastal locations, it’s not always clear if you have coverage when ...
The Most Painful Insurance Losses in 2016
Though 2016 is now water under the bridge, it’s not too late to learn a few important lessons to make 2017 your best year yet. Sadly, many of the losses we see each day can be prevented with a little planning or on-going maintenance. However, all hope is not lost ...
Tips For Managing Mold In Your Rental Property
In cyberspace, there is a wealth of information available about mold. You could read hours’ worth of studies on how mycotoxins affect the immune system, exacerbate allergies and the like, but what information is most important for you as a real estate investor to know? Let’s discuss the basics of ...
Your Property, Tenants and Drugs
This excerpt is part of the article “Don’t Let Drugs Cook Your Investment Property” by BreAnn Stephenson of Affinity Loss Prevention Services. It can be found in the December 2017 issue of Think Realty Magazine. The editors of Think Realty hope you find this information useful and hope this will ...
This time of year, talk about making resolutions is everywhere—in conversations, on blogs and splashed across every form of news outlet. Now, what do New Year’s resolutions have to do with the reason you read this magazine? I’m going to point out the obvious: If you weren’t interested in how ...
I have a cornucopia of memories of holiday family gatherings. Many begin with me standing on the thawed porch near twilight at my aunt’s and uncle’s house. Their gift for hospitality extends to details that often go unnoticed: the walks are always cleared, driveways empty so we have places to ...
School’s out now, and one of the best parts of summer, I think, are the cookouts. Some of the best memories I have with friends and family have come from these get-togethers. A key part of our mission at Affinity Loss Prevention Services (ALPS) is to deliver seasonally relevant information ...
Tree Maintenance to improve the Beauty and Safety of your Property
Be Mindful of Your Trees' Needs, to Maintain Beauty and Safety of Your Property As kids, we took trees for granted. We saw them as big, beautiful places to cool down from playtime during summer or a place to stay dry during a downpour. They were infinitely strong. We could ...
Get Your Summer Daylight Hours Back and Reduce Liability Risks by Focusing on These Top 10 Property Maintenance Tasks Ahh, summer vacation. The beach, an afternoon nap in the sun and a “little umbrella” drink. Or perhaps a mountain hike, dirt in your laces and a picnic lunch by a ...
