A Clear Guide to Community Expectations and Shared Responsibilities

 
Please Pay Rent On or Before the First of Each Month: This agreement is basic and much appreciated.  Consider automatic payments from your checking account.  Venmo payments also work well.  If you cannot pay on time, call or visit Bob to make arrangements.

Competitive Pricing:  Our apartments and rooms are priced to reflect the unique benefits of living at 411.  As Portsmouth rents rise along with taxes, insurance, maintenance costs, etc., the rents at 411 will periodically increase.  This funds the costs of outstanding maintenance and the extraordinary tools for living available at 411.  Competitive pricing is also important so that residents feel able to find alternate housing in Portsmouth – if not happy and thriving at 411.

Off-Street Parking:  Access to our shared nine-space off-street parking lot is not included with your base rent. Mates with vehicles can pay $50/month for this access.   Except for pick-ups and drop-offs, guests are expected to park on the street – where there is free parking on both sides of the street.  When you are able, save the parking spaces close to the road for those with especially long vehicles and the parking spaces close to the top of the driveway for electric vehicles. The area in the front of the house (with grass pavers) is a turnaround area to allow you to enter Middle Street facing forward. This turnaround is not for parking but can be used for loading and unloading furniture during move-in and move-out.

Utilities at 411:  Landlord pays for all utilities including internet.  At the end of each calendar quarter, these utilities are apportioned to each apartment based on the number of residents in each apartment.  Individual apartment electric bills are also apportioned on this schedule.  For example, the first quarter (Jan, Feb and March) utility bills are calculated in April – and payment is due with the May rent on May 1st.  The dates on the bills determine which quarter they are assigned to, even though consumption typically precedes the bill.    Utilities at 411 are reasonable because housemates are generally mindful of their use of water, heat and electricity.  And they watch out for each other’s excessive use.  Other reasons include the following.  In 2000, we added commercial-grade storm windows throughout the building and new thermal-pane windows in the carriage house apartment. In 2011- 2012, insulation was added in all attic areas along with a new roof and 61 solar panels.  In 2019, our gas-fired boiler was replaced with a state-of-the-art pellet boiler for both heat and hot water.  (We retained the option of heating our water with the on-demand tank-less gas heaters – for possible use in the summer and in emergencies.)

Keep Common Areas Picked Up and Beautiful:  With the exception of the hallways in the main house – where one pair of shoes is allowed per resident outside most doors – no personal stuff is allowed in all the indoor and outside common areas.   The common areas including the great room, the porch and the patio are meant to be used and enjoyed – but please leave them in better condition than you find them.

Lost and Found:  Since we have close to zero tolerance for personal items in the common areas, we put such “lost” items on the counter across from the laundry room sink.  Use your judgment about texting or emailing housemates when you do this.  If not claimed in a few days, these items will be brought to Goodwill or Savers, etc.

Noise:  Any noise (or any behavior for that matter) that bothers a housemate at any time of the day or night needs to be talked about and resolved to the satisfaction of both the housemate and the noise maker.  If a resolution is not available with reasonable effort, both can seek out a mediation as noted in Tools for Living at 411.  Our quiet hours are between 11:00 pm at night and 7:00 am in the morning.  During these hours, please enter and leave the house, your apartment/room and bathroom quietly.  Do not use the washer or dryers in the laundry room as these are located under the bedroom of Apt 2.  Normal bathroom uses such as flushing toilets, shower taking, and hair drying are fine, but if you need to talk, please keep it to a whisper in the halls and all the common areas, including the grounds – as you are never far from a bedroom.

Laundry Room Etiquette:  Depending on the cycle you choose the washing machine takes 30 – 60 minutes to wash and spin dry.  Note the time when you start your wash so as to return about the time your wash is complete. If you do not get there before someone else wants to use the washer, accept that he or she will move your washed clothes to the top of the washing machine. Same for the dryer. Be sure to lean the lint collector after you dry your clothes and put the lint in the trash receptacle to the right of the dryer. And please leave the doors to the washer and dryer closed.  NOTE: Several housemates have reserved a specific 4-hour weekly timeslot for doing their laundry. You can too, but if you decide against this option, use either an open timeslot or a reserved timeslot only with the permission of the housemate who has reserved that slot.

Floor Care:  All our floors are coated with urethane which means they do not absorb oil-based cleaners. Therefore, wash floors with hot water and white vinegar. Potted plants even with trays can cause floor damage – so best to set them on plant stands or spacer pads.

Snow Bans: The Public Works Department of the City of Portsmouth typically initiates a ban on street parking sometime during or immediately after snowfalls of 2″ or more – to facilitate street plowing. During these bans, we urge all residents to park off the street. If you are a street parker, you can park in the nearby Foundry Place city garage for a flat $3 for the entire time of the ban including 2 hours before and after the ban. Other parking options are listed on the City of Portsmouth website. The ban is generally lifted after the roads are plowed – which is typically a couple of hours after the snowstorm ends.

Parking bans for snow removal are announced in several different ways:

Snow Plowing our Parking Lot:   Once the snow ban is lifted, we need all vehicles out of our parking lot and onto the street to facilitate plowing the entire parking area. Please be available to move your vehicle for this mass departure after the ban is lifted. If you must leave the property and your car is in the driveway, leave your keys with a note on the windowsill outside Bob’s office.

Fire Safety:  The importance of this topic cannot be over-emphasized when so many individuals live in close proximity in an all-wood building.   Smoking is not permitted anywhere on the property with the exception that marijuana and pure pipe tobacco smoking is allowed in the back half of the backyard defined as the clotheslines and beyond.  Vaping of medical marijuana is safe from a fire perspective but is not allowed in common areas.  When charging any lithium-battery device, be sure to give it proper ventilation.  These devices can cause a fire if charged, for example, under a pillow. No open flames including candles are allowed inside the house, on the porch or on the sundeck.  The house barbeque can be used only on the Carriage House patio.  Only with Bob’s permission, campfires are permitted in the metal fire pit on the Carriage House patio.  Only mosquito candles are permitted outdoors.  Any exceptions need to be discussed and approved by Bob.

Smoke and Combination Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Alarms:  Landlord accepts responsibility not only to replace any broken alarms but also to replace any depleted batteries. The alarms in the basement, the central halls and great room are separate from the alarms in each apartment. If one of these sounds, they all sound. Within each apartment, if one alarm sounds the others will also.  In November of 2020, new combination fire and carbon monoxide detectors installed were installed throughout the building. These alarms are hard-wired but require a back-up 9-volt battery which the landlord replaces once a year. If you hear a regular chirping in any of the alarms, you can temporarily stop the chirping by pressing the center button. Then contact Bob or Steve.  If they are not available, spare batteries are located in the chest outside Bob’s office. The batteries in the combination units can be replaced without removing the unit from the ceiling by releasing the battery door mounted on the surface of the unit. If you want more information about how they operate, call the phone number for Kidde customer support on the 411 Middle St Contacts sheet.

Fire Extinguishers and Fire Escape Ladders:  Seven working fire extinguishers are provided in the following locations:  On the first floor in the front hall, back hall, and as you enter the carriage house kitchen.  On the second floor by the door to the sun deck.  On the third floor in the kitchen and hallway of apt 5.  And in the basement beside the door to the laundry room. These are professionally inspected every November, along with the central alarm system.  Make note of the extinguisher locations and read the directions for how to use them on the extinguisher.  Fire escape ladders are provided on the third floor of the main house and the third floor of the carriage house apartment.  Please learn where they are located and how to use them.

Pets:  Pets are allowed in common areas (including the fenced-in backyard) only when you or an assigned friend or housemate are also there.  When your dog needs to poop or pee, please bring him to the driveway or walk him down the street. You are welcome to use plastic bags from the Carriage House kitchen (container on the floor to the right of the sink).

Periodic Apt/Room Inspections:  Periodic inspections help ensure that this is a safe place for all residents. This means that Bob or his agent can enter your apartment and your room during business hours of 9 – 5 weekdays even if you are not there – for inspection purposes. We will knock before entering, and generally (but not always) we will give you 24-hour notice by text or email.

Transfers Within 411 

If you want to transfer to another 411 room or apartment, let Bob know your interest via email – and include why the different space interests you.  Soon after Bob receives 30-day notice from the housemate, he will seek applicants from both within and outside 411.  He will generally give preference to 411 housemates.  If there are more than one interested housemate, he will generally give preference to the housemate with 411 seniority.  Once a deal is struck for moving into the new space including rent and date of move, a separate deal is negotiated based on the guidelines in “When You Move Out ”(below).   Just as would happen if you were to move to a new space outside of 411, there may be a period when you are paying for both spaces simultaneously.

When You Move Out:

When you give your 30-days notice to move out of 411, you agree to cooperate with the showing of your space.  This includes allowing your space to be shown when you are not home, without prior notification.  Under no circumstance is your security deposit to be used towards your last month’s rent.  You agree to leave your apartment as clean as you found it – or expect a charge for $30/hour for the time it takes to clean and to repair any damages caused by you or your guests or pets.  Two Options  You can give your 30-day notice to leave 411 any day of the month.  Assuming you have paid for those 30 days, you have two options:  1) Move out over the 30 days as you please – while staying in control of your space.  Utilities will be charged for the entire 30 days. 2)  Clean and move out sooner than the 30 days, and sell your unused days to Bob at half price.  Utilities will be pro-rated up to and including the last day of cleaning – using the daily utilities rate for your space as calculated in the previous quarter.

Move Out Checklist:  Use this checklist to guide you when you move out:

______All personal belongings are removed including items in the storage and laundry rooms.

______Windows are washed recently on the inside.  There are no cobwebs around the frames and inside the storms.  Sills are vacuumed and damp clothed including between windows and storms.  Storms and screens are both down if it is heating season.

______Kitchen is meticulously clean including stove (burner pans and oven too), refrigerator (inside and out and all foods removed), sink and floor, including under the stove and refrigerator.  Cupboards cleaned out and doors, shelves and drawers are damp clothed.

______Bathroom is meticulously clean including toilet, sink, tub/shower, mirror and floor.

______Walls have all nails and picture frame hooks removed and holes are spackled and touched up with correct paint.  Walls are also washed as needed.

______Ceilings, especially along the walls have been vacuumed for dust and spider webs.

______Hardwood floors throughout the room or apartment are vacuumed and washed with vinegar and hot water, not an oil soap or wax that leave a film.  Carpets are vacuumed and stains removed.

______Smoke detector batteries are installed and detectors are not beeping.

______House furnishings are left in good condition except for normal wear.