WELCOME HOME

Be sure to double-check which utilities are your responsibility to set up service in your name!

Electricity

Duke Energy 1-800-777-9898

Gas 

Dominion Energy 1-877-776-2427

Water

City of Durham 919-560-1200

TV and/or Internet

• Spectrum  1-855-243-8892
• Frontier Communications  1-877-742-9402  
• AT&T  844-855-1539

Log into your online portal to pay your rent. If you are not yet registered, please create an account here!

You can pick up your keys at the BSP offices, 1222 Broad St #A Durham NC 27705, anytime after 12PM noon on the first day of your lease. If you let us know ahead of time, we will happily accommodate you if you need to come after business hours or on a later day. 

We require $100,000 of renters and liability insurance. To avoid unnecessary extra charges, please submit proof of your policy within 30 days of the start of your lease.

1. If you are a college student, check your parents' homeowners insurance to see if you're covered.
2. You will get a link from AppFolio offering renters insurance. You can purchase it there and pay your monthly premium through AppFolio.
3. Your current automobile insurer may be able to give you more information on this topic, and some will offer discounts for multiple policies.

A standard renters policy usually covers:

• Personal property in cases of theft or damage.
• Sometimes pays for temporary living expenses if your rental is damaged.
• Can also shield you from personal liability.

After you do move in and get settled, fill out and return your move-in inspection form. We ask that you fill out within a week or so of moving in and return it to our office. We use this form for two reasons: to generate work orders for anything we may have missed when getting the home ready for you, and it serves as a record of dings and dents in the house. Let us know if you need us to resend it!

Unless you've made arrangements with the office, please return your keys to the Bob Schmitz Properties office by NOON on the last day of your lease.

Our address is: 1222 Broad St #A Durham, NC 27705

If we are not in the office when you bring your keys – put them in the drop box on our front door.

Don't forget to leave us a forwarding address so we can send you your security deposit check and statement.

Make sure you've taken any utilities out of your name at the end of your lease. Check your lease or communicate with the office if you are leaving before the end of your lease.

Remember to cancel any automatic rent payments you may have set up with your bank.

Make sure you pay your last month’s rent and any outstanding charges. You may not use your security deposit to pay your last month’s rent. 

If you have painted any of the walls or trim, they must be returned to our paint color. Please contact the office to find out what color you need to purchase from Sherwin Williams at 3148 Hillsborough Rd Durham, NC 27705.

You may need to use Kilz to cover dark or bright colors, or any ink, smoke or grease marks before repainting with our paint color.

Our goal is for you to move into a sparkling clean house and we ask that you leave it just as clean when you move out!

We are happy to coordinate our contractors to clean for you after you move and pay for the services from your security deposit. We can quote you a price based on the size of your home. Our contractor pricing is typically better than an outside service, and if our vendor misses something we can easily send them back to fix it without additional cost to you. Let us know if you'd like us to coordinate this for you.

Please make sure you leave your home with a clean HVAC filter, working light bulbs and smoke/CO detector batteries, new stove pans, and any other items that would normally be a tenant responsibility.

Call 911. Then call the office at 919-416-0393 and tell us what happened.

Contact Dominion Energy at 1-877-776-2427. Then call the office at 919-416-0393 and tell us what happened.

Most importantly -- turn the water off at the source! Then call the office at 919-416-0393.

• Sinks: faucet handles or knobs under the sink
• Toilets: knob behind toilet
• Other: under the building or crawl space

If the water is flooding your home and you can’t turn it off, contact the City of Durham (water) at 919-560-1200. Then call the office at 919-416-0393 and tell us what happened.

Try to troubleshoot it with the information below. If that does not work, call the office at 919-416-0393.

• Make sure the thermostat is set to “HEAT” or "COOL" as appropriate.
• If the fan is running but the air is not warm or cool, check and replace your HVAC filter. These should be replaced every 30 days!
• If the pilot light is out and needs re-lit during office hours, call us at 919-416-0393. If it's after hours, call Dominion at 877-776-2427.
• If the fan is not running at all, check the furnace fuse or circuit breaker.
• If the fan is constantly running, make sure the fan is set to "AUTO" on the thermostat.

Please be mindful that the plumbing systems in most older homes were not designed to handle anything other than human waste and toilet paper! FLUSHABLE WIPES ARE NOT FLUSHABLE.

Toilet not flushing:

If your toilet doesn't flush properly after one flush, don't flush again. Instead, take the lid off of the toilet tank and close the toilet flapper. Closing the flapper will keep more water from entering the bowl. If this happens more than once, put in a work order so we can come fix it!

Toilet clogged:

Using a good rubber plunger, make sure the plunger completely covers the hole. The plunger should be submerged in water to be effective. It is important to be pushing and pulling with water, not air. Add water from the sink to the bowl if necessary.

Pump the plunger over the hole. Start slowly at first, since the first plunge will push air into the bowl. Push down, then pull up sharply to disturb the clog and loosen it. Continue vigorously pushing and pulling until the water begins to drain. It may take 15 to 20 times before the toilet unclogs. Be patient, as long as you're sure there's no hard object, plunging alone often suffices. It might not work immediately but would often work after a few repeated efforts/flushing.

If you know there is an object in the toilet that caused the clog (i.e., a child's toy), reach in and remove it from the toilet if possible. If you can't clear it with your hands, but you know there's an object causing the clog, skip the plunging and call the office!

Here's a great Wiki-how with great details on taking care of various types of clogs: http://www.wikihow.com/Unclog-a-Toilet

Drain clogged:

Wiki-how has some great tips for unclogging drains: http://www.wikihow.com/Unclog-a-Kitchen-Sink

Please do not take apart any plumbing! If plunging or drain cleaners don't work, give us a call!

Be mindful of cleaning out the visible hair from shower and sink drains every day.

Don't pour grease down any drain.

Be mindful of scraping food waste into the garbage can and not into your kitchen drain. DO NOT PUT COFFEE GROUNDS DOWN THE DRAIN.

If it is a larger sewage issue that is causing overflowing, call the office at 919-416-0393. Please make sure to leave a clear message with your name and address.

Check all your fuses and circuit breakers:

Breaker: Just flip it off, then flip it back on.

If the power comes on and the fuse or breaker blows again:

• Unplug everything and turn off all the lights for the outlets/lights on the line for the fuse or breaker;
• Flip the breaker again;
• Finally, plug each item in, one at a time, to see if any individual item is causing the problem.
• If this fixes the problem, please just let us know it happened so we can keep track of recurring issues. If it does not fix the problem, please submit a work order or call us to put in a work order.

If ALL your electricity is off, call Duke Energy 1-800-777-9898 as there could be an outage in the area. After you call Duke, give us a call to let us know what’s happening. 

Check that your lint trap is clean. This should be cleaned every time you use the dryer!

If you can see behind the dryer, make sure the duct is not crimped or broken. Let us know if it is, and we will come fix it.