Maintaining your Rental Property as a Landlord

Tips for managing your property as a landlord

How to be an effective and trusted landlord

Becoming a landlord can be exciting as well as daunting, and there is a lot to consider not only to ensure the safety of your property but the health and safety of your tenants too.

It is important to know your rights as a landlord, and what will make you a great landlord is by knowing and attending to the rights of your tenants, and providing quick solutions to their problems. 

Maintaining internal structures

If your tenants are without hot water or heating, then it is important to get a qualified plumbing engineer to call-out to the house as soon as convenient to provide plumbing and heating services. When a tenant calls complaining of a problem with an element of the property’s internal workings – electric, plumbing, water, or faulty appliances, it is important to act quickly.

While some issues are minor and not an immediate threat to the health and safety of your tenants, other issues like no running water, heating, or a faulty boiler or appliance should be sorted quickly.

Check for pests

Common domestic pests like rodents, ants, bed bugs, moths etc can do a lot of damage to your home. Not only can they destroy internal structures but fabrications, textiles and much much more. See what pests can do and how much they can cost you here.

We very rarely recommend particular companies – so you can trust that Pest Exterminators Kent is really worth using if you have a pest infestation that’s out of control. Visit their website here.

Fixing external issues quickly

If there is an external structural issue, then this can have an impact on the internal structure of the house if not sorted at once.

For quick and efficient roofing repair services, call a roofer to help you. A leak in the roof, for example, can cause leaks and damps in the house and walls, not only posing a threat to the health of your tenants but also affecting the overall value and quality of your property.

Boost your rental income

HMO finance is a great way of allowing you to expand your portfolio and subsequently increase your passive rental income. Read more about interest rates on residential and commercial property here.

The more properties you own and let out to tenants, the more lucrative your residential property business will be! More.

Keeping your costs low, and charging an affordable but profitable rent will allow you to be able to build upon your existing portfolio.

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Tips for landlords: spotting pests in your premises

infestation in your rental property

How to prevent infestations in your rental property

Landlords have an obligation to ensure the health and safety of their tenants. This includes preventing the possibility of rat or insect infestations.

Nobody wants to share their home with rats, mice, ants or bedbugs.

Not only does a landlord need to take preventative measures, but the tenants need to look after the property too to help avoid infestations.

In some cases, the landlord can blame the tenant for causing an infestation if they have not looked after the property.

Learn more about the obligations of landlords and tenants.

What are the warning signs of an infestation?

Whether you are a landlord or a tenant, here are some infestation warning signs to look out for:

  • Droppings: Look out for small and dark pellets in cupboards, under the sink, or near bins.
  • Holes in walls, skirting boards or doors: Rats and mice might chew holes to get into your home.
  • Chewed food or boxes: Mice will gnaw through boxes to get at the food inside, or to make a nest.
  • Scratching noises: Are there any scuttering or scratching noises in walls, ceilings or underneath floorboards?
  • Foul smell: You may smell a musky odour is mice are living in your home, or a foul smell if they die underneath floorboards.
  • Electrical issues: Mice are not afraid to chew anything in their path. You may have unexplained wiring faults.

If you suspect a problem or infestation, it is important to take the following steps:

  1. Identify the pest that you think you have.
  2. Clean your home as much as possible.
  3. Seek professional help. Trained exterminators will use safe chemicals to solve your rodent infestation. Read more. 
  4. Perform preventative measures to help avoid a future infestation in your rental property.

How to prevent pest problems in your property:

Store food correctly:

  • Ensure that food is kept in airtight containers.
  • Clean away crumbs from food preparation.
  • Regularly sweep, hoover and clean your kitchen floors, cabinets and surfaces.

Mouse-proof your home:

  • Seal any cracks or crevices in doors, windows, ceilings, skirting boards and even rooves.
  • Seal up leaking pipes or drains.
  • Keep your home as clean as possible. Here are some tips.

Sure Ways to Add Value to Your Home

Improving and enhancing your home

There are various things you could choose from to improve your home, however, some alterations may need planning from your local council.

Planning your budget and measuring the time you want to spend improving your home is very important.

It can sometimes be difficult and stressful, but the outcome is really worth all the hassle.

Here are some ideas to pick from that you may find helpful

  1. Fit secondary glazing.
  2. Add limescale preventer to the cold-water supply. Here are some tips on how to do so.
  3. Add storage to your entry
  4. Add moulding
  5. Update your furniture
  6. Add new flooring – if you want to add new flooring to your home, why not hire a company of experienced estimators and qualified tradespeople that can help you from the start to finish, providing an easy and stress-free experience.
  7. Replace your interior doors

Doing all these things can have a great benefit to your home, making the interior modern and creates a fantastic new atmosphere for you to live in.

Your home should be renovated every 15 to 20 years however, adding new bits and pieces can definitely make a difference.

 

How to sell your office easily

Top tips on selling your office

Top tips on selling your office

The overall condition, location, availability of schools and public transportation are the most essential factors when pricing a particular office.

However, it is the first impression that stays with the potential buyer final decision. Usually, the general vision about an office is formed at the very first moment when the buyer steps in, so it is important to make sure the office is tidy, neat and clean.

Offices that are located nearby to transport hubs, have their own parking and located in an attractive area are ones that are most likely to sell first.

Click here to see our other services.

Read these tips and use them:

  • Door entry systems are a must for businesses. You are able to restrict the access to unauthorised people offering your business high security. A video telephone system will provide you with the confidence that all visitors are screened and authorised with no unwanted people in your premises.
  • Automatic doors are a simple solution and enable convenient access for all. Did you know that automatic doors are also preferred in some sectors? This includes retail, hotels, hospitals and even public buildings. There are various types of automatic doors available including sliding, swing, revolving and space-saving. Browse your options.
  • Even before calling the real estate agency to put your property on the market, you have to fully de-clutter it. Clutter harms the spirit of the office, making it appear smaller than it actually is. Having in mind that, take away all possessions stacked around the corners and keep them in storage until the time comes for you to use them. Find out about de-cluttering.
  • Since the room size is an important factor for the willingness of a potential buyer to choose a particular property, consider moving away from any big pieces of furniture too. In that way, you will make the rooms look much more spacious.
  • Make sure that the building has a pleasant smell when buyers come to take a look at it. The smell is an important sense and on purely instinctive level people would not want to live in an office that is haunted by bad odours.
  • Clean everything to perfection. Hire an office cleaning agency and get them to deep clean everything. Carpets, desks and kitchen areas are where the cleaners should focus most of their efforts as these are high traffic areas and is where most bacteria will live. For cleaners in Crawley, click here. For Perth based offices, visit this site.

What is Asbestos & Where is it normally Present?

Asbestos Removal

Asbestos Removal

If you have worked in any of the following industries recently and are starting to feel unwell such as shortness of breath, we recommend contacting your local GP and get checked out. See more info.

  • Asbestos manufacturing
  • Building
  • Carpentry
  • Demolition

Or if you fall into one/all of the following categories:

  • If you are a person who has washed the overalls of people working around asbestos.
  • If you are a person working in places where other workers are handling asbestos.

Do You Have Asbestos in your Home?

If you fear that you have asbestos in your home, you can always contact A.N.A Demolition to survey the property and remove it if asbestos is present.  Asbestos is only dangerous once it has been broken, damaged or has begun to deteriorate. Find out about Asbestos removals.

Asbestosis Claims

Asbestosis claims are becoming more prevalent these days through the recent investigations in the late 1990s, early 2000s about the dangers of being exposed to asbestos whether through industrial work, contact with others who have been in contact or through the use of old buildings.

If you’ve been exposed to asbestos for a length of time, whether you worked with the material, or came into contact with it somehow on a regular basis and you are suffering from uncategorised symptoms, then you could be suffering as the result of asbestos contact, which you must be treated for and will also have the rights to claim for compensation.

New Handyman Services

The Handyman Service Team are dedicated to providing a one stop repair and maintenance facility aimed at providing a quick and efficient solution to your home and business repair needs.

Once we complete our services, we handle all the cleanup.

Quite often, the properties we look at need a far bit of maintenance, which results in a mess at the end of it. We will get in touch with a local waste collection agency that will be able to collect all waste the same or next day. See other services.

On a regular basis, we work with Any Waste who are a Berkshire based rubbish clearance agency. They pride themselves in recycling almost all of the waste they collect. Visit their website for more information.

We can supply all trades and building services from our extensive database of  high quality repairers.

 Are You Moving Out?

When you’re moving properties, it shouldn’t be a stressful experience. You want to make sure that all your furniture and belongings are taken care of by a furniture removal specialist.

Furniture and interstate removal companies are here to make sure that your belongings are transported carefully and safely.

A good removal company will gladly explain their removal process. Always check reviews and other companies in the Brisbane area too.

WE ANSWER ALL YOUR CALLS AND COME TO SEE YOU WITHIN 24 HRS

ANNUAL MAINTENANCE SERVICE

The Handyman services offer a managed maintenance service of particular use to busy site managers, facility coordinators and resident committees.

  • External repairs including general maintenance / gates / fences / gardening services and tree pruning
  • Internal works including kitchen and bathroom fitting / joinery repairs / laminate flooring / wall and floor tiling
  • Painting and decorating internal and external

Contact us for special rates.

HOME OWNER PEACE OF MIND PACKAGES

We can offer a on off call out repair service or for a monthly fee a managed maintenance and repair programme.