Stresses That Every Landlord Goes Through

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If you're a landlord, you know that there are many different stresses that come with the job. It can be challenging to manage tenants and rental properties if you don't know what to expect. That's why you must read this blog post of common challenges faced by landlords today!

Choosing the Right Tenant

The eviction process is not an easy one, and it can be expensive if you make mistakes. You need to ensure that the tenant has a job or income, has no criminal record, and provides references from previous landlords. A reference from their employer will also help your decision-making abilities when it comes to choosing a tenant.

First, you need to ensure that all the relevant documentation is for a tenancy application. This includes identification and proof of income. If your prospective tenants have not provided this information, it may indicate that they will struggle to pay their rent on time or at all. In other words, you have to be very careful when selecting a tenant.

You also need to check that they can afford the rent and deposit for your property and then consider whether or not their credit rating is good enough to obtain the tenancy agreement. If it's not, there may be other issues with your prospective tenants, such as poor rental payment history, a poor employment record, or outstanding debts.

Enhancing Safety in Your Property

It is essential to take note of the safety features that your rental property has or lack thereof. The safety features also include the Building regulations, so you don’t risk injuries on your tenants. As a result, there is no need for extensive renovation projects to fix these problems later on down the road.

The first step that every landlord should do here with their rental property is to install working smoke detectors throughout each floor of their home or property. It is also a good idea to have carbon monoxide detectors installed for the safety of all tenants and guests who may be spending time in your rental property.

The next step is to ensure working locks on each door throughout the home or building itself. No one ever wants to consider the idea of a break-in occurring in their rental property.

There is no reason for landlords to ever take these matters lightly. However, if you do not feel confident enough about performing some of these tasks, hiring professionals can be a great way to ensure that everything goes correctly.

Coming Up With a Comprehensive Tenancy Agreement

Every landlord goes through many stresses. One of the most stressful situations is coming up with a comprehensive tenancy agreement that will work well for you and your tenant while not going against any rules or regulations.

Several landlords end up in trouble because they did not have a formal tenancy agreement ready. So even if you are not worried about having your property returned to you or other issues, it is still important that both parties have an agreement.

Maintaining the Quality and Functionality of Your Property

Maintaining your property investment can be quite a challenge, especially if you’re doing it all by yourself. If tenants live in the place, keeping up with repairs and maintenance is an even bigger task requiring patience and attention to detail.

Just remember that there is a light at the end of every tunnel. Landlords face many challenging obstacles when they first begin their journey, but it's essential to have faith and patience because things will get better in time. You just need to keep going.

3 Essential Tips for Selecting Where and How to Move House

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While moving guides are often important, it’s not uncommon to see many blogs taking something of a reductive approach to it. We know that moving is quite stressful for many people, so it’s no wonder writers wish to calm their audience, by showing them how to pack before the removal company comes, or what to do on moving day.

But the truth is that a good house move is something that is planned for, not focused on in the moment. You have time to plan, just as you have time to decide what kind of forward progress you’d like to take. Often, taking the first steps as well as you can will make all the difference. This all depends on how you approach the moving process from the offset. If you do this well, you will no doubt give yourself much in the way of positive wriggle room going forward, and may even be able to avoid the pitfall of having too little time and energy to make good decisions.

But this is just preamble. Let’s focus on what matters:

Finding The Best Price

Finding the best price for your property seems like an obvious priority to have. Most people want to be paid the most. But this doesn’t mean driving a hard bargain and being opposed to the essentials of negotiation. That almost never works. What it does mean is taking some time to allow a proper service with the inclination of marketing your property as well as possible to take the reigns. Some specialist estate agents may also give you the chance to sell to corporate clients, too. Keep your options open and don’t be afraid of a second opinion.

Considering How Much You’re Willing To Invest

How much are you actually willing to ‘do up’ a separate property? It might be that you’re happy to do that provided it means you can get a good deal on the baseline house itself. But what does this mean for your ability to move in? Might you have to delay that for a couple months? Is the house livable while you reorient and redesign other non-essential rooms? Consider if you’re willing to invest in making a property yours, or if you’re most drawn to a feature-complete, recently repaired and competently maintained build. It will define your entire approach thoroughly.

It’s All About The Commute

Many people say that location is the main consideration, and that’s true, but we’d recommend that you focus on the everyday matters of how you’ll operate near the home and how much you’re willing to give in either direction? Is ten minutes less of a commute to your new job worth £10,000 for a different property? Perhaps, if you add ten minutes either way each day over months, you end up saving hours of your time. Is your time over five years worth £10,000? It may possibly be. Keeping the commute in mind may not define your decision, but it really does help you structure the baseline needs you have.

With this advice, we hope you can select where and how to move with confidence, allowing you to transition into the moving process with incredible momentum.

Should You Buy an Investment Property?

 Buying an investment property is a long-term investment that many people are now considering. There are many reasons to buy an apartment as an investment, including the fact that it will provide you with a fixed asset. Investment property can be seen as a good alternative to other investments, such as stocks and bonds. This type of investment is less risky than stocks or bonds, but can still provide you with appreciation in value over time.

Investment properties are often bought with a buy-to-let mortgage that is designed for people who want to use their home as collateral for loans. Potential buyers should consider the purchase price, the rental income, repayments on both loans, and any other expenses before deciding which type of property to buy. If this is something that you’re considering doing, we’re now going to run through what you need to keep in mind to work out whether it’s right for you.

The Investment

First of all, when you make an investment in a property, it’s likely that you’re going to want to get a buy-to-let mortgage. It is a property loan that lets you purchase a property as an investment. You can then rent out the property you own and make money from it.

 

When it comes to calculating the amount of money you will need for an investment property there are two main components that need to be considered. There’s the purchase price and your deposit. The downpayment on an investment property is typically 25% of the purchase price but can vary between lenders (and depending on the climate and circumstances etc). It may also depend on the cost of the property, so bear these factors in mind.

Renting It Out

Renting out your property can provide a passive income stream. You can rent it out to students, international workers, or people who are looking for temporary accommodation. The process of renting out your property starts by finding a tenant that meets your requirements. You then work with them to create an agreement that outlines the terms of the rental - length of stay, rent, and any other details that may be necessary.

If you need help with deciding on what type of contract to use, you can find a list of possible types of contracts online. But you could turn to letting agents for help too. Then, you can also get tips on how to prepare for your first tenants and how to manage the property too (or get them to do it).

Adding To Your Portfolio

A property portfolio is your collection of properties that you’ve bought and the total number of properties you own. It can be a single property, or many properties. It's never too late to start building a property portfolio if you've been thinking about it for a while. The best way to begin is by starting with one residential home, renovating it, and building up from there. So now, maybe it’s time for you to think about picking up a second property or planning for when you want to.

How To Get Free Samples Without Being an Influencer

Everyone loves free stuff, don't they? 

So I'm here to tell you about Triyit which is a relatively new product discovery club where you build yourself a profile and they will match different campaigns and products up to you and send you free products for you to try. These products are usually new to the market or have gone through some sort of rebrand and it means that you are part of providing valuable feedback to the brands and you also get to share your thoughts on social media and with your friends in real life!

I recently received a box full of 5 products:

As you can see the majority of the products are full sized apart from the Hooch gin which is a 5ml sample. If you follow me on Instagram you'll see that I've shared my thoughts on a couple of the products but I've also shared more feedback with Triyit through a questionnaire. You have to give the feedback in order to be eligible for more boxes... it's only fair right? You receive the products, try them and give them something back in return. 

You don't have to have a huge following or even a platform at all to sign up for this but please note that you aren't guaranteed to receive anything just yet - I've been signed up for over a year and only just received a box but the wait was well worth it!

Date Night Ideas for when you don't want to Leave the House

I know lots of us have been rejoicing at the fact that things are finally opened up again and we can return to some resemblance of normality but I'm also conscious of 2 other things: the fact that we're spending WAY more money than we have over the last 18 months and some of us need to tighten our belts and secondly all this socialising at once can be a little bit overwhelming and sometimes we just want to have a night in. 

It's been really fab to be able to get out and have date nights out of the house but if, for whatever reason, you want to organise a date night in, here's some ideas:

Cook a meal together

You don't have to be a Michelin star chef to rustle up something tasty in the kitchen and it can be a really nice experience to actually cook together and sit down and eat in a quiet environment, away from the crowds. Alternatively, if you don't fancy cooking from scratch, M&S have some fab dine in deals to be had which often comes with 2 mains, sides, a pudding and a drink for a set price.

Create a drawing/painting using a YouTube tutorial

Whether you're arty or not, anyone can follow a drawing tutorial on YouTube and I think it would be quite funny to see how each others creations turn out! You don't have to spend a fortune on equipment either, there are hundreds of simple pencil drawing tutorials.

Bring the fairground into your living room

If you love going to the fair but aren't quite ready for the crowds or the expense that comes with it you could get a date night in box from Box42 which helps you to create your own fairground experience at home. 

As you can see, the box comes with lots of goodies inside to help you to create that fairground experience at home with games, drinks and snacks. It even comes with face paints which could definitely get interesting after a few drinks! Box 42 have a full range of date night boxes to help you to create an experience that suits you including pottery, picnics and undercover agents.

You can also set up a subscription to Box42 which would be a fab anniversary gift. Individual boxes are priced at £34.99, however they are £31.99 if bought as a subscription. 

Camping in your back yard

If you already own a tent and all the equipment that goes with it why not take yourself back to your childhood and camp in the garden for the night; get the bbq and cook your dinner outdoors and later on get your marshmallows toasting while you look up at the stars. 

So there are some date night ideas if you're on a budget or you just don't want to be in a crowd right now. Let me know on Instagram if you've got any other date night in ideas!

*this post contains a PR sample