People are often unsure as to whether they are insured against mould damage. It is a difficult topic as even trusted home insurance providers such as Castle Cover and Allstate may not insure you for the effects of mould, as damage arises from the homeowner’s failure to act. The best way to deal with an outbreak of mould is to prevent it, so act now!
Mould could creep into any moist area of your home, such as the obvious places like bathrooms, kitchens and around windows, but could also grow in attics and basements. It is therefore very important to check these places frequently. The untrained eye may miss signs of mould, so it would be wise to pay for an expert to check your home. A yearly inspection should suffice.
In case you needed any reason to keep mould out of your home other than the unsightly appearance and smell of it, you need to be aware of the health risks associated with mould growth in the home. Allergies, asthma, chronic sinus infections and other respiratory disorders can be caused by mould. In order to protect yourself and your family – particularly children who are especially vulnerable to its toxic effects – ensure that you tackle any signs of mould in your home without delay.
If you do fall foul to a growth of the fungus, do not delay in dealing with it. The cost of combatting the problem rises in correlation to the problem itself. Homeinsurance.com reported that a recent white paper from the Insurance Information Institute put the average claim for mould damage at between $15,000 and $30,000 (approximately £9,426.00 and £18,852). This figure is five times higher than the average cost of a non mould-related claim.
This is hardly surprising, given the process of removing mould once it has taken hold. The entire affected area needs to be scrubbed and then thoroughly cleaned before a treatment is applied. The cost involved in this process may not be covered by your insurer, with pay-outs depending on the reason for the mould’s development, so it really is in your best interest to avoid the problem.
Let’s face it, when you’re planning to move house there are a million and one things to think about, from which removal company you’ll use through to changing your domestic billing arrangements and all points in-between. During this often-stressful period, it’s unlikely that you’ll be looking for anything else to add to your woes. However, an area that consistently comes up in conversation between home movers is what to do with the broadband.
After all, most of us these days enjoy a high-speed internet connection, either through a standard copper-wire type arrangement from the likes of BT and its many other rivals, or a cable or fibre optic service such as that supplied by Virgin Media. Either way, itís more than likely that youíll want to keep your supply intact when you get to your new address, but this can often be another area that pushes up stress levels.
Best way forward
You can actually minimise the hassle factor prior to moving though, simply by addressing the job in hand and making a list of things that need to be done. It’s best to start out early on by spending some time on comparison sites such as Broadbandgenie.co.uk comparing the broadband deals that will be available to you in your new locale. Remember that not all products and services are available in all areas, so cable for example, might not be an option if youíre going to an area not covered by the fibre network.
You’ll also need to carefully consider and weigh up the realistic practicalities of the broadband service in your new neighbourhood. Home broadband can be hugely affected by the proximity of your home to the telephone exchange if you’re going with a standard broadband provider. Moving further away from this supply means it could slow down and also not be capable of offering services such as on-demand TV programming if you’re going for the multi-option type packages that are out there.
What to get
With that in mind, use a free comparison website to point you in the right direction of not only the best deals and offers, but also what is available in your new neck of the woods. You can save money on the end result by selecting a bundle of, perhaps, home broadband, TV and a landline, depending on your requirements. Another way to gauge what is good for your new location is to check out consumer reviews of products and services in the destination area.
While you’re investigating, you may well find that itís possible to simply move your account with the same provider to a new address, and keep things as they are assuming youíre happy, Lookout for any charges involved with this, although it may still be cheaper than changing altogether. However, at the same time you may not be too happy with your current home broadband provider, so one definite plus point about moving to a new address is that it could provide you with the perfect opportunity to get a brand new and much more efficient internet service.
We’ve all seen Phil and Kirstie making the point that for a homebuyer, location really is key. While there are many considerations you’re always going to have to keep in mind when looking for a new home, the location will always be high up there on the list.
In our minds there’s just no better place in the UK for a new home than Kent. The Garden of England is home to rolling countryside, historical cities and towns and has no shortage of sites of cultural interest.
With so many homes for sale in Kent, now really is the time to find your perfect location. Here we’ve got a few tips on how to find your ideal property in Kent.
Get online
When you’re looking for something you just can’t ignore the internet. Going online and using search engines you can find literally whatever you’re looking for, so why would you ignore this when trying to find a new home? Not only can you find information from various sites about the properties within your price range you can also find out so much about areas you could potentially live in. If you’re not that familiar with all areas of Kent, with just a few clicks of your mouse you can swot up on the local history, standard of schooling, amenities in the area – literally anything you want to find out.
Go for a walk
Once you’ve got an idea of the different areas in Kent from your online activity, there really is no better way to get a feel for a place than getting out and going for a walk. With the gorgeous countryside and the quaint villages dotted throughout the county, once you stretch your legs and explore Kent you’ll never want to leave.
Get some professional help
You may have an idea about house prices in the area from your investigations online, but it does no harm to seek some professional advice from an estate agent or house builder. With an estate agent you’ll be able to provide them with a list of parameters and they can suggest properties that fit the bill. You never know, they may have the perfect find for you. It’s also worthwhile speaking to a house builder as with the number of new developments popping up all over Kent, you’ll be able to get a heads up on any new properties being built in desirable locations.
Make sure you come back
Once you’ve got a shortlist of properties to visit, remember that your first viewing need not be your final one. Take your time to view them all before you make a decision, eliminate the ones you didn’t like from your list and then make sure you arrange a second viewing on the ones you did. Try and do this at different times of the day to really get a feel for the home. After all that’s what it needs to be; a home not just a house.
Whether you’re renting out that second home in Cornwall as a summer let or own so many buy-to-let properties you could be considered a property guru – beware the tenant from hell
There are enough horror stories of non payments, squatters and trashed properties out there to send a chill down the spine of any experienced landlord, let alone the virgin property owner with little experience.
These difficult tenants come in all shapes and sizes, from the obvious binge-drinking students to that sweet blue-eyed twenty-something who claims to run a ‘massage parlour’ in her room after dark. However, with preparation, landlord insurance, reference checks and some serious questioning, you’ll be protected against not just the bad, but the bizarre and disgusting world of these nightmare tenants:
After six months of living in a property, a man stole a ten-year old cherry tree from the garden and claimed he planted the tree himself.
A teenage tenant in Scotland caused £20,000 worth of damage after throwing paint on the walls, ripping off banisters, breaking kitchen appliances and smashing windows after not paying any rent for months
One extremely annoyed tenant took all the contents of the property – even the carpets – and dumped everything in a big pile in the garden.
A group of tenants, who apparently ‘got bored’ turned into pyromaniacs overnight and burned everything in the property. This included floorboards, doors, skirting boards and even the wooden batons behind plastered walls.
A student in Birmingham caused considerable damage to her ceiling after installing her very own pole-dancing studio in her living room.
A doctor had a private cannabis farm in his apartment, and then claimed it was for ‘medicinal purposes.’
A group of trainee medical students sharing a flat claimed that doctors were exempt from cleaning after the landlord questioned the state of the property.
After an inventory clerk went to inspect a property, he reported that the carpet was dirty. The tenant, however, denied that the floor needed vacuuming saying, “Why does it need cleaning, I’ve only been here for six months?”
One tenant who spent their time reading up on human rights refused to leave a property for 12 months (and didn’t pay a penny for the duration).
A professional con man (who has still not been found) rented a property under a false name and conducted a series of credit card frauds and benefit cheats.
Congratulations to Douglas & Gordon who were the winners in our category in this year’s Primelocation blog awards. Thanks to primelocation for organising the event and congratulations to our fellow runners up.
If you are like most people today you may well have noticed some rather strange-looking icons appearing in a number of marketing techniques. Even so, you might not be aware that these icons, known as QR codes, could be just what you need to help you increase your property sales. For those who are not familiar with QR codes, they are the latest technologically savvy way for prospective customers and clients to be directed straight to your website. All they need to do is use their mobile device to scan the icon. It’s that simple.
Before you begin slathering these bizarre looking codes over all of your advertising, it is important to consider some important elements. QR codes are primarily targeted at consumers who use Smart phones. Therefore, in order for this marketing strategy to work in an efficient manner, it is imperative that your website be optimized so that it can be viewed on mobile devices. Otherwise, all your efforts will be in vain. In addition, although QR codes have grown rapidly in popularity, it should also be understood they are still relatively new. Not everyone understands what these icons are, or even how they work. To reach that segment of your population, it is critical that you display some text alongside the icon which clearly explains users will need to download a reader from an app store and that the reader is free.
So, how can you incorporate QR codes into your real estate business? Let’s take a look:
Sales Boards
This is typically a great starting point for most estate agents. When these codes are placed on your sales board, it makes it possible for anyone who is passing by to easily and quickly scan the code and then be directed to a details page on your site regarding that specific property. Another great advantage is that each scan can be easily tracked, allowing you to keep track of your return on investment for every sales board.
Direct Mail
You can also benefit by incorporating QR codes into your direct mail pieces. As you are probably aware, tracking the success rate of mail-out advertising pieces has always been problematic. When using a QR code on direct mail pieces; however, each transaction will be automatically tracked. Furthermore, you gain the ability to customize each campaign to specifically suit local audiences. Consequently, it is easy to redirect users in various areas to experiences that are tailored just for them.
Business Cards
Business cards are among the most common used tools in the real estate industry. What if you could make your business cards do more for your business? With QR codes you can. It seems as though everything is going digital today. With QR codes, users can quickly scan your business card and then save all of your pertinent information to their mobile device. In addition, this is a great opportunity to make sure you stand out from the rest of the crowd by creating an experience that is truly memorable. For instance, consider including a video message on the page where users are redirected.
Property Information Sheets
This is yet one more example of how you can take advantage of the many benefits offered by QR codes. By simply scanning a QR code from property information sheets, users will be quickly redirected to pages that include a wealth of additional information such as rightmove estate agents interactive floor plans, video tours and more. When compared to boring and dry detail print-outs, this is a far more compelling and powerful experience.
Your Vehicle
Many estate agents take advantage of the opportunity to market their business by including bumper stickers are magnetized advertising on their vehicles. Why not take it a step further and include a QR code? The potential is enormous, considering the number of people that likely see your vehicle each and every day as you conduct business and go about daily errands. With a QR code on your vehicle, anyone passing by can easily scan the code and view a listing of all your available properties as well as contact information.
While they may appear somewhat strange, QR codes are making tremendous headway in the world of high-tech marketing. They have already quickly become a powerful influence in major marketing campaigns.
This post was written by guest writer Andrew Potter. Andrew runs My Online Estate Agent and regularly contributes insightful articles to the online property forum.
Managing multiple rental properties can be challenging, but it’s the responsibility of the landlord to take out landlord insurance and ensure everything’s running smoothly. Every house, flat, bungalow or studio must be looked after with care and should be up to scratch to stop tenants jumping ship.
Here’s how to manage multiple rental properties successfully:
Keep a separate file for each property
Make sure all paperwork is well organised by keeping a separate, well-managed file for each property. File away contracts, legal documents, utility bills, references, and letters from tenants together for each residence and use dividers to mark off each section. You really don’t want to be sending tenants the wrong information, so make sure you stay on top of the game.
Use the same labourers
If you’ve a trusted electrician, plumber or painter, why not ask them to carry out maintenance on all your properties? You might get discount for a bulk contract and will be able to streamline repair work a lot easier. Ask a reputable labourer to come with your when acquiring a new property and get professional advice before parting with your cash.
Inspect your properties frequently
If all your properties are in one area, schedule when you’ll visit each residence and seek permission from the tenants. Inspect every property regularly (without invading anyone’s privacy) and keep track of all visits. If your properties are spread out all over the place, you’ll still need to check up on them, but devise a route that’s convenient for you and let everyone know your plan.
Return calls
Failing to return calls or respond to letters is a sign that you’ve taken on more than you can handle. Either put someone in charge of admin, or step up your game to satisfy your tenants. People won’t be happy if they’re left waiting and might move out when their contract expires. It’s your duty to provide an efficient service, so always try to answer questions and respond to complaints.
Take out landlord cover
Landlord cover could save you time and money and will protect you in an emergency. Tenants can be irresponsible, so make sure you look after your investment. Reputable companies will cover damage to your plumbing and electrics and will make sure you meet your legal gas safety regulations. Safeguard you properties and make the most out of your business.
Being a landlord can be stressful, but it can also be rewarding if you put the effort in.
At last, someone listened and we are getting better ads from the portals. Findaproperty have a new look site with a new look ad which is more modern, funnier and generally an all round massive improvement!
It was announced the other day that Property Drum Ltd had aquired the Negotiator Magazine. The parties didn’t say ‘for an undisclosed sum’ but then they didn’t say how much!
When Property Drum burst onto the scene back in 2009 the Owl was a little sceptical and asked whether a 100 page magazine could stay afloat. Well, they have and through recession and I for one applaud this move. The Negotiator is a good ‘brand’ name and has a loyal following. I have always maintained that its strength was the ability to produce quality interviews and articles with the people one wants to read about and if they can develop this strength, grow it online and harness the social space that remains largely unexplored for property people they ought to be the dominant player.
I guess the real question is whether they can continue to run as separate brands ? The writer believes not for two reasons (1) pure economics and (2) they need to embrace the online space with gusto and this acquisition positions them perfectly to expand into said space with an overall product that has quality and depth.
One magazine, one dominant news and reviews brand, one social space for property people (and dare I say just one portal!).
Anyway, good luck to them, I am off to join the communist party.
Thanks to those who voted for us and I guess I ought to write something now to carry us past the winning post. Runners up in 2009 and 2010, could this be our year ?
We are in good company and fellow nominees are as follows. We know most of these guys so good luck to you all. Hopefully Primelocation will lay on a party for us
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