What to Know About Managing Letted Properties

Letting our properties to tenants is a good way to build a consistent stream of revenue, and it’s also a long-term investing strategy for some people. Owning properties and having them occupied by tenants is a tried and tested business model and it could be the way forward for you and your business strategy. But before you go ahead and do that, there are a few things about managing letted properties that you need to understand.

You Need to Have the Right Safety Checks Carried Out

Having the right safety checks carried out on your properties before letting them out is vitally important. Whenever letting a property to the tenant, you have certain duties and legal responsibilities. One of them is ensuring you’re providing safe accomodation for the tenant, so finding any problems and getting them corrected is essential when starting out.

Ensure Tenants Feel Supported

When you’re looking after tenants, they’re going to expect a certain standard of service from you. When they have a problem, they’ll want to know that you’re there to fix it and that you’re not going to leave them hanging. So, responsiveness and communication are two things that will be essential when it comes to managing letted properties and keeping tenants satisfied.

Put the Right Insurance in Place

Being properly insured as a landlord is essential. There’s all kinds of damage that can occur when you have a tenant in your property, and you need to know that you’re going to be covered no matter what happens. Regular home and contents insurance is not enough; instead, you need landlord insurance which offers a tailored level of cover that meets your needs.

Your Properties Need Energy Ratings

If you’re going to make sure that your properties are properly covered and have everything they need, one thing you wouldn’t want to forget is an energy rating. A good EICR supplier will be able to provide you with an energy rating for your property. Having one is a requirement under the law for any property that’s being rented out to a tenant.

You Need to Know Your Legal Position and Rights

Finally, you should fully understand the legal position you’re in. You can’t simply break a lease agreement and throw tenants out of your properties. And you can’t turn up at the property that’s tenanted just because you own it. Your tenant has rights, including privacy rights and these need to be fully respected.

Letting out properties can be a good business model if you have the capital to purchase those properties in the first place. If it’s something that you’re looking to explore and you want to build your own property empire, be sure to take on board all of the advice outlined above.

Taking Care Of Yourself When You Live a Busy…

Do you pay attention to your health as much as you should? Have you got any niggling concerns in the back of your mind that you should really get checked out? We all know that we should do more to look after ourselves, but how many of us actually take the time to do so?

Taking appropriate care of yourself will mean eating a well-balanced diet that is filled with fresh fruit and veg. It means getting plenty of sleep and relaxing occasionally. It means exercising whenever you have the opportunity and doing something for your mental health and wellbeing such as taking part in a hobby that you enjoy, socializing, or meditating. 

Aside from doing all of these things on a daily basis to improve the overall condition of your physical and mental health, you should also make sure that you are getting regular health check-ups in some of the most important areas of your life. 

You may not notice health problems as they start to creep up on you, there may be warning signs but these could be hard to spot. It is vital that you go for check-ups. 

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the key areas in your life that you really should be getting health check-ups on a routine basis. 

Get Your Eyes Tested Often

While you may believe that you have perfect eyesight, the fact of the matter is that this can change over time. It is essential, therefore, that you go and visit your optician for your eyes testing at least every two years. You may find that have had subtle changes in your eyesight. This can cause you to strain when you are looking at things. This, in turn, could cause headaches or migraines. 

If you drive, then is especially important that you get your eyes tested often so that you can see clearly. Having your eyes tested will ensure that you are aware of the hazards that could endanger your life and the lives of your passengers. 

If you have been told that you need to wear glasses by your optician, then you should do this. You can buy glasses to match your prescription online. There are thousands of options to choose from and you can easily find a style that will suit your tastes. 

There are other ways that you can take good care of your eyesight too. For example, you should always wear sunglasses that over UV protection when it is sunny as looking at the sun could cause you to burn your eyes. 

To take the best care of your eyes, look for foods that are rich in beta carotene– this will include squashes, carrots, sweet potatoes, as well as fruits such as apricots. 

Get Your Hearing Checked Regularly

Hearing loss is something that can sneak up on you when you least expect it. Contrary to what you may think, hearing loss is not just something that happens in old age. It can start much sooner. 

You may not realize that you are experiencing hearing problems until other people point out that you may be having hearing problems. It is, therefore, essential that you go for a hearing test if you are experiencing any level of hearing loss. 

In your hearing test, a hearing aid specialist or an audiologist will be able to identify the cause of your hearing loss and they will then suggest ways that you can treat it. The types of treatment that you could have will range from taking medication or having your ear wax drained, through to having a hearing aid fitted. 

If you need to get a hearing aid, you may have concerns that you will need to wear a large device that will be uncomfortable. Hearing aids have come on in leaps and bounds though. 

To help with your hearing health, get plenty of potassium, zinc, and omega 3 in your diet. 

Check-In On Your Own Mental Health 

An area of your health that should not be overlooked at all is your mental wellbeing. Strains and stresses in your lives can build up over time, and if you don’t pay attention to your emotional wellbeing and how you are feeling then you may end up developing depression or anxiety. 

Pay attention to how you are feeling all of the time. Think about your current emotional state and notice any changes in your own mood. If you do find that you are experiencing any signs of stress, anxiety, or depression and they have become more frequent in your life, then you should find ways of slowing down and practising self-care. 

Speak with your doctor as soon as you can and mention any concerns that you might have about your mental health. Your doctor may be able to help with medication or they may be able to refer you to a therapist or counsellor who will be able to talk you through some of the problems that you may have been encountering in your life that may have had a negative effect on you. 

Take a look at the amount of sleep that you are currently getting. Getting a good night’s sleep is essential to your mental health. If you are someone that struggles to get to sleep at night, try to avoid using your smartphone, tablet, or laptop for an hour before you go to sleep. You could also splash some lavender oil onto your pillow to help you to relax so that you drift off into a natural night’s sleep. 

Make sure that you get some exercise every day. Even if you just get a small amount of exercise, it will help you with the mental health issues that you may be experiencing. If you are someone that doesn’t currently exercise much, starting small will help you to ensure that you are able to complete the exercise.  Once you start to get used to exercising at this level on a regular basis, you will be able to increase the intensity and the amount of your exercise. Before you know it, you will have improved your physical fitness and you’ll start to feel good about your mental wellbeing too.  

You can also make some changes to your diet to help you with your mental health too. These changes should include cutting back on the amount of caffeine that you drink, as well as eating more whole grains, leafy greens, and fresh berries. 

Visit The Dentist Often

Not many people can say that they actually enjoy visiting the dentist, and you may include yourself in that number, however, it is essential that you make an appointment to see your dentist every once in a while. 

Just because you don’t currently have any pains in your teeth or your gums, it doesn’t mean that there are no problems below the surface. A full inspection of your teeth will mean that your dentist will be able to spot any of the early warning signs that there is tooth decay. This will mean that they will have a good headstart in sorting out all of the necessary treatments that you may need as well as providing you with advice that will help prevent further damage. 

The more warning that your dentist can get about problems affecting your teeth, the less likely you will be to need painful or expensive dental work. 

To protect your teeth, you should always ensure that you are getting lots of calcium in your diet. You can get this by eating leafy green vegetables, tofu, dairy products, and nuts. 

Keep An Eye On Your Physical Health

It can be easy to ignore all of the aches and pains in our bodies. However, these are important warning signs that we must pay attention to. 

It is certainly worth having a full general health check-up from time-to-time. Issues such as heart disease and cancer can be fatal so it is vital that you catch these early. You should also have your blood pressure checked on occasion too. You may also benefit from having a cancer screening. By checking all of these things, you’ll be able to get ahead of these problems should they ever become something that you need to worry about. This will give you the best hope for a full recovery. 

It is vital that you don’t overlook your physical health. Take the time to have the tests that you need. 

Finding The Time For Your Health

Finding the time to take care of your health can be a struggle. If you live a busy life, you may not have much time free and you won’t want to spend it going for appointments. You should consider how a major change in your health would affect your lifestyle. It is much better to catch health problems earlier and to address them straight away than it is to develop life-changing conditions. 

Make an appointment to see your doctor, dentist, audiologist, and optician as soon as you can.  

Does Your Team Need A Full Stack Developer?

If there’s one constant in the world of IT development, it’s that the pace of change will continue to accelerate as end user demands grow more complex. Global levels of change are raising expectation levels across the board, so it’s little wonder that full stack developers are a welcome addition to most project teams now. Your application will go through several phases before being ready for public release; UX design to create a usable layout for the intended product, front-end development to turn the code into something public-facing,a nd back-end development, which deals with code on the server side. Including a full stack developer means that you have someone on the team who has the capability to contribute to each stage, from the server side and it’s frameworks through the parts of an application which are directly user-facing. This oversight and ability to switch between tasks can bring an appreciation of different perspectives and how they can conflict or find synergies – this can be incredibly useful throughout the lifecycle of a given development. There is also a universalism gained when a team member can understand almost any code. Often a full stack developer can complement the work of specialists and bring the project together. Every project is different, so often it’s a process of weighing up the needs of the particular application you’re working on and assessing the value of the contribution you think a full stack developer could make. This infographic can help you decide on how a full stack developer might contribute to your project: