Especially during the spring and summer, Australia is rife with events and festivals. With everything from music to art to sports, there is something for everyone to enjoy. [Read more…]
4 Finance Management Tips for Home Loans
Managing your finances to make sure that you can afford a home loan or more readily make payments on your existing loan can be daunting. You might not be sure how to budget for home costs, and trying to figure out the right way to save up for this kind of purchase can be daunting as well. For many people, buying a home can seem like an impossible achievement. [Read more…]
What You Should Know About Investing in Singapore Residential Properties
Over the past few years there has been a growing interest in buying up residential properties in Singapore as an investment. Sometimes families and self-employed people find the quality of life and cost of living desirable, and other times it is the ease at which foreign nationals can own most types of property there that is appealing. There are some areas of the world that frown upon foreign nationals owning real estate, but Singapore isn’t one of them. In fact, other than a few exceptions, Singapore welcomes foreign nationals with open arms. Are you thinking about buying a residential property in Singapore? Here is some of what you may want to know before signing a purchase agreement and applying for a mortgage loan.
The Budget Homeowner’s Guide To Keeping Your House Safe
Nobody said that running a home was going to be cheap. Houses are the most substantial investment most of us will make in our lives. From the initial down payment to the running costs, they’re a constant investment that likes to keep us on our toes. What’s one thing you want to do with an investment so substantial? Protect it.
Below, you’ll find the budget homeowner’s guide to keeping a home safe.
The Prime Danger Suspects
Many things can compromise the safety of you and anyone else inside your home. The first is one that many wouldn’t consider prime, but factoring in that more than 50% of houses in the US have mold damage to some degree, we’d call it a prime danger. Mold is a pesky type of fungus that grows everywhere and is typically harmless until they find a nice damp spot to set up camp in.
Once they land on a damp spot – they grow. When they develop in the damp, it becomes dangerous to stay near them because it’s easy to inhale the mold spores thanks to the humidification of the air. Plus, the large black spores characteristic of mold aren’t the prettiest to look at. Mold typically invades the structures of your home, such as the walls or floorboards, which can compromise the integrity of the said structure.
Mold isn’t the type of thing you wait to go without intervention, and insurance that covers mold is few and far between. One-part bleach to four-parts water is an effective killer, but for mold that has infiltrated the plaster of the wall, you might find you need the plasterboards replacing.
That’s why it pays to check whether the home insurance you have covers mold or not. Most policies discount mold unless it has caused damage to the walls, ceiling, or floor. To protect against mold, ensure rooms are properly ventilated, especially in the kitchen or bathroom, to prevent steam from settling onto surfaces and forming a nice damp spot for mold to move to.
Another prime danger suspect is fire. In the US, an estimated 358,500 homes fall victim to a house fire which sometimes causes irreparable damage. Of course, most home insurance policies do cover fire damage, but prevention is key. Fire safety experts recommend switching plugs off, limiting the number of appliances linked to one outlet, and minimizing the use of fire hazards such as candles.
Experts also recommend that homeowners run a monthly check of their fire alarms to ensure they’re working. A simple monthly alarm check saves millions of lives a year.
Protecting The Structure Of Your Home
Multiple issues could compromise the structure of your home, so let’s start at the top. In the US, the natural elements can wreak havoc on roofing, causing broken tiles, roof collapses, and many other problems that a homeowner shouldn’t have to deal with. Keeping things on a budget, you can protect the roof by ensuring you carry out regular inspections to check for loose or broken tiles or anything that might mean the roof structure has been compromised.
While a damaged tile might not seem like a big deal, it can lead to leaks, further damage and might prove detrimental if a storm comes along. A broken roof and a tropical storm are a recipe for disaster. Staying on the topic of roofing, you can enquire about applying metal roofing. Metal roofing is far more robust than tiles and might be a better roofing material if you live in an area that’s prone to hurricanes, for example.
Keeping Intruders Out
One of the obvious safety risks of owning a home is the danger of intruders. According to statistics, there are roughly 2.5 million burglaries a year in the US, and the number only seems to be on the rise. There are obvious precautions you can take that don’t cost a dime. For example, you should ensure every door is locked before you go out, not just the front and back door. The garage door is often forgotten about, as is shutting all the windows.
Homeowners can also keep social media content about holidays to a minimum, change the locks every few months, and limit the number of people who have a key to the house.
Moving more upmarket — but still cheap for a budget homeowner’s guide — fake security cameras can also deter people away from your home. When big brother is watching, people are less likely to come knocking – or barging in where burglars are concerned. Amazon has a large array of fake home security cameras that look like the real deal.
Experts think up to 67% of break-ins could be prevented with a home security camera system.
A home should be a haven. A place you can go to at the end of a busy working day and feel at peace – yet every homeowner knows multiple things can burst that peaceful bubble. The tips above are just a few of the measures homeowners can put in place to keep their homes safe on a budget.
A summary of open banking in the UK
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Earn more money – Five side hustles that pay off!
Let’s face it – Shit happens! Your car breaks down and needs a fix, or the summer holiday that you planned seems to be too expensive. Sometimes we need some extra money to live our best life, and good for you; we’ll show you the best five side hustles to earn extra cash. [Read more…]
The Relationship Between Bad Credit Loans And High Interest Loans
When it comes to having bad credit and paying higher interest, the two are often found hand in hand. Having bad credit can put some lenders off, due to the higher risk, which will ultimately leave them with no option but to approve you for a loan with much higher interest. They will often do this for their own security. There are many ways in which you can find ways around this when applying for payday loans, to ensure you are able to put yourself in a financially stable position, regardless of your prior affordability issues. [Read more…]
How do the elite traders manage their money?
Traders need to understand that the trading field is not a place you should go to just to have fun. Investors must have strong devotion, dedication, and determination to succeed in this industry. So, develop a good plan which will help to control the situation. Sometimes, the investor tries to beat the market which is a wrong thing. They need to understand that the market will never move according to their wish. Price movements are usually governed by economic and technical factors. [Read more…]
Best Financial Tips During Lockdown
Lockdown has been tough on everyone for several reasons but one of the most prominent reasons is the financial impact it has had on several people. Whether it be no income as a result of redundancy or limited income due to reduced work hours, we have got some financial tips to aid you in bettering your financial status. [Read more…]