Landlords have many responsibilities when caring for rental properties. Some responsibility falls on the tenants, but it is ultimately up to you to provide the basic maintenance necessities for them. What a lot of landlords neglect is that this refers to things outside the property as well as things inside it. You may have no problems scheduling regular boiler checks for your properties, but have you thought about garden maintenance? If your rental property is occupied by one tenant, they should handle the maintenance of the outdoor space. This relates to instances where you rent out a typical family home, for example. However, if you own a block of flats or there are shared outdoor spaces between multiple tenants, the onus is on you to provide maintenance. It’s not a luxury that you add on to make it seem like you’re a good landlord – garden maintenance should be essential, and here’s why… Attract more tenants Do you have vacant properties that need filling? It’ll be hard to attract tenants if the garden and outdoor spaces are a complete mess. Regular garden maintenance makes your property more desirable and marketable, encouraging more people to enquire about it. If you’re been struggling to generate interest around your rental property, now’s the time to get all your outdoor power equipment parts together and tend to the garden. Once everything is neat and tidy, take new property photos and see the instant impact this has on inquiries.  Retain tenants for longer People won’t want to live in a rental property when a shared garden is completely unkempt. It’s not just the garden that’s the issue, it’s any greenery and trees that exist on the property as well. If everything becomes overgrown and unsightly, people want to leave. It annoys them to come home to a property where the lawn is a foot high and all the bushes are overgrown. From their perspective, it makes them wonder what their rent is going towards. Sure, it goes towards the property, but they aren’t getting any extra help from the landlord, so why bother staying? Regular garden maintenance puts an end to these thoughts and encourages people to stay for longer, maximizing your income.  Prevent accidents  Lastly, garden maintenance reduces the risk of accidents and injuries happening on your property. An overgrown tree with low-hanging branches can very easily cause a personal injury. Long grass or weeks can be considered trip hazards – as can lots of wet fallen leaves in the rainy months. If you want to prevent accidents on your property, you must maintain a neat garden and the surrounding outdoor space.  At first glance, something like garden maintenance seems like a trivial thing. By all means, you should not feel responsible for keeping a garden tidy if you rent out a home with just one family or tenant living there. This is more aimed at landlords that own an apartment building or any other property with a garden shared by tenants. Don’t neglect regular maintenance as it can be highly beneficial to keep things in order. 

Many of us understand how much it costs to build a property. But when it comes to the purchasing costs, we don’t always know a huge amount. That said, we should. That’s because how much a building costs to purchase matters a lot to clients. They want to know that they are getting a good return on their investment.  So what purchase costs do we need to take into account following the construction of a building. Perhaps the biggest issue is the cost of capital for the downpayment – usually around 20 percent for most commercial projects. Those buying commercial buildings will need to consider the opportunity cost of putting this money into commercial real estate equity versus investing it elsewhere, such as the stock market. Other cost considerations include valuation fees and loan agreement legal fees. As the following infographic shows, these can be up to 1 percent of the purchase price of the construction. There are many other costs too, such as fire insurance, loan instalments, interest and utility deposits for electricity and water.  It’s also worth noting that commercial rates for utilities are often considerably higher than they are for residential properties. So when clients consider the levelised cost of purchasing a new construction, they will take this into account as well.  If all this sounds a little complicated, don’t worry. The following infographic breaks it down. It shows the likely costs of purchasing a property and how much you’re likely to spend in a country like Malaysia. By PropertyGuru Group

Reports show that there are several million auto accidents in the United States every single year. These accidents can have many different causes, from reckless or drunk drivers to bad weather conditions or even technical faults and failures with car components. They can also be classified into various categories, and there are many different types of accidents, from rear-end collisions to side-swipes. Knowing the difference between auto accidents can be important, because if you’re involved in one of these accidents, you may want to contact a lawyer, and there are certain firms that specialize or have a history in dealing with certain specific types of accidents. To help you differentiate between them and identify the various varieties, this guide will introduce some of the most common types of car accidents. Rear-End Collision The rear-end collision is statistically the most common form of auto accident. This is when one vehicle collides directly with the back of another, often leading to major damage to the front and rear of each respective vehicle, and possible injuries to the drivers and passengers inside due to the sudden impact and force of the crash. There are many potential causes of rear-end collisions. A lot of them occur during rush hour or periods of heavy traffic when cars are driving too close together and not respecting the rules of safe distances. These sorts of accidents may also happen when drivers tailgate others on roads or freeways. It’s also possible for rear-end collisions to occur because of the weather. If rain is falling or frost is on the ground, the road can be more slippery and it can take longer to slow down and stop. So, if you need to brake suddenly, you might not have enough space or time to avoid hitting the car in front. To avoid these accidents, it’s vital to keep your distance and brake ahead of time. Side Swipe Collision Another very common type of car accident is a sideswipe collision. Also known as a side impact or “glancing blow” collision, this is when one car connects with the side of another at a slight angle. This can lead to both drivers losing control of their cars and may cause damage and injuries to both parties, as well as a risk of damage to other cars that might get involved inadvertently in the crash. There are various causes of sideswipe collisions. One of the main ways in which this type of accident can happen is when cars try to change lanes or drift out of their own lane without checking their mirrors and failing to notice the presence of another vehicle beside them, or if cars try to force their way into another lane when there simply isn’t space. It’s also common for sideswipes to occur when drivers get distracted due to things in their car like phones, food, drinks, passengers, and so on. The key to avoiding side swipe collisions is to make sure you always use your mirrors and signals before making turns or changing lanes and wait for the right moment to merge. T Bone Collision A T-bone collision, which may also be referred to as a “broad impact” collision or right-angle crash, is another form of a collision involving one vehicle hitting another from the side. The difference between the T bone and the side swipe is that, in a T bone, the cars are perpendicular to each other, with one driving directly into the side of the other. This can be one of the most devastating types of accident, because cars have less protection on the sides, so victims of these accidents can suffer terrible injuries or even death. In terms of how they happen, these types of accidents usually occur at intersections where two cars try to pass at the same time. If one car drives out at traffic lights while another one is trying to pass, they may collide in a T bone formation. It’s also possible for these accidents to occur due to distracted driving or drunk driving. Drivers need to be really careful at intersections, making sure to stop if needed, look both ways, and give time for other cars to pass before they proceed. Head-On Collision Definitely one of the worst types of auto accident, but also one of the rarest too, a head-on collision is when two cars collide with one another head-on, with both drivers facing one another. Since both cars are traveling in opposite directions, the impact of this accident can be enormous, causing huge amounts of damage. Head-on collisions usually occur when one vehicle goes out of its lane or drives the wrong way down a road, or if a driver has to swerve suddenly to avoid some other hazard and collides with a car coming in the opposite direction. These accidents commonly involve drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and some involve people who have fallen asleep at the wheel. In order to avoid head-on collisions, it’s important for drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road at all times, watching out for any upcoming hazards or drivers on the wrong side of the road, especially at night and at weekends when the chances of encountering drunk drivers tend to be higher. Final These are just some of the many types of auto accidents that occur each and every day on American roads. There are also many other types to take into consideration, such as collisions with animals or collisions with pedestrians and cyclists. There are even single-vehicle collisions in which one car crashes into objects like walls or street lights. It’s clear to see that there are a lot of risks on the roads, and driving unsafely can massively increase your own chances of being in an auto accident and suffering serious injuries in the process. Make sure to keep your speed low and your concentration levels high to keep your risks of accidents as