As 2018 turns into 2019, it’s the ideal time for property owners and landlords to think about their portfolios and what they hope to accomplish in the New Year.
Perhaps you want to add new properties to your portfolio.
Maybe you want to improve your existing properties in order to increase rents.
Or it could be that you want to wait and see what opportunities 2019 presents.
No matter what you want to accomplish this year, there are steps that all property owners and landlords should take if they want to be in a position to take advantage of new opportunity. Here’s a look at 5 ideas to consider if you want to make 2019 a banner year for your real estate investment business.
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Set Growth Goals
Start the New Year by setting growth goals for your business. And keep in mind that it’s not enough to simply want to make more money. You need to put far more detail behind your real estate investment goals.
The SMART goal approach works across all types of businesses, including real estate investment. When setting goals, make sure they are:
- Specific: Be specific about the number of properties you want to add to your portfolio or the amount by which you want to increase cash flow.
- Measurable: The only way to know if you’ve reached your goals is to make them measurable. Create benchmarks against which you can measure your growth goals at the end of 2019.
- Attainable: Most real estate investors are ambitious. That’s what inspires them to do something big with their money in the first place. But make sure that your goals are attainable, which may mean suppressing your ambition ever so slightly.
- Realistic: Don’t create goals that you can’t realistically reach. If you set goals that can’t be achieved, your goal-setting process will only discourage you.
- Time-Bound: Yes, these are 2019 goals, which means you have until the end of the year. But it’s best to break up goals into 90-day increments, which gives you quarterly check-ins to evaluate progress.
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Scout New Opportunities
Carve out time in 2019 to become intimately familiar with the markets where you operate. Consider reading local real estate journals and blogs, and spend time each day looking at properties coming onto the market.
By familiarizing yourself with the market and evaluating properties for sale, you’ll be able to internalize market conditions and identify opportunities naturally. And the only way you’re going to grow your business and increase your return is by creating a process that naturally presents new opportunities.
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Line Up Financing
Of course, you can’t take advantage of new opportunities if you don’t have financing available. Do you have a strong relationship with a lender? Do you check in with different lenders, even when you don’t need something from them?
If not, make it a point to develop closer relationships with lenders in 2019. When you know various lenders that serve your market, you can stay in touch about lending requirements and contact them quickly when you need financing to take advantage of a specific opportunity.
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Budget for Improvements
Don’t forget about your existing properties as you look to grow your business in 2019. The New Year is a great time to think about improvements and updates to your properties, and then to budget for the execution of those improvements and updates.
Why is this so important? Because today’s improvements and updates are tomorrow’s rent increases. While you may think of improvements and updates as expenses you don’t want to incur, remember that strategic improvements and updates will help you boost your monthly cash flow in the future.
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Jump on Opportunities
Resolve to take action in 2019. If you’ve spent time setting goals, analyzing the market and properties for sale, as well as lining up financing, you have all the ingredients needed to seize new opportunities. Now all you need is the mindset to jump on opportunities as you encounter them.
That’s not to say you should be haphazard in acquiring new properties for your portfolio. That’s why it’s so important to follow these 5 ideas as a process. If you take each step one at a time, you’ll be fully prepared to make confident investments if and when attractive opportunities emerge.
Bonus: Find a Property Management Partner
What about the day-to-day operation of your properties? When you’re busy setting goals, analyzing the market, lining up financing and searching for new opportunities, you may need support for ongoing operations.
At HUNTAHOME, we provide comprehensive property management in Dallas and Fort Worth. We can handle your marketing, leasing, repairs or maintenance in an effort to fill gaps in your in-house resources. Or we can serve as your source for full-service property management in Fort Worth or Dallas, taking over all of your day-to-day responsibilities so that you can focus on the big picture.
When it’s time to reach your 2019 goals, it helps a great deal to find a quality provider of DFW property management services.
Get in touch today to learn more about HUNTAHOME and property management in Dallas and Fort Worth.