You’ve learned an incredible amount of information in this course. Hopefully, you’ve not only taken it all in, but have also been putting the information into action. It’s okay to be cautious if you’ve never done this before, but you have to get out there and make it happen!
It can always be helpful to see information written in the form of a summary. It can help you get your thoughts in order. Also, breaking things down can help it to seem less daunting. Follow these steps, and you’ll be well on your way to financial freedom with real estate rental properties.
First, you need to lay out your goals. What do you hope to accomplish by buying your first property? Do you think you will want to expand from there? Do you think this will be a very long term investment, or do you plan on selling in a few years? Keep in mind that this is generally a longer term strategy.
After you’ve settled on your goals, you need to think about the area you are interested in. Consider what the people in that area want when they are looking at a rental property. In general, you can be more profitable more easily with a multi unit property than with a single family home. You can also save some money and get a better loan if you’re able to live in one of the units yourself.
Consider whether you’ll want to be a very hands-on landlord or not. In some cases, you may want to hire a property management company who can take all of those late night phone calls for you! It can be a lot less stressful to have a management company on your side. However, you can save a lot of money by doing things yourself or with a team.
This directly relates to maintenance as well. You can save a lot of money if you’re willing to do the repairs yourself. However, you might not know how to do them! You have to figure in what you will need to pay for repairs, because it will eat into your profits.
Once you’ve settled on a property, you need to shop around for a good loan. In fact, it’s a good idea to get pre-approved as soon as you’ve settled on a general area. That way, you’ll go in knowing what you can afford. Working with a realtor is a great way to find some of the best properties in the area. Work with someone who is familiar with rental real estate and you should be good to go.
After you’ve negotiated with the seller and have submitted your letter of intent, you will move into the contract phase. Finally, it will be time for closing! Just be sure you’ve gone through everything with a fine-toothed comb, including rent rolls, expenses, and so on of the pervious landlord.
You’ll need to have a good lease set up before hand. You don’t want any surprises when you’re dealing with tenants. If you’re a good landlord who takes care of things right away, people will want to stay with you as a renter. This can decrease your vacancy loss, and put more money in your pocket.
As time goes on, you may want to expand your rental real estate empire. You can even turn this into a full time, profitable business. Just imagine what your long term net worth will be once your investments increase in worth over time!
Getting into rental real estate is a great business. Set yourself up for success by educating yourself and taking action, and you’ll be well on your way to success!