Professional real estate investors, landlords and property managers all think the same way. Their way of thinking has resulted in their being successful, it has resulted in their earning a good income from their rental properties, and in their realizing a good profit when they sell them.
Most important the pros honor their investments. They worked hard for them and they treat them with respect. That means that they care about them, they never neglect them, they pay meticulous attention to how they are doing financially. If the finances are slipping, they know it immediately and take action immediately to correct whatever is affecting them.
They don’t hope that everything will be all right, they make sure it is. Nothing is left to chance. Their honor for their investments sets the tone for all other ways they deal with and manage them.
The pros honor and value their good customers. Think about how much your good tenants (customers) pay you every year. Even if their rent is only $500 a month, that is $6,000 a year. If you owned a grocery store, for example, think how much you would value a customer who spent $6,000 a year with you. On the other hand, “customers” who steal from a store are kept out. Likewise, tenants who would steal rent and the use of the property are kept out by professional rental property investors.
The pros look for ways to make their investments even more profitable. In the case of investment real estate that means looking to make sure that the neighborhoods where their rental properties don’t become drug or crime centers. They work with police, local government and neighborhood associations to make sure their neighborhoods remain great places to live.
They are concerned about anything and everything that might or actually does affect their investments. That is why they are successful. They pay attention. They play real estate investing to win, not just to survive. They expect to be as successful as they make the decision to be.
That’s how I am going to ask you to begin thinking right now. If you do already, terrific, but maybe you can crank it up a notch. Think about how you can pay more attention and give more honor to your investments. The correlation between how much you honor your investments and how successful you are is absolute.
Here are some ways to honor your investments and your good customers.
First, drive by your properties whenever you get a chance and make at least a mental note of how they look.
Second, make regular inspections with checklist in hand and schedule repairs and preventive maintenance of what needs attention. Your good customers appreciate your attention, your not-so-good ones think you’re spying on them. Oh, well.
Third, think about what would make your real estate holdings more valuable. What can you do today, this week, this month or this year either on the property or in the neighborhood around it to increase its value.
Real estate is a hands-on investment, as opposed to one where you turn all management and decisions over to someone else and hope they make the right decisions. You have control of your property from purchase, to maintenance, to tenant selection, to management, to when you sell it. Your success is determined by the amount of attention you pay to and the honor you give your investments.