As a real estate investor, few things are more crucial to the health of your financial future than the health of your portfolio. But what constitutes as a healthy real estate investment portfolio? What is your responsibility as a passive investor? Even though you are technically a “hands-off” real estate investor, your role still demands attention. Think of yourself as the captain of the ship! While your crew gets the heavy-lifting done, your hand is at the wheel, steering the ship towards its destination. 

For passive real estate investors, growing your portfolio is the single biggest determining factor in your long-term investment success. While one or two investment properties is a respectable start along the road to your financial freedom, you must be prepared to build a substantial investment portfolio to create both the passive income you desire and a wealth of assets. These assets appreciate over time, creating the substantial wealth that you can pass on to future generations.

If you have ambitions of becoming truly successful in real estate investment, one thing that you will come to learn quickly is that one or two investment properties are not going to cut it. If you have a desire to quit your day job, grow your passive income into a dream retirement, or reach sustainable long-term wealth, you’re going to find that scaling your portfolio is an absolute necessity.

Whenever we see a headline proclaiming that yes, you too can become a millionaire, it’s natural to be skeptical. The majority of us have a pessimistic view of our money and our ability to make it work for us if we have no experience doing so. We don’t know if an investment will work out, if we can effectively grow our net worth, or whether or not we can construct the financial future we envision for ourselves.

No real estate investor sticks with one investment property and expects to find long-term wealth. No, for many, it is only the beginning. They plan to acquire many cash flow properties throughout their careers as investors.

New turnkey real estate investors are often excited to see those first few passive income checks come in at the end of the month. It’s thrilling to start earning passive income! It doesn’t take long to start wondering how you can start scaling and growing your streams of cash flow. After all, it takes more than one property to sustain your financial future!

For passive real estate investors, the first two properties are the most exciting!  

It’s a time to figure things out. You make a lot of mistakes, learn more than you can ever imagine, and find both the joys and the frustrations of owning passive investment properties. But it’s also not the end—not by far.

From the first investment properties come many more to grow a strong, thriving real estate investment portfolio.  This has to be THE goal for passive investors.  If owning a passive portfolio is not your stated and nearly obsessive goal, then rethink your position on investing in passive properties.  A solid, consistent, performing portfolio can be an absolute game changer!

Often for real estate investors, though, the idea of expanding can be a little overwhelming. Even intimidating. If you wait too long, you’ll have missed opportunities. Too soon, and you could end up straining your resources.

So how do you know when it’s time to expand past those first couple of properties, and how should you go about actually building your portfolio?