In many ways, investing in real estate is straightforward. We know, however, the new investors want the reassurance they’re going into this venture prepared. We don’t blame them – this is, after all, a big step in building a better financial future for yourself and your family!

When you partner with REI Nation for your investment property purchase, you'll enjoy better returns on every property, every time. Now, it's time to hit the jackpot with REI Nation's Triple 7 Offer.

Little Rock has become one of our most popular markets for investors looking for reliable, long-term investment properties to add their portfolio. 

Little Rock is one of our hand-selected markets, prime for long-term investment due to its steady economy and central location. 

Sometimes it can be a challenge to discern what is really going to bring your real estate investment career to the next level. What’s going to help you punch up and reach new heights for your passive income? Can you make it by way of renovations and ROI? Relying on tenant retention? Making things easier and more streamlined with the latest technology?

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by options?

Fast food restaurants have space-age drink machines with 300 combinations of soft drinks. We’ve given endless choices at the grocery store, when shopping for clothes, when selecting shows to watch on Netflix.

Real estate investors, whether we realize it or not, are faced with the same slew of options when it comes to our investments. While it might seem like there’s just a handful of ways to go about this whole investment thing, new investors quickly find that there’s a whole world of strategies, variations, niches, and markets out there.

Have you ever tried to follow a recipe, got to the end, and found that you’d accidentally skipped an ingredient? Maybe you used the wrong ingredient entirely! We’ve all had a good laugh over those really salty chocolate chip cookies, I’m sure.

Recipes gone wrong make a funny story. A good laugh. Sure, you waste a few ingredients and a little bit of money, but it’s just a small inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. It’s far more serious to leave something out of your real estate investment business!

Wait—how can that happen?

In real estate investing, it’s tempting to think that more investment properties added to your portfolio will automatically mean more profits. The fact of the matter is, it’s likely that you’re overlooking opportunities to increase your profits in the investment properties you already have.

A two angled approach makes the most sense. Real estate investors should absolute look to maximize revenue on the properties that they have AND add to their portfolios at the same time!

Real estate investment isn’t about how much money investors have to throw around and how many properties they’re renting out. Smart investing comes not just in volume, but in diligent care and attention.  It is true that there is safety in numbers, but there is also additional revenue by working with your portfolio and partners to create a smarter return.

Boosting Your Investment Property Profits

This list is going to seem, well, basic.  But the basics are what make the best real estate investors a consistent return on their investment over time.  At Memphis Invest and Premier Property Management, we have made the basics our specialty.  These are three of the MAIN reasons our clients have successfully made money over the life of owning their portfolios.  Returns can go up and down year to year, yet a consistent long-term portfolio is going to perform up to potential if investors can focus themselves or their team of providers on these three key areas.

Minimize Vacancies

The mostly costly time for any investment property is when it is uninhabited. Every month of vacancy costs you a significant percentage of yearly profits. The best thing you can do as a real estate investor is to minimize vacancy. When you have a tenant moving out, no matter what the circumstance, start advertising as soon as you are aware of the move. Don’t wait. The only case in which you may want give some breathing room between occupants is if you’re planning big renovations that a tenant cannot stay through.

Another element to minimizing vacancies is offering something unique. What does your property offer? Convenient location, up-to-date appliances? Step back and reconsider why a tenant would want to rent from you. If your property doesn’t have some standout characteristic in comparison to other rentals in the area, maybe you should look to competitive pricing. While you don’t need to shortchange yourself on the rental price, lowering it may help attract more potential tenants more quickly and help fill the vacancy.

The money that you lose on a lower rental rate is often a better deal than the money you’d lose on months of vacancy.

Over the years, when you have long-term tenants, prices can be strategically increased to account for area competition, demand and increasing costs. Researching nearby properties is important to know what is and isn’t reasonable for your property.

Decrease Turnovers

Avoiding turnover avoids vacancy. While there are factors out of your control when a tenant decides to move on, there are plenty of things you can do to improve tenant retention.

The responsiveness of your property manager and maintenance crew is integral to tenant happiness. Your staff should excel in customer support and be polite, timely and efficient. While you may lose tenants to a career in another city or to home ownership, you don’t want to lose them to another landlord in the same area.

Keep your prices reasonable and competitive as an incentive for your tenants to stay. Take good care of the property and the needs and concerns of your tenants. Building a good relationship with them will make loyal tenants that only leave when they have to — because they’ll never want to.

Make Smart Renovations

Apart from tenant-related issues, smart renovations can go a long way to increasing the profitability of your investment property. Renovations that tenants value means you can increase rental prices. The more you can offer, the more they’re willing to pay. Your renovations shouldn’t be ultimately worth it to you, but to your tenants.

What will make their lives more pleasant? A deck or outdoor shed? Better paint on the walls? New flooring? Instead of breaking the bank on a kitchen overhaul, prioritize renovations in a way that will help you make an immediate impact on profits. Look for projects that are historically known to boost ROI.

While there is only so much real estate investors can do to maximize their profits, taking an active and attentive role in the management of one’s investment properties is one of the surest ways to make sure that you’re making the most of your investments.

Where do you find ways to increase your investment revenue? Share with us in the comments.

image credit: Tax Credits

Starting something new, particularly when there is money involved, can be as daunting as it is exciting. For new real estate investors especially, getting going can be overwhelming.

On top of trying to learn about real estate investing itself, there are countless new laws to learn, from insurance and taxes to properties and tenants. You may be afraid of making a mistake, losing money or outright “failure”...and that’s all natural.

Instead of fretting about what could go wrong as a green investor, focus on taking the steps that will set you up for real estate investment success.

It's safe to say that most real estate investors are in the business to make money and many are actually planning for an event.  That requires planning and saving for that special something. In many cases, that something is retirement.