If you are a property owner thinking about diversifying your investments, you are probably wondering where to start when building a property portfolio. Depending on your personal goals, financial situation, and risk appetite, it’s actually not that difficult to start acquiring and managing more properties when you know the right steps.

What’s a Property Portfolio?

A property portfolio is a compilation of investment properties owned by either an individual, trust, or a company. Managing a property portfolio comes with many benefits as well as many risks that need to be managed.

The Benefits of Building a Property Portfolio

It gives you a diverse income stream – Building a property portfolio can help give you multiple sources of income aside from your work, business, and other investments.
You can gain more equity – By acquiring more property, you can gain more equity in the long run.
You can increase rental profits – Over time you can increase rent on several of your properties that when combined can be a big amount.
Lessens risks – Having a diverse property portfolio in different areas can lessen risks of losing money.

Here are some steps that you need to take and figure out so you can start building your property portfolio:

Tips on Building a Property Portfolio

1. Define your investment strategy

Keep in mind that there is not one correct strategy when building a property portfolio. What is effective for one investor, might not be effective for another investor. So before anything else, you must define your investment strategy.

As I mentioned, there are many different ways to build your property portfolio and one thing you need to make sure is that you maximize profits while minimizing your risks. Are you planning to earn through capital growth or rental returns? Do you think a buy-and-sell strategy will fit your goals? Or is short-term leasing like renting out your house for Airbnbs popular in your area? Take your time to research your options to know which investment strategy fits your goals.

2. Use your property’s equity

You can speed up your property growth by leveraging the equity you have in your current properties. Your bank can help you determine how much your current property is worth and how much equity is in it. Once you have enough equity in your property, you can use that as a deposit for your investment property purchase by borrowing against it.

Saving deposits can take a long time. By tapping the current wealth of your property portfolio, you can add more properties.

3. Choose the right properties

Choose the right property to invest in. Whether you choose to focus on high rental returns or capital growth, you must make sure that the property is worth investing in. The main thing to consider when choosing a property is the location, location, location. As they say, location is everything. It will define how fast your capital will grow in a number of years or how in-demand your property will be for rentals.

Hire an experienced buyer’s agent in your area to have an expert that will help you scan the market and give you vital insights. Aside from their knowledge and skills, buyer’s agents have an extensive network and can help you find good property deals that you likely wouldn’t be able to find on your own. Buyer’s agents can also negotiate for you and can possibly help you save thousands of dollars.

With these steps, you’ll be on the right track to building your property portfolio. The journey to becoming a property investor might not be easy, but equipped with the right tools and the right mindset, it will definitely be much easier. Set realistic goals, always research, manage your risks, and seek help from experts so that you can achieve being a successful property investor.

Get a free consultation from the buyer’s agents at Buying Perth Real Estate to help you get started on building your property portfolio. Contact Clive at clive@buyingperthrealestate.com or give us a call at (08) 6215 0200 or 0412 926 190.

Buyers purchase a new home because of various reasons. It can be because of work, a better community, or upgrading to a bigger home. Whatever the reason is, moving takes a lot of effort and needs a lot of preparation. It is more manageable if you are moving alone but moving with children is a different story. Moving with children can be extra challenging especially if they are at the age when they are very playful and keep running around the house. With careful organization and early preparation, you’ll be able to achieve a less hassle moving process. If you are planning to move to a new home but are worried because of how it can affect your children, here are 5 tips for moving with children:

1. Pack up while they’re asleep or at school.

Packing can be challenging if you have children at home. Imagine sorting items to put in designated boxes while your kid messes it up and picks up things out of the box repeatedly. It will be a never-ending task. It will be extra difficult when you start packing their toys. You won’t be able to declutter or throw away items because once they see it, everything will suddenly become their favourite toy – even those that they haven’t played with for months.

Declutter and pack while they aren’t around. You can also ask your relatives or friends to help you with babysitting your children while you accomplish your moving preparations. Also, since you will start packing your items weeks (or months) before the day of moving in, opt for packing your children’s toys last. This is because your children will definitely look for those toys until your last day in your current home. Allocate a separate box for all toys to make it easier to sort.

2. Use colour-coded packaging tape.

When packing items, it is always wise to sort items according to certain categories. Some homeowners prefer sorting items per type, per owner, or depending on the area of the house in which it belongs. Regardless of how you want to do it, to make things more organized, use color-coded packaging tape to label your boxes. Labelling it using a simple marker will do but color-coded tapes will be more appealing if you have little children as helpers.

This organization method will be useful when your children insist on helping you pack. Using colourful tapes or cute stickers is a child-friendly method to train them how to sort items. You can assign one colour per category. For instance, you can use blue to label your son’s belongings, yellow for your items, green for your partner’s, and red for items from your kitchen.

3. Host a “see you soon” party.

One way to help your children cope with leaving your old community is by hosting a “see you soon” party. If your child has a lot of friends in your neighbourhood, it can be hard for him/her to leave. Give your child a chance to say goodbye to his friends by hosting a “see you soon” party with friends and neighbours. Exchange contact information with them and take a lot of photos. You can also talk to the parents of your child’s friends and plan a possible get-together or visit once in a while. Make the “see you soon” party memorable for your child so he will leave with a happy memory.

4. Create a memory board.

Your children will definitely miss your old home and neighbourhood. To lessen their longing, make sure to take a lot of photos of your current home and the areas in your community. Take photos of your children with their neighbourhood friends. Use photos from your “see you soon” party. Compile it and create a memory board or a scrapbook. Ask your children to create it with you. This is another way to make your children feel less anxious about leaving. Bring it to your new home and give them time to adjust to their new community. Your children will be sad to leave their friends and might show strong emotions about it. So be patient and help them adjust.

5. Visit the neighbourhood before your move date.

Before your move-in date, make sure to do a site visit. This is important not only when moving with children but is an essential part of the whole moving process. Bring the children with you when you visit the new house. Let them know what to expect. Spend a day exploring your new neighbourhood. Give them things that they can be excited about. By familiarizing them with their new environment, you’re helping them get ready with the adjustment and lessen their anxiety.

Give your children and yourself time to adjust

Moving to a new area can be a bit stressful to your children and even to yourself. Your daily routine will change, you’ll need to adjust to the new home, you need to find a new grocery store, you need to help your children adjust and be comfortable with their new environment – there’s just a lot that needs to be done! Don’t be too harsh on yourself and always remember that it takes time to completely feel settled and comfortable in your new home.

With all these tips, there’s no need to worry about moving with children. Early preparation is the key. To further lessen your worries and most importantly take the burden of house hunting off of your shoulders, do not hesitate to seek help from the experts at Buying Perth Real Estate. The experienced buyer’s agents are professionals who can help you find the home that’s perfect for you and your family. Just let them know what you and your children need and they will provide you with the best recommendations.

For a free consultation, email us at clive@buyingperthrealestate.com or give us a call at (08) 6215 0200 or 0412 926 190.

Month July 2021

How to Build a Property Portfolio