You invested in a Columbus real estate property as a wealth-building opportunity. Now your job is to grow that investment. While real estate consistently performs well as an asset class, it’s not a completely hands-off endeavor. Far from it. Even if you hire a property management company to handle the day-to-day operations, you will still be a landlord. You will still need to make decisions to nurture its growth.
To give your investment the greatest runway for success, there are a few things you can do. Here are three steps you can take to grow your property investment.
- Lease to good tenants: Not all rental income is created equally. Collecting $1000 from Tenant A can mean something quite different down the road from collecting $1000 from Tenant B.
If Tenant A is a high-quality tenant, they are more likely to continue renting your unit for a long time as well as take good care of your rental unit while living there. This means a consistent stream of income with fewer turnover costs. Conversely, Tenant B might pay the same amount while living there, but if they cut their lease short and trash the unit, your associated expenses will be drastically different. The moral of the story is that leasing to good tenants is good for your bottom line and your investment success.
- Hire a trusted PM company: Property management companies do more than just fill vacant units and respond to maintenance inquiries; the good ones save you money. It may sound counter-intuitive but hiring experienced professionals who know the local market and industry best practices can help you save money. Many will also manage and run reports for you, which you can then draw on as you make ownership decisions going forward.
- Reinvest in it: By that we mean, take good care of the property, keep up with maintenance, and be smart about capital improvement expenditures (be sure to budget for them and create a reserve fund). What’s more, you can minimize your tax bill and consider strategically using that savings to further strengthen your investment portfolio.
To learn more about owning investment rental property in Central Ohio, get in touch with us at RL Property Management. We offer full-service property management services for single-family and multifamily investors. With us, your tenants can expect exceptional service and you, as owners, can expect a high level of return.
