- Call some FSBO‘s.
- Go look at properties for sale.
- Call your mortgage broker about new financing.
- Check the renewal dates on your mortgages.
- Call a friend who could be a JV partner just to catch up. Don’t talk about real estate (yet).
- Sit down with your Realtor and define exactly what types of properties you want. Know prices, bedrooms, bathrooms, neighborhoods, amenities and transportation down to a very narrow range.
- Check your records to see which of your tenants pay late on a regular basis. Call them up and see how you can improve the situation. (Online rent payments? Post-dated cheques?
- Write some offers. Use a good backup clause and just do it.
- Look at the cash-flow analysis from when you bought it. Compare it to the actual monthly expenses. Use that information to improve your next cash-flow analysis projection. I use different assumptions for repairs and maintenance depending on what reno I have to do and the condition when I buy it.
- Find out what new rents on similar properties in your area are. You want to be reasonable. Don’t be the cheapest on the block; you’ll attract scum. Don’t be the most expensive, you’ll never keep it full. Be reasonable.
- Make sure you’re advertising your vacancies on the best rental websites.
- Go fix something. We call it preventative maintenance.
- Do your ‘annual’ inspection of a unit. Decide what renovations might payoff with your exit strategy.
- Run the numbers on a 3-bedroom townhouse (my favorite property).
- Run the numbers on a four-plex.
- If you’ve done #14 and #15, return to #8.
- Take the time to learn more about a topic like commercial real estate investing, RRSP Mortgages, Joint Ventures, Renovations, Rent to Own or Condo Conversions.
- Write a story about one of your experiences: tenants, deals, financing, friends, people you’ve helped. Post it on a place like myREINspace or offer it as a guest blog post.
- Make sure you know your tenants’ birthdays. Send them a $10 Tim Hortons’ gift card on the big day.
- Make a list of all your properties and rank them from best performing to worst.
- Try listing the worst performing one for sale. See if you can unload one of your dogs and move on to something better.
- Go take some good pictures of a property.
- Learn more about internet marketing.
- Have some fun. Figure out how much you’d make if prices suddenly went up 30%. What if rents went up 20%?
- Ask an experienced real estate investor if you can buy them lunch and pick their brains.
- If you’re an experienced investor, offer your time to some newbies.
- Remind yourself why you’re going to all this trouble.
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