apartment investing – Apartment Investing – 2 Things to Do After Closing on Your First Property

Saturday, May 8th, 2010 at 5:42 am

Know How To Make Money From Apartment Investing...

"Resolve to pay any price or make any sacrifice to get into the top ten percent of your field. That payoff is incredible!" -- Brian Tracy

One question that comes up quite often from beginning investors is, "I will be closing on an 8 unit apartment building next week. What kinds of things are important for me to know? What should I focus on as a new owner?"

I would like to take a moment and sincerely congratulate any beginning investor that has invested their time, money, and effort, and has moved forward on purchasing a good apartment property. Many people do not get to this point, so when you have accomplished this goal, give yourself a pat on the back.

OK, so now that you have closed on your first purchase, what should you focus on?

I would recommend you focus your time on two areas when getting started:

1. Property Management

One of the most important things for you to know is property management. This is really one of the most important things that you can spend your time on.

Just as in any other business, management makes the difference between a good or a bad operation - and this includes an apartment property. Bottom line is that the value of your property now and in the future will be dependent on how well you manage the property.

This means that you need to stay on top of everything and be treating your property as a business. If you treat your property as a business you will do just fine.

2. Asset Management

While most investors may have heard of property management, you may have never heard of asset management, and the distinction between the two. In a nutshell, property management is the day-to-day operations of the apartment building. Making sure that what needs to be done is completed, insurance is up-to-date, bills are paid, books are done, and apartments are running smooth.

Asset management takes a more strategic view of your investment. Asset management is focusing on making the property as profitable as possible, while maintaining everything properly. It really comes down to this; maximizing income and minimizing expenses.

Your property value is directly determined by how profitable it is. When you can reduce insurance rates by a few hundred dollars, increase the rents to full market potential, and reduce all of your other expenses, you can literally add thousands of dollars in value in a matter of months - without doing any renovations. The professional apartment investors knows that you can put thousands of dollars in your pocket simply by managing your property properly.

When a property is not managed well - that is when investors run into trouble or are surprised by something. That is when you see a decline in property value. This is not to say everything will always go well; like any other business you may have your ups and downs but if you work at it continuously you will be just fine.

The most successful investors are in the 'treat it like a business' mode. As long as you do the same thing you will be just as successful.

Do you want to learn more about investing in apartment buildings? Click the link below for my FREE 7-Part Investment e-Course, and I'll also send you my FREE special report and teleseminar access, "How to Buy Apartments and Commercial Real Estate With No Or Low Money Down."

Download it free here: Apartment Investing.

Article Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darin_Garman

Get 81 tips on investing in real estate at book launch - Yahoo! Canada News

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Tue Apr 6, 5:39 AM

By andreas morse, for metro edmonton

Don Campbell does not sell real estate. But the bestselling author does know a thing or two about making money off it.

Campbell is a real estate educator, researcher, personal real estate investor and president of the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN). The man of many trades is in Edmonton today to launch his latest book, 81 Financial & Tax Tips for the Canadian Real Estate Investor.

Its not how much money you make, its how much money you keep in your pocket at the end of the day, Campbell said.

If youre blindly going into real estate without some sort of plan about what youre going to do with those profits to minimize tax, youre going to be writing a lot of large cheques to the government.

In his latest book, Campbell has laid out tips to help people save money and decrease the amount of tax they pay when they sell their investments.

While hes written on the subject before, Campbell makes his money through real estate, not book sales; proceeds from his books go to local charities.

Weve raised over $500,000 for Habitat for Humanity Edmonton, Campbell said. Anybody who buys the book is actually supporting a family in need.

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