Every business is like that house. Every business needs four strong walls in its foundation. Without these walls, the business will just collapse upon itself as it grows.
The four foundation walls you need in your real estate business, in no particular order, are:
1) Financial Management
This includes, but is not limited to:
- Cashflow
- Financial reporting
- Accounting and bookkeeping
- Financing
- Downpayment
2) Administrative Management
This includes, but is not limited to:
- Using proper leases and operating within the tenancy rules and regulations
- Filing paperwork
- Taxes
- Business registration and insurances
- Obeying all business rules and regulations
3) Tenant Management
This includes, but is not limited to:
- Marketing for new tenants
- Screening new tenants
- Moving tenants in and out
- Building a relationship with tenants
- Handling tenant disputes
- Evicting tenants
- Everything else to do with your tenants
4) Facilities Management
This includes, but is not limited to:
- Completing repairs and maintenance
- Lawn mowing, snow removal, and groundskeeping
- Annual property inspections
- Executing a long-term asset management plan
- Maintaining equipment
- Everything else to do with your properties and facilities
How you ensure that each foundation wall is strong and stable will vary depending on your goals, location, strengths, and priorities. There are minimum standards that need to be met for each category, but how those standards are met will vary depending on the landlord. Don’t feel overwhelmed – you don’t have to do everything yourself. You can build a team by outsourcing specific tasks to professionals or other team members.
As Your Landlord Coach I want to help you develop these four foundation walls. By ensuring the strength of this foundation, you can grow and run your business without undue stress, or just live the life you’d like without constant worry about your real estate.
Click on each title to learn more about building the foundation of your real estate business.