End of the Year Task List
04/11/2013
It’s almost the end of another year! Have you gotten all of your ducks in a row yet? It’ll soon be time to file your tax return, and make sure your investment properties are ready for the coming year. Here are a few things that you may want to look at to reevaluate your progress and set a new task list for next year.
- Have you been putting off your maintenance task list on any of your properties? Ask your tax accountant if you would benefit from getting those done this year, rather than putting them off until next year.
- Review your tenants’ lease agreements; are there any changes that you want to make when they expire? Get all of those changes made now, so you don’t have to rush to get them done when the lease expires.
- Review your finances. Are there any mortgages that you want to refinance? Probably not at the moment, with the tightened restrictions on financing requirements, but it’s a good idea to get in the habit of looking. See if you can get a lower rate on your insurance. Have you paid (or are you ready to pay) your property taxes?
- If you haven’t already, get all your tax preparation done. Gather all of those receipts, balance your accounts, and put it all together so you have it ready for your tax accountant. There’s nothing worse than trying to scramble a week before the deadline to get every receipt for the past year together.
- How’s your business running? If you have a website, are there any goals you want to meet with it? Is it time for a new design? Are there any new business tools you have been wanting to buy? Have you met your goals from last year? Make sure you sit down and write up your business goals for the next year. It may be helpful to pull out your original business plan for property investing. Compare your original plan to how you’re doing now; this allows you to make sure you’re on the right track, or if there are any changes you need to make.
- Last, but not least, evaluate who you hired for property management. Essentially, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you happy with the quality of their services?
- Are they doing everything you need them to do?
- Have they leveraged the appropriate technology?
- Have you received any complaints from tenants (prospective or actual)?
If any of the answers to the above questions are “no”, then you may want to shop around.