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BLOG: Why we all need to be more hands-on with our portfolios

05 JUN 2018 • By Phillip Tarrant • 3 min read • Investor Strategy

If you’ve only got a few properties in your portfolio, you need to make sure you're taking a hands-on approach to investing, otherwise you could stuff everything up.

PHIL BLOG

If you’re a busy guy like myself, trying to stay on top of your portfolio at all times can be tricky. I can sometimes be not as hands on as what I should or could be with a particular portfolio, purely because my time is just taken elsewhere.

There have been points with a portfolio where we haven't done anything for a year, where we haven't bought any, and then over this current financial, we went out and we've bought six properties or so.

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I can see a lot of investors fall into this part. It's nice to do the nice things, the exciting things, but there's also a lot of running a property portfolio which sucks — just a lot of the admin around it.

The way I view our portfolio is: give me the key numbers, give me the headlines, benchmark numbers, let me know if there's a problem, whether or not this needs my time or it's just operational business as usual stuff, which is a bit of a headache that someone else can deal with and look after.

 
 

That's what I try and do these days: concentrating on the value adding stuff, and messing around checking statements on whether or not I've received the right amount of rent versus any costs that have come up because I've had to replace a hot water system. Someone else can tick that off, right?

Look, if you’ve got two properties, three properties, four properties, do it all yourself, but past that, it's going to get to a point where you've got to start prioritising your time and making sure you can add value. I like to think that sitting down with my A-team for two to three hours, to run through the strategic directions portfolio for, at least the next quarter, six months, is a good use of my time.

You should run your portfolio as a business; you have different product lines within that business, and the individual properties. Some perform better than others, some cost money, some add money, etc., so you talk about a balance sheet. For our readers that might not be that sophisticated when it comes to this sort of terminology, I recommend go and learn about it.

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Property refers to either a tangible or intangible item that an individual or business has legal rights or ownership of, such as houses, cars, stocks or bond certificates.
Phillip Tarrant

Phillip Tarrant

AUTHOR

Phillip Tarrant is executive editor – Real Estate at Momentum Media. He is also an investor with a large property portfolio.

He leads the content strategy and corporate growth for a range of market and business intelligence platforms at Momentum Media, including Smart Property Investment – the authoritative voice for Australia’s property investment community.

As head of the Smart Property Investment Podcast Network, he also steers the largest network of property podcasts in Australia, which collectively generates nearly 2 million downloads every year.

There are over 2.6 million investment properties in Australia, with over 2.1 million Australians (or around 8 per cent of all Australians) owning one or more investment properties. A vibrant and critical sector for creating wealth for Australians, the property investment sector is expected to remain a pillar to the national economy.

For nearing a decade, under Phillip’s stewardship Smart Property Investment has been informing and educating property investors on the tactics and strategies to create wealth through property.

Trusted by over 100,000 Australians each month as the turn-to independent resource for property market insights and information, the brand supports the mantra of "for investors", by investors’, drawing on the unique position that Phillip and Smart Property Investment share, warts and all, its own journey through property.

The Smart Property Investment Show, part of the Smart Property Investment Podcast Network, is one of Australia’s most popular podcasts, forming the keystone of an integrated digital platform delivering daily property updates, live broadcasting, insights, opinion and data to property investors across the nation.

Underpinned by a content team universally recognised for their knowledge of the sector and approach for clear and concise communication, Smart Property Investment has become a central part of Australia’s property community.

About Momentum Media

Momentum Media is a leading media and market intelligence company, and the business behind Smart Property Investment, REB and RPM.

Guided by a strong sense of purpose to support our communities, Momentum Media has forged its place as one of Australia’s most influential media and professional development businesses.

We have been equipping Australia’s corporate, investor and SME sectors with market and business intelligence for over a decade.

Across an integrated business supported by digital, events, broadcast, research, print and social platforms, we are guided by the purpose: Be Better informed.

This passion for informing, educating and inspiring drives us to build more engaged communities, delivering greater leadership to the markets we connect to and forging closer relationships with our audiences.

Being at the forefront of media innovation, backed by a pioneering spirit, has been central to Momentum Media’s growth.

We’re an evolving, forward-thinking business based on a purpose that supports corporate Australia and the markets critical to our nation’s economic prosperity and security. We’re also focused on delivering exceptional value to our commercial partners.

We adapt on a daily basis to rapidly changing market places; we’re a fluid media business, unanchored to any particular technology, channel or tone of communication.

With a reach spanning nearly 2 million professionals, high-net-worth individuals and SME business owners, we’re connected to the rapidly changing preferences and attitudes of our communities – and we’re making a positive contribution for our communities to thrive.

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