Whether new year’s goals excite you or have you running for the door, there’s much to be said about setting intentions at the start of a fresh year—especially when it comes to your real estate portfolio. Setting clear rental portfolio goals helps you realign with your purpose, grow your wealth, and even gives you an excuse to binge your favorite motivational books and podcasts without everybody judging you (for now).
If you need ideas on how to level up your real estate portfolio this year, allow us to introduce you to one of the most important goals to add to your list: shedding those last couple of pounds. And no, we’re not talking about actual weight loss. We’re referring to trimming down those endless spreadsheets, ditching those single-purpose apps, and reducing all that time spent on your current rental portfolio.
So, here’s how to make 2025 a new year of growing your business and building a real estate portfolio so it's a little less flabby and a little more Dwayne Johnson. Let’s go!
What's a Real Estate Portfolio?
Simply put, a real estate portfolio contains all of your real estate investment assets. This can include rental properties, real estate investment trusts (REITs), and any homes you plan to flip.
1. Make a Fitness Plan for Your Real Estate Portfolio
Before you can determine your rental property investment strategy, it's a good idea to do an audit of your portfolio and business assets. Think about all the details that keep your management business afloat: the people you work with, the tools you use, the properties you manage, total cash flow, and current workload.
Get to Know Your Market
The more you understand your local real estate market, the more success you'll have as a property owner. When thinking about investing in real estate properties, consider the areas the buildings are located in. Get to know the current rental rates, real estate prices, and local rental laws. You might also want to keep tabs on up-and-coming neighborhoods, ratings of local schools, and anywhere that interests you as an investor.
This can help you get the most out of your rentals and ensure that you're ahead of the market.
Reflect on 2025
Now, take stock of the previous year and what you’d like to accomplish in the next year. Do you want to prioritize greater cash flow? Is it time to invest in more tools for real estate investors? Or maybe you're ready to downsize and reduce rental-related stress or keep things flowing the way they’ve been. Are there any courses or mentors you want to invest in in 2025? These are all important factors to consider before creating your rental strategy.
2. Trim Things Down with Technology
Let's talk more about the tools for real estate investors. These can include everything from specific spreadsheets and Google Docs to bank apps, property management software, financial apps, budgeting apps, communication tools, and other software. When you've got your list, take a look at how you handled team conversations, tenant communications, rent collection, maintenance requests, and even accounting over the last year.
Are there any areas you could simplify or expand? If you were stuck juggling multiple apps and feeling disorganized in 2024, it may be the right time to invest in a robust platform to fulfill multiple needs at once. Software designed for property managers can help you streamline your workflow and free up your time in 2025. If you’re having a hard time justifying a property management platform like TenantCloud or other multi-use solutions, consider the time savings you’ll get in return for the small price tag. Plus, if you're able to eliminate multiple apps, you may be saving more than you expect.
Make sure to consider the time it will take to shift you and your team to a new software and prepare accordingly. While it may seem like a major adjustment, the ability to be organized and focus more on growing your business while providing a 5-star tenant experience is worth the effort.
3. Strengthen the Rent Collection Process
Part of growing your real estate portfolio is optimizing your current cash flow. If you're busy chasing after late payments and getting behind on the mortgage, this can have a negative impact on your business. Luckily, there are ways to reduce payment hassle while giving you a chance to level up your rental portfolio.
In fact, when property managers switch to an online platform to manage their rental business, it’s often online rent collection that provides the biggest impact. Though it’s tempting to rely on Venmo and other apps that are commonly used by tenants, using a payment tool designed for real estate portfolio management not only makes it easier to track transactions but also allows you to send rent reminders and automatic late fees. Because if there’s one thing we’re leaving behind in 2024, it’s running after missed payments.
Related: How to Identify Your Most Profitable Rentals with the 80/20 Rule
See It In Action: Meet ROOF Los Angeles
Take Denise and her team at ROOF Los Angeles for instance, who faced significant challenges with receiving payments. When they integrated TenantCloud’s rent collection feature, not only did they feel more organized overall, but they were able to keep up on late payments and track every penny going in and out. Read More
4. Optimize for Cash Flow
While you’re reflecting on the last year, why not take a look at the properties in your portfolio? Do a quick audit on which ones are generating positive cash flow. Renting out your property should provide more than just the expenses and mortgage payments, so make sure you’re getting enough out of each one to make it worth your time. Consider these factors:
- Economic Occupancy: This shows how much of your potential rental income you're actually earning. If your properties could bring in $100,000 in January but you only earn $43,000, your economic occupancy is 43%.
- Return on Investment (ROI): Know your ROI so you can align your goals.
- Improvement Costs: What improvements do you need to make on a property? Renovations should increase property value or improve usefulness for tenants.
- Monthly Costs: How much does it cost to maintain the property? Revisit your expenses versus your income.
It’s also important to have money set aside in case you need to repair, upgrade, or stop renting at any time. If you have a property that is causing more problems or expenses than it’s worth, it may be time to sell or rearrange priorities.
5. Make it a Team Sport
As your real estate portfolio grows, the workload often does too. That's why having a solid team in your corner can help you carry out your most important tasks—whether they’re real estate agents, accountants, other property managers, service professionals, etc. Do a quick assessment: determine if your current team is enabling you to complete your best work. Are you in need of more property managers? Do you need a real estate agent who’s a bit more aggressive with their hunts? Or maybe your team is large enough that you’re ready for a property management platform with full team functionality.
As they say in those popular superhero movies that we can’t mention here for copyright reasons, “Property managers, assemble!”
See It In Action: Meet Macaw Properties
Mary and her team at Macaw Properties struggled to keep track of tenants, properties, and financial data, despite their all-hands-on-deck efforts. By consolidating their needs into one platform and utilizing a team portal, Macaw saw immediate improvements in the business. When asked if it was worth prioritizing teamwork, she says, “It saves so much time and makes their jobs easier.” Read More
6. Count Maintenance Request Macros
If you’re counting your food macros, you focus on tracking fats, proteins, and carbs. And if you’re tracking maintenance request macros, you should pay attention to tasks, progress, and communication. You want a system that makes it easy to see what tasks are on your list, where the progress is for each request, and who to communicate with to get the job done.
If you’re still using spreadsheets and task boards, consider a maintenance request portal like TenantCloud. Bonus: Your evenings and weekends will thank you for all that time you’ll get back.
See It In Action: Versatile Real Estate Company’s Story
Jenniffer was a property manager with a bundle of spreadsheets for every duty, including maintenance requests. After struggling to keep up with her fragmented approach, she finally decided to try a maintenance request portal. Her entire team was able to get on board with requests and get to them in a timely manner. They also freed up their time, allowing them to be more efficient and accomplish more overall. Read More
7. Flex Your Market Trend Knowledge
With the real estate market constantly in flux, it’s essential to keep an eye on current trends. The more you can stay informed about the rental market, the easier it will be to get the most out of your investments. Rely on market reports such as a Rentability Report to help you determine the right prices for your rentals. These reports are designed to give insights into similar listings, making it easier to stay competitive while still providing value to tenants.
Other ways to build those market trend muscles? Stay in touch with rental podcasts, forums, Facebook groups, and more.
Conclusion
With a new year approaching, it’s the perfect time to condition your rental portfolio so it’s fit and healthy. Just like growing muscles, growing your real estate portfolio is a process that takes patience, strategy, and the right tools, so take the process one step at a time for the best results.
As you make changes towards a stronger portfolio, set small, measurable goals, to start off on the right foot. This will help you build a solid foundation for long-term success.
No matter where you’re at in your rental journey, remember that you don’t have to do it alone. From all-in-one platforms like TenantCloud to skilled team members and contractors, you can have everything you need to operate your property management portfolio with ease.
