A lot of people want to buy property in 2024. Vacancy rates are tight and rental returns look like adding to recent growth.

But every year has its value opportunities. No matter when you begin, there are fundamental factors you need to pay attention to when building a property portfolio.

Here are the 5 things you need to know to get you started.

1. Planning is gold

Everything in life needs a plan. From building enough wealth to secure a comfortable future, all the way down to leaving the house to buy some milk. You will never get anywhere by just wandering aimlessly.

Property investing should be treated like a business.

You need a goal in mind and a plan for how to get there. You should plan for good times and bad times or setbacks. That way, when you are disrupted by something like a year of steep cash rate hikes, or a global pandemic, you can at least stick to your plan as best as you can.

If prices boom, or crash, or rates go up again, or they start to come down, at least you are prepared for these eventualities.

2. Take action

The extreme shortage of property listings in most parts of Australia over the last 12 months shows the effect that uncertainty can have on a market. People don’t want to take the plunge because they don’t know where rates are going to go next, or they’re worried about the cost of living crisis affecting how much debt they can borrow and service. But if you don’t take action you are choosing not to succeed.

If you are finding reasons to sit on the sideline, chances are you’ll never be convinced to take the plunge. And if you don’t get started working on your plan and heading for your goals, you’ll obviously never get there.

3. Accessing information gives you knowledge

Who do you go to for your information these days? If you are forming your opinions from what you read on social media, think again. Beware of spruikers trying to sell you things and don’t put all your faith on what is being reported on the news.

In order to be successful, you need to educate yourself by gaining information from the right sources. Subscribe to legitimate data providers. Talk to professionals in the property space who have proven track records over a decent period of time.

Financial advisers, mortgage brokers, solicitors and accountants can provide you with a great education, but research them first to make sure they’re legitimate. If you want to talk to a buyer’s agency, for example, B Invested puts everything on the table. It’s easy to find details about founder Nathan Birch and how he has amassed his property portfolio.

4. Boosting your cashflow

Once you have begun investing or adding to an existing portfolio, make sure you keep your cashflow strong and review your position regularly.

Are you positively geared? If you’re not, should you be? Are you getting market rent on all your properties? If you haven’t reviewed your rent for a couple of years, your returns are likely at least 10% lower than where they should be, considering that most markets across Australia have seen 20% plus growth in that time.

Getting market rent might be the difference between being able to hold all your properties or having to sell one. It could take you from having to put personal money into your portfolio each month to having rent cover everything with some left over for you.

5. Put your capital to work

Make sure you are always aware of what your properties are worth. If there has been recent market growth, you will likely have accumulated some equity. If you leave that in your property, it’s doing nothing to advance your cause and may even disappear if there’s a market fluctuation.

You are better off accessing it when you can and using it to leverage into your next investment, so it is making money for you.

You don’t want to be over-leveraged, but you also don’t want to be under-leveraged, so review your finance and debt strategies to make sure your capital position is where it should be.