When you first take over an income property - particularly a residential one - there is a period during which you are getting comfortable with your property. Here is what it means by “getting comfortable”:

• Happily (we hope) or unhappily (we hope not) you are learning the truth about the building (this is usually somewhat different from what the seller might have told you).
• During your visits to your building (and you will make many visits at the start), try hard to get to know your tenants.
• The actual expenses of your building will become clearer to you because you’re paying the bills! These expenses may be somewhat different from what the seller told you - they may be more, or they may be less than you were told. Usually, they’ll be more!
• Your income and expense calculations show you changes to make to improve your income from your building.

You will find the “getting comfortable” time is longest with your first building. Why is this? Because you are learning a great deal, as listed above. For your second and future properties, you will feel comfortable sooner.

Take this advice: for your first property, take your time to get comfortable with it. If you rush this process, you may find you do not learn as much as you should about your building. After you are comfortable with your building, you are ready to expand your real estate holdings, should you wish to do so. Here’s how you can do this:

the proven method for making money in real estate is with large holdings. Why is this? Every rental unit (such as an apartment) you control in a residential income property gives you a certain profit per month. So, to increase your profit, you have to acquire more rental units. And it follows that the more rental units you have, the higher your positive cash flow and profits.

REMEMBER: 

• Once you have your first building, you are in an excellent position to get the second, third, fourth, or more.
• Your first building is an “asset”. This asset will be valuable. It will show on your financial statement as an asset that is worth money.
• Every asset you own will make it easier for you to get money for your second property, your third, or more.