Your end goal when looking for positively geared properties should be a precise number.

How much do you want to earn in income (above expenses) from your property?

When you are self managing your positively geared investment property, buying a property far away can be a bit of a risk.

If your property gets damaged, vandalised or becomes empty, the tyranny of distance can make things difficult.

Also, beware of buying properties in disreputable areas, where there is a higher chance of theft, vandalism and damage.

A lot of investors just calculate rental income and mortgage expenses and forget that they also have to pay council rates, water rate, maintenance, vacancies, strata and increasing interest rates.

The risk of vacancy is a real issue, which is why banks only account for 80% of rental income.

Vacancy rates vary from area to area, however, keeping your property in good condition and not overpricing it, will ensure that it is more popular and remain vacant for less time.

The most accurate way to determine if your property is going to be positively geared is to calculate all of the rental income and then minus all of the expenses- this will tell you what your weekly and yearly cash flow is going to be.

If you are smart and Self Managing, the best property management software allows you to collect rent, manage maintenance requests, generate vacancy listings with robust accounting and reporting, on a platform that is intuitive and responsive.

RealRenta is easy to use from the second you sign up.

RealRenta has a mobile-responsive interface with full functionality, which means you can take all of your property management tasks with you wherever you go.

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