How this property investor keeps track of the numbers in his portfolio

According to him: “I met a few mentors in my life while I was working [and] they all point me to the direction of property [as a way] to increase your wealth.”

“[But] like anything in life, if you don't put in the hard work, you won't gain the reward … You have to be in touch with the market, hands-on,” the property investor added.

Smart Property Investment’s Phil Tarrant agreed that, in order to succeed in property investment, an investor must learn to treat his portfolio as a business and, thereby, be confident enough to talk about finance or “the big numbers”. As property is considered a long-term investment, one must be able to work out a way to keep track of the performance of his portfolio.

Phil said: “You've got to … keep it in check and ingrained … [and understand] all the different nuances of it.”

For William, it’s a simple color-coded A3 spreadsheet that contains everything—from each of his property’s purchase price and loan amount to its current valuation and loan-to-value ratio.

Among the key metrics he updates regularly are the following:

1. Purchase price
2. Current valuation
3. A percentage difference between purchase price and current valuation
4. Location
5. Property specifics (Land size, features like bed and bath, etc.)
6. Gross rent per week
7. Gross rent per month
8. Net estimate per month
9. Lender information
10. How many loans are on each asset
11. Size/amount of the loan
12. Loan-to-value ratio
13. Gross yield
14. Net yield
15. Loan repayment
16. Difference between loan repayment and rent—in gross
17. Difference between loan repayment and rent—in net
18. Interest rate

William makes sure to keep the spreadsheet updated over the years and tries to look at other metrics that could be making a difference on his portfolio.

“Nowadays, the information is so important for loan applications and ... tax purposes. It's good to have a spreadsheet that is ongoing so that I can keep up to date with my accountant and my buyer’s agent as well,” the property investor concluded.

Right now, he holds 12 different types of properties and one within his self-managed super fund, and he only plans to keep growing his portfolio until he’s comfortable enough to retire.

Tune in to William Leung’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about the Hong Kong and Chinese mindsets on investing and debt, the importance of goal setting and cycles, and why property investors should learn to love numbers.