Whenever I give this piece of advice, I often get blank stares. It is a very different approach to what most property investors take. But it is actually a smart strategy when you start to understand the reasons why.

But so what if you visit your investment properties?

Sure, if you’re okay with getting the results most investors get, feel free to ignore my advice and do what most investors do. But if you want to go further than most investors, I strongly recommend you stick to this rule.

Never see or inspect your own investment property.

A good investor never visits their property, as a general rule. In fact, you don’t even need to live in the same state as your property.*

* Side note: this is actually very exciting as it means you are FREE to invest anywhere in the country, opening up way more options for awesome locations. But that’s another topic entirely.

Why You Should Never Inspect Your Property

• Before you finalize your purchase of the property, you’ll get a good building inspector to check it. They’ll do a far better job than you could ever manage, so check the property yourself is a waste of your precious time.
• Once the property is in your hands, you’ll get a good rental manager. It is their job to routinely inspect the property. As a professional, they will do a far better job than you could.
• You should have full confidence in the professionals you hire to take care of your property for you. If not, you have the wrong people.
• Inspecting the property in person will result in emotional attachment, which is bad for financial-based decision making.
• Your time is worth more than that.
• The real money is made in capital growth, something which you can’t see at an inspection.

So get the professionals in and get them to do it. It’s their job! Stay emotionally detached from the property and focus on making money – YOUR job as the investor.

Just because you shouldn’t visit the property in person, doesn’t mean you should ignore it. You should be looking ahead to see what the market is doing and anticipating what your capital growth is likely to do in the future. This will help you with growing your portfolio, which is how you really make money.

The exciting part is that you can do all of this online.

How to Inspect for Capital Growth

• Check online sources for evidence of infrastructure projects and investment in the area
• Is the population growth trending upwards?
• Are more jobs being created?
• What notable changes are happening in the area that might attract more people?

Inspecting Your Property is a Waste of Time

And sure, you could stop by your property and have a look. But what are you going to see? A house? Yep.

If you actually happen to notice any problems while you are there, you’re very unlikely to be able to solve them, unless you’re a qualified builder. And because you lack the qualifications and experience of a rental manager, you probably won’t understand the laws that govern how you should deal with your tenants. It’s best to avoid wasting your time and effort and let the professionals handle it.

Even though it sounds counterintuitive at first, it makes sense to never inspect your own property.

If you feel that you need to inspect your property, something isn’t right.

Perhaps you’re in a situation where things aren’t going as smoothly as they should. Or perhaps your team isn’t doing their jobs right.

If you’re struggling to find a good building inspector or rental manager, or your properties are causing you problems that you feel need your personal attention, find a good property investment coach to help you solve these problems as soon as possible.