Admit it, we’ve all been swept up in the cheer of the of the holiday season and made ambitious resolutions for the new year—from having a healthier lifestyle to improving your foreign language skills. It’s a time of the year that inspires us to reflect and figure out ways to better ourselves.

Now that we’ve just started a new financial year—hooray—it should also be a time to start your new financial year resolutions. In fact, it’s the perfect time to re-evaluate your finances and find ways to improve of your property investments ahead of your next tax return.

Here are four new financial year resolutions you might consider to take charge of your property investments and maximise their potential.

1. Exercise a healthier investment strategy:

Many mum and dad investors got into the game through life circumstances, and not a lot of thought was put into what type of investment strategy suited them best. Should they buy and hold? Be negatively geared? Positively geared? Is passive property development something they should look into?

The first step in reassessing your strategy is to determine if your current one is working for you. How do you know if it’s working?

This all depends on which one you have chosen, but overall if you’re getting the desired return and see future growth, you’re moving in the right direction.

If you think your property can do better, chat with a financial planner about your circumstances and what options are out there for you. Also, speak to an agent who can look at your rental returns, the tax benefits you could be taking advantage of as well as the expenses associated with your property including asset management fees.

An agent can also analyse and benchmark the performance of your strategy and provide possible alternate options.

2. Freshen up your mortgage:

If you haven’t reassessed your mortgage in the last three years, there’s a good chance that your loan is out of date.

Just like our food, we don’t want our mortgages to be outdated because we’ll pay a price—whether it’s interest rates or monthly repayments, the price you pay could be more.

The truth is you might be wasting thousands of dollars without even realising it. Changes to your lifestyle, employment circumstances and even investment goals can impact how much you pay in interest or monthly repayments. Changes in the market in the past few years might mean you have significant equity that could be put to use.

You should regularly assess your mortgage structure to ensure that it meets both your current and future needs.

Speak to a mortgage broker like Clarity Home Loans to help you find the right loan for you—it won’t cost you a thing!

They will evaluate your current situation, including any equity you have in your existing home, and shop around and recommend the right home loan for you from multiple lenders.

3. Make improvements to your property:

You want to ensure that your property is up to the standard of what the market wants and gives you the best rental return possible. Repairs and maintenance are a great way to keep your tenants happy and an easy way to increase your rent.

Increased rental income not only makes those mortgage payments easier to afford, but it means that there is less money coming out of your pocket every week.

In addition, repairs and maintenance are also tax deductible, which can give you a tidy sum at the end of the financial year and depending on the changes, can increase your home’s value.

4. Get a health check:

Regular health checks are very important and a great way to pick up on early warning signs of sickness. And just like your well-being, your investment portfolio also needs attention.

An investment portfolio health check allows you to project the holding cost of your portfolio for the year ahead, so you can budget accordingly. It will show you projected rental returns and maintenance budgeting; compare your returns against the market and provide advice about how you can grow your portfolio and how to significantly improve your results.

We offer free health checks to landlords to help get the most out of their investments and provoke future growth. Once the report has been received, we can discuss the results and guide you through our recommendations. Whether it’s a yearly rent renewal, a new fence or a long-term lease option, we will help.

Setting and achieving new financial year resolutions and investment goals will help you move towards financial success. By focusing on reassessing your investment decisions, putting a good plan in place and keeping your property on the right course, you can make the next financial year a year to celebrate.