In Detroit, if your multi-family occupancy rate is less than 78%, you may be falling behind the competition. However, this is a relatively low figure: nationwide, the occupancy rate is above 93%!

If you want to keep up with the rest of the country, you will have to have—on average—all of your units rented about 340 days out of the year; 13 out of 14 units should be occupied at any given time. Given the challenges in keeping multi-family rental properties adequately occupied, what steps can you take to help keep the kinds of tenants that help fuel your property investment portfolio?

Here are some important considerations when trying to increase your multi-family occupancy.

People who succeed with multi-family real estate agree with Sarah Beeny, who said, “There will always be people who make money because people always want homes.” Often, someone who adds multi-family real estate to their property investment portfolio is providing a solution to people who, as Ms. Beeny puts it, simply “want homes.”

It can be fulfilling to provide a cozy place to live, but there are challenges specific to multi-family units that may come up. These could include issues with the paperwork, the value of the home, and the process of maintaining a healthy ROI. If you take the right steps, however, providing for people who “want homes” can be an enjoyable—and profitable—experience.

The average salary of a real estate investor is $123,937 a year. Whether you make more or less than this will often depend on how you manage the following decision: What best fits my investing needs; single-family, multi family units, or a mix of both?

A basic understanding of what each type of investment involves—as well as how to manage them—can help you make a well-informed decision for your real estate investment portfolio.