The novice property investor will read up on all the best things to look for in an investment property, but rarely will the literature they read cover any of the truly crucial factors which need to be either identified or utilised before settling on the best property to purchase.Regardless of the type of property you decide to buy, be absolutely certain to give due respect and time to the astute use of “The 3 T’s”.What are the 3 T’s? They are the Tenant, the Taxman and Time, and should you neglect any one of them you stand to potentially lose a large portion of the returns you may have initially THOUGHT you were going to receive.O.K., everyone understands that you need a tenant to pay rent which helps you service any borrowings you may have needed to purchase the property in the first place. The important thing to remember in regard to tenants is NEVER to get greedy with the amount of rent you ask for the property. The logic here is this:- if you keep the rent well within market parameters, you will have many more prospective tenants wanting to live in your investment property and therefore have a much greater chance of acquiring a first class tenant who will tend to stay longer due to the “reasonable” rent being asked.I learnt many years ago from an extremely experienced and knowledgeable property manager that if you ask a bit less than market for your rent you will usually have a top class tenant who will maintain the property impeccably and hence add value to your property. This particular property manager said an overall 30% increase in return could be expected due to very little property maintenance being expected and also due to the property always being presented in a first class condition, thereby maintaining the property’s value over and above the average market increase.The Taxman is an entity which is rarely utilised to it’s highest and best use. Most novice investors will simply wait until the end of the financial year and let their tax agent or accountant crunch the numbers and claim only what you tell him/her what you have spent on the property by way of maintenance and interest on borrowings.One of the best things you can ever do to increase the returns from your investment property portfolio is to have a depreciation report completed by a qualified and competent construction cost expert or quantity surveyor. The initial cost will be returned many times over throughout the course of your property ownership. ESSENTIAL!The last of “the 3 T’s” is Time!I’m going to tell you something for nothing right here and I want you to “jack-hammer” it into your brain so you never forget it.Time is the factor which will return you the most and cost you the least! Now repeat after me…”time is the factor which will return you the most and cost you the least”. Well Done!So what does this then say to you? It says the sooner you begin to invest in property and the longer you hold your portfolio, the more income and capital growth you are going to make. Simple.So enter the arena now and buy as many properties as you can, while you can!