Last updated: 15th October 2020
Property goals. If you’re a long term listener of The Property Podcast, you’ll know how much we love them.
We need them.
Without setting property goals, there’s nothing to keep you focused or accountable. You’ll find yourself dabbling in everything that appeals with no end goal in sight.
That’s a recipe for disaster.
2020 hasn’t been the easiest of years – thanks coronavirus! And now we’re into the final quarter, it’s good to reflect on the past 12 months, see which goals have been met, which haven’t, and plan ahead to 2021.
Regardless of whether you’re setting completely new goals or just revising them, you need to make sure they’re actually achievable. So here’s how you can do that…
We’re not going all school-teachery on you. SMART goals aren’t a new thing – you might remember them from your high school days. It’s a framework you can use for setting realistic goals:
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Realistic
T – Time-based
By making sure your goals tick these five boxes, you stand a much better chance of success. Setting a broad goal such as ‘I want to make a lot of money from property’ isn’t going to get you anywhere. It’s not detailed enough.
A goal like, ‘I want to make X amount of money from property each year’ is a more realistic and achievable goal. We go into this topic in more depth over on our free Property Hub University course, Setting Property Goals. Go take it now.
We’ve also covered what makes good and bad goals, and the benefit of having sub-goals, right here.
Next you’ve got to think about how you’re going to get there. That’s where your strategy comes into play.
The perfect duo for success is choosing a strategy that’s going to help you achieve your goals. Otherwise what’s the point in having either? The two go hand-in-hand.
Your strategy is what you’re going to do to achieve your goals.
If you choose a strategy that’s completely different to your end goals then you’re likely to be wasting your time and money – which is why it’s important to have a clear understanding of both concepts.
We’ve got tonnes of strategy resources for you to work your way through. There’s this Property Hub University course on working out which strategy is right for you, not to mention the podcast episodes and articles we’ve published on each individual strategy.
If you want to learn more on buy-to-let, HMO, flip and refurb strategies, you can find everything you could possibly need, right here.
The first thing to remember is that no goal is too big or too small. In fact we encourage you to dream big, and then set out the stepping stones for getting there.
A word of caution: you do need to make sure that your goals are going to be achievable and not just a pipe dream. It’s best to think about what you want to achieve from property before choosing your strategy.
For example, you might want to benefit from future capital growth because you’re time poor and you’re not in a rush to have a big cash lump sum right now. If that sounds like you, you can take our Property Hub University course on how to invest when you have no time.
Most investors who are time poor won’t have the ability to do the heavy lifting needed for a flip or refurb strategy, so a buy-to-let strategy might be the way forward. And, if you’re really wanting to benefit from capital growth, you might want to look at buying off-plan properties in city centres or surrounding areas. We’ve got a course on how you can win big with off-plan property here.
Why would we suggest off-plan properties with this example? Because buying off-plan (at a discount) often results in capital growth (if you invest wisely) and many investors turn a profit before the development is even finished. That’s what we call a hands-off investment. The investor won’t have lifted a finger other than to sign the paperwork.
Off-plan property isn’t right for every goal or every strategy – have a watch of this video which looks into whether you should buy off-plan. We’ve also highlighted the benefits of investing in off-plan property here.
That’s just one example of how you tailor a strategy to meet achievable goals. Goals give us focus, the strategy tells us how we get there.
To summarise, you need to set yourself realistic and achievable goals and then build a strategy around them.
Sounds simple enough right?
But not everyone’s situation is that straightforward. Maybe you don’t know where to start, or maybe you don’t have the funds right now to get started. In which case you need to educate yourself first, try starting with this article on property investment for beginners.
Or, perhaps you’ve got an unusual situation and you know what you want to achieve but not 100% sure on what strategy will suit you the most. So why not take some time out of your day to have a chat with a member of our team to discuss your strategy.
It’s completely free, there’s no obligation or hard sell at the end of it, we’re just doing what we do best – helping and educating investors. So grab a brew, get chatting and you’ll soon be on your way to investing in property.