Get ready to invest in property
Property investment success is available to all. But it’s easy for investors to lose your way, and slip into being a property investor who underperforms. If you take your eye off the prize or don’t know what the prize is to begin with, the chances of profitable property investment evaporate.
With the property investment tips in this article, you’ll learn the secret to profitable property investment. The approach you read about will ensure your investment strategy is prepared to drive you to your financial goals. It will stop your property investment from drifting and keep you on track to achieving your goals faster than you ever thought possible.
How to set property investment goals and stick to them
Financial freedom needs a lot of planning. Do you want to retire early, buy a yacht, go on an around-the-world cruise? It all takes money. Successful property investment could provide the funds to do all these things and more.
The question is, how do you make sure you achieve your goals as a property investor? How often have you set a goal and failed? There’s a lot of people who fail to attain their goals on a regular basis – I bet you can name several who have made New Year’s resolutions and then dumped them within months a few short weeks (or even days!).
Here are seven rules of goal setting that will keep you on track to achieve your personal financial objectives through property investment.
1. Establish what’s important to you
Okay, here’s something that too many people don’t understand: money isn’t going to make you happy. What’s important to you will bring you happiness. Money is merely a commodity that helps you achieve happiness.
Let’s say you want to play tennis at a professional level. Unless you’re talented and have the time to spend practising, you probably won’t ever achieve that aim. Having money will mean you don’t have to spend all your hours working. The free time can be spent practicing on the court, and that may be enough to achieve your goal.
Property investment is possibly the best vehicle to make the money you need. The money that will buy your freedom. Want to know how to decide what’s important to you?
Answer these three questions:
- Imagine you have no money worries. How would you live your life? Is there anything you would do? What are your dreams?
- Now imagine that you’ve been told you only have five years to live. You’re not ill, and your health won’t suffer in the meantime. How do you want to spend your remaining years?
- Now imagine that you only have 24 hours to live. What have you missed out on? What do you regret not doing, who did you not get to be?
Take some time to answer these questions. It’s amazing how they focus your thoughts.
2. Look forward
Forget about past failures. Think about where you want to be, what you want to do. What is it that you want to accomplish?
Could property investment help you achieve these goals? Over the last 60+ years, UK property prices have increased by an average of more than 7.5% per year. On top of this, the current average gross rental yield is around 5.6%.
3. Break your big goal into smaller milestones
Most people fail to meet their objectives because the goal they set is too big, or too far away. The trick is to break a goal down into smaller milestones. Let’s say that you want to take an around-the-world cruise to celebrate your 25th wedding anniversary. It’s going to cost $25,000. How much do you need to save every year, every month, every week?
It’s the same if you have some debt to pay off. Don’t think about how on earth you’re going to pay off $100,000 of mortgage debt. Think about how you can make that first $1,000 to pay off the mortgage. It’s easier to focus on a smaller, short-term goal than a large goal that’s way out on the horizon.
When you start out in property investment, your goal may be to own a portfolio of ten properties. Take it one step at a time. Bed in each new investment property as it is added to your portfolio. Other mini-goals may be to find a great investment property manager, to get great tenants, remortgaging to buy a new property, increasing your positive cash flow, etc.
4. Never lose sight of your objectives
Remind yourself why you are investing in property. Keep the big-picture goal in mind, and remind yourself how far you’ve come towards it.
5. Get help!
We all have times when we falter. Enlist the help of a friend, relative or mentor to encourage you. Perhaps you have similar goals – compare progress, and congratulate each other on reaching each milestone.
Take advantage of free property investment education. Learning new strategies and putting them into practice as momentum towards your financial freedom snowballs.
6. Don’t be impatient
Good things are worth waiting for. It’s always the first steps that are the hardest. That big goal is still so far away, and what’s £100 of positive cash flow when you need £1,500?
Don’t be impatient; it won’t be too long before you’ve added another property and increased your rents. That £100-per-month positive cash flow is the first stepping stone.
7. Don’t get derailed by setbacks
Delays happen. In your personal life, your car might be written off by an uninsured driver. You might get made redundant. Or a child moves back after three years of living in their home.
Property investment setbacks happen. Your great tenant moves on, and you suffer an unexpected void period. Or your investment property needs a new central heating system. The economy crashes, and property prices fall back temporarily.
There’s only one way to deal with setbacks:
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back on the road to your goals. You may have to reset the Sat Nav, but you can still reach your destination when you’re driving the property investment vehicle.
Contact one of our team today on +44 (0)207 923 6100, and we’ll be pleased to discuss your goals and how property investment can help you achieve them.
Live with Passion,
Brett Alegre-Wood
