Specific
So, you have made up your mind and you want to gain some gold from real estate investing. The next step is to have a specific goal. You can’t just say I want to create a successful real estate investment portfolio without getting into the basics of real estate investing for beginners which include setting a specific goal. There are several questions that should be raised. Do I want to invest in one property and have a steady income or do I want to follow the fix and flip strategy? Do I want to dedicate a lot of time to manage my real estate investment or do I want to do it while keeping my full time job? Do I want to get involved in a long term investment or a short term investment? Though it’s important to recognize that real estate investing plans should all be long term investment plans even if you follow the fast-paced strategies like fix and flip.
Setting real estate investment goals will help the real estate investor to choose the best real estate investments since he/she has narrowed down the goal and made it specific. A non-specific goal can distract the real estate investor and make it harder to find the best long-term investments.
Measurable
All of your real estate investment goals should be able to be measured before getting involved in the investment. A real estate investor can’t simply say: I want to be the best real estate investor in the area. Or I want to be among the best real estate investors. Instead, a measurable goal can be: I want my investment to have a 10% return on investment. Or I want an investment with a $2000 monthly income. Having such measurable goals can help in the assessment of your real estate investment goals.
There are some analysis tools that make real estate investing for beginners much easier. They help in selecting the best real estate investments and telling the investors: what is a good return on investment and what is a good cash on cash return? What are low-risk investments to begin with? In addition to other basic real estate calculations. Mashvisor is one of those tools that can guide you and help you set the best measurable real estate investment goals.
If you are interested in learning more about what is a good cash on cash return, read this.
Achievable
It’s a good start for any beginner real estate investor to have enthusiasm and ambition. These traits will help real estate investors to do their best to achieve their real estate investment goals. However, they are not enough; the goals themselves must always be achievable and attainable especially for the fresh real estate investors. A real estate investor should set real estate investment goals that can be achieved in a certain period of time and that are compatible with the available resources. It’s not possible to make a fortune from your very first investment during one year. Setting such goals can lead to frustration of the real estate investor and as a result, no further investments will happen.
To specify whether the real estate investment goals are achievable or not, some calculations should be done to get the numbers right. An online analysis tool can be a friendly advisor regarding this matter.
To read more about the use of predictive analytics tools in real estate investing, check here.
Realistic
Real estate investment goals should be realistic. This means that when the real estate investor is aware of his/her resources, the investment property financing, the time and the efforts dedicated for the investment, the goals should be set according to these factors. You can’t, for example, start with a humble capital and expect to become rich from one real estate investment. Or aim to look after tens of properties by yourself while working a full time job even if you are a hard worker. Consequently, it’s advised that your real estate investment goals should be as realistic as possible, so you won’t give up real estate investing after your first investment.
Read more:”What Are the Advantages of Real Estate Investment Analysis?“
Time-bound
Every single aspect of your personal investment plan has to be timed. It’s not rational to expect that a rental property will generate $10,000 without setting the time needed for this goal to be achieved. Even long term investment plans should be divided into short term aims that have a timetable. Otherwise, how can a real estate investor know if the investment property is doing well or not. Even having a long term deadline for the whole real estate investment is not enough. There should be timed real estate investment goals that make the progress happen and prevent any rush at the final deadline of the big goal.
Market analysis tools can help you in that as well by giving you a background about the history of a certain area and its real estate investments, so you have a clearer idea about the required time to achieve a certain goal whether in a long or short term.
To sum up, a smart real estate investor will set smart real estate investment goals. There are plenty of criteria that should be followed in order to set your real estate investment goals, but the SMART criteria will focus your attention on one of the key factors that will eventually lead to smart real estate investment goals. In addition to that, a smart real estate investor realizes that there is some assistance needed by some market analysis tools.
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