Just as it’s impossible to plan a trip without a destination, you can’t build a successful real estate business without setting clearly defined goals. Success does not happen by fluke. It takes proper planning, and they are markers that show us how far we have come or how far we still have to go. Here are a number of ways on how to set great goals for real estate.

Know Your Why

Despite you having the resources, knowledge and a reliable team in setting up your real estate career, you will have a hard time if you clearly don’t know your “why”. So, start by writing down the reasons for venturing into the business. The reasons may vary from one individual to the other, but undertaking this important step in successful goal setting ensures that you understand what you want to achieve.

Goal Settings

Be specific with what you want to accomplish. For example, you could say “I want to earn a million before I turn 40” instead of “I want to make a lot of money.” You are most likely to achieve your goals if they are real and clear. And don’t forget to write them down.

Wealth Definition

Make sure you understand what wealth means if you are focusing on gaining wealth. In this case, wealth does not always equate to money. The meaning varies and could mean either of these important areas:

• Physical
• Relational
• Financial
• Intellectual
• Spiritual

Will Power and Attentiveness

The first great step is to ensure that goals are identified and are written down. Commitment, discipline, and focus are key in crushing the set goals. It means that an individual ought to work when the job is no longer new and exciting as a start-up. It means that work needs to be done when an individual prefers to be doing something else.

Realization that life’s outcomes are the responsibility of an individual, creates an ideal situation for the person to see desired results. Bad things may occur.

Bouncing back from setbacks makes a true statement of a person’s character. It greatly identifies the difference between falling down and staying in that position.

Create a Business Plan

The success in real estate lies in the development of a business plan. It involves creating an overview of what needs to be accomplished, and the specific steps needed to make this possible. It is essential for the plan to contain mission statement, specific goals, a strategically plan for accomplishing the goals, and the timeline.

Additionally, goals need to be refined within the market. Refining these goals could include purchasing rentals, commercial buildings, or buying and holding. Also, specific criteria for deals to be undertaken ought to be clearly indicated in the business plan.

Listing the teams and systems that are already in place helps in efficiency. A back up plan or an exit plan is also important. All these steps are necessary for the success of real estate goals.

Find Your Niche

Finding and understanding a niche is important in real estate. It will help in weeding out the strategies and deals that are sub-optimal in meeting the goals and focusing on the optimal ones. It is critical to find out what a person likes, the strengths, and understanding the need in the market.

Understanding the market and carrying out an analysis adds more prospective to succeeding. Researching about the market and the industry at large is advantageous. Coupling this with having a game plan increases the chances of success.

Set SMART Goals

Every goal that is set needs to be SMART, that is, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time bound. Investors should revise their goals to ensure that they are SMART. The center of attention for the goals should gravitate on efforts that allow the effective use of resources as well as time.

Setting SMART goals in real estate helps in setting tangible numbers that can be easily tracked. It provides a concrete measure for deadlines all through.

Adopt Key Visual Tools

When setting your real estate goals, adopt different concepts such as the Wheel of Life. The visual tool helps in identifying the different areas in your venture that need immediate focus. For instance, if your area of focus is relational and the wheel is short, it means that you have not established helpful relationships with your friends and family.

This means that your life is not in the right direction, and such an imbalance is most likely to affect your life negatively. So, the wheel concept helps you come up with short-term goals by finding balance in all aspects of your life.

Short or Long Term Goals

Have both short and long-term goals to achieve your desires in the long run. The former refers to things you are willing to achieve in a short time, more specifically within six months from the time you set the goal. A few examples smart, personal short-term goals are:

• Cutting off or reducing unnecessary expenditure
• Offering volunteering services often
• Having an organized place of work
• Working out once or twice a week
• Waking up and sleeping early to ensure you have enough rest
• Maintaining a work discipline
• Saving

You can achieve these goals in a short time, which, in turn, will help meet your long-term goals such as earning more, reducing or eliminating debts, becoming more productive, and being fit.

Ask yourself honest questions like “Where do I want to be in 10 years?” or “Do I want to be in debt in five years?” to come up with long-term goals.

Conclusion

It is okay to start small in the adventure of investment in real estate. For instance, investing in rentals to get the general idea of the overall process might be a great idea. It eliminates the process of home acquisition, renovations, or getting tenants. Irrespective of the strategy used while investing in real estate, setting intentional goals is key. It ensures that the action steps are prioritized and the process moves towards attaining the short-term and long-term goals.

Looking to invest in property? Want to flip a house quick to make a fast profit? Interested in commercial properties as well as residential?

Not all housing markets are created equal, and that means that investments in properties fluctuate with these markets. It serves you best to know what markets are booming and what markets are stagnating, so that you can make an educated guess about where your next business venture should be.

 

Here are 5 cities that you should consider when investing in real estate in 2019.

 

Dallas or Fort Worth, TX

Dallas and Fort Worth are at an epicenter of business and residential growth in Texas. As population trends continue upwards in these areas, properties for professionals and wealthier residents are being built with the idea of an increasingly metropolitan Texas. And, considering that much of Texas is rural, the addition of modern businesses and workforces is making this area a place to invest in.

 

Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina

Raleigh and Durham are part of the “Research Triangle,” and area that spans Raleigh, Durham, and College Park. Included within the Research Triangle are esteemed colleges like Duke University and the University of North Carolina, with both pushing hard on technical and business education. Alongside these universities a technology industry is booming around software, integrated hardware, and small startup companies. All this, plus steadily-increasing employment numbers, means that property values are set to increase over the near future.

 

Atlanta, GA

Atlanta is considered the economic center of the South, with one of the largest international airports in the country and a growing suburban sprawl–mostly due to an increase in population and employment.

Atlanta also maintains steady property values due to its continued population growth: 14% in the last ten years. This means that housing demand has increased exponentially over the past decade, making residential investment a good bet.

 

Orlando, FL

The state of Florida is a center for both tourist and retirees. With warmer beaches and a great, mild climate throughout the state, people flock to this area to buy homes, set up businesses for retirees, and frequent beach houses and rental properties near the ocean.

Orlando, perhaps more than any other city in Florida, is a center for culture and jobs. Investing in either commercial or residential properties here are a no brainer.

 

Memphis, TN

Memphis is the home of blues and southern Tennessee culture, and its housing market is starting to pick up.

However, if you aren’t a traditional investor but a house flipper, then Memphis is for you. According to ATTOM Data Solutions, Memphis is the top city for home flippers, with high returns and quick flip rates. If you are looking to make money on flipping homes, then Memphis is the market to consider.

There is no question that online shopping has skyrocketed over the past decade. People aren’t just buying groceries and gifts online, they’re also buying homes! A study has shown that Internet homebuyers have increased from 28% to 70% since the early 2000s and the number are rising every day. Even over the past 4 years, real estate searches on Google have grown 253%. This just goes to show that the Internet is connecting homebuyers and sellers better than ever before, though are there downsides to this?

 

Some Important Statistics To Note

In 2016, only 14% of homebuyers decided to contact real estate agents right off the bat. 51% of all homebuyers found the home that they ultimately ended up purchasing online compared to

only 8% back in 2001.

Buyers that searched online for homes ended up visiting 10 homes on average over the course of 10 weeks prior to purchasing. For traditional homebuyers, the numbers were much smaller. On average, they visited four homes over the course of four weeks before making their final purchase.

This goes to show that traditional shoppers are much more rooted in their decisions and likely know what type of house or location they have in mind before ever hitting the market.

 

why Is This Trend Growing?

It’s no surprise that finding the right property isn’t easy, especially when it comes to first-time buyers. A large percentage of new homebuyers feel that the process and paperwork is the hardest thing to figure out. Online property buying sites help to expedite this process and walk you through the correct steps to make sure you are thorough throughout the process.

With that said, the majority of homebuyers eventually find an agent to help close the deal on a home, nine in ten buyers in fact.

 

Do Agents Have a Place In the Digital Age?

Absolutely! There’s nothing like having the proper hands-on attention when you’re looking for your home. Full-service agents have a better understanding of what homebuyers are looking for and can help them to find the perfect home that matches their preferences.

Agents also don’t get paid for every house that you look at, meaning they’re more willing to help you find the house that you love and will get creative to do so.

 

The Major Difference

Buyers who still buy homes traditionally are likely to have a better idea of the home buying process and are quicker when it comes to making their ultimate purchases. Essentially, it’s usually not their first rodeo.

The majority of Internet homebuyers are a newer breed of buyers who are still a bit less confident when it comes to the purchasing process. Because of the larger variety of options online, they typically take longer in the home buying process.

Would you consider yourself more of a traditional homebuyer or an Internet homebuyer? Do you have experience buying a home either way?

Let us know about your experience in the comments!

Selling a home comes with plenty of complications as is. Selling a multi-million dollar home, however, is an entirely different story.

As your target audience is drastically reduced when trying to sell a multi-million dollar home compared to an average home, you have to change your marketing strategy in order to effectively attract this new audience. Taking a couple of pictures and holding an open house is likely not going to be enough.

 

Instead, consider these tips to help you effectively sell a multi-million dollar home.

 

 

Networking

First and foremost, selling a multi-million dollar home often starts with having or making the right connections. A luxury house in the hills isn’t an attractive or viable option for everyone, so you have to be able to find the right person who fits the home you are trying to sell.

 

Often this means being able to get in touch with high net worth individuals or celebrities who have the means and desire to own a luxurious, multi-million dollar home.

Often, the owners of these homes decide not to make their decision to sell public, which means it can be very difficult to market. In these situations, your existing connections may be the only realistic way to sell the property.

 

 

International Buyers

Multi-million dollar homes are often an object of interest to international buyers. Luxury properties in the United States can be very attractive to wealthy individuals throughout the globe, particularly traveling businessmen who have business relationships in the United States.

 

Real estate agents who deal in luxury properties often specifically market to individuals from overseas who may be interested in owning or flipping a property in the United States.

 

 

Don’t Hold Open Houses

Open houses are an extremely common method to sell the average home. They give potential buyers the opportunity to see and inspect the property for themselves and decide if they are interested in living there long-term. However, when you’re selling a multi-million dollar property, open houses should be avoided.

 

One of the primary reasons is that an open house at a luxury property will attract numerous people who either do not have the financial ability to purchase the property or simply aren’t interested in making a purchase. They’re just there out of curiosity. This can be a significant waste of time.

Open houses at luxury properties also run the risk of attracting criminals who might be interested in taking expensive items that are on display for staging purposes.

 

Instead of holding an open house, consider throwing an invite-only party for people in your network who may be in the market for a new home. This can help ensure that your property showcase is limited to people with an actual interest in the property.

Marketing a multi-million dollar home can be much more difficult than selling an average American house. Due to the limited audience, you have to completely change your marketing strategies to attract the right buyers.

 

Following the tips listed above is a great way to help you get any multi-million dollar home off the market as quickly as possible.

A real estate investor may choose to forego having a property inspected for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s to expedite the closing of the deal, to save money, or it simply takes too much effort, it’s easy to find an excuse to bypass this important step.

 

However, any smart investor should be sure to have any and every property inspected before seriously considering placing an offer on the property. Waiving an inspection presents a plethora of potential issues that could be seriously harmful to the value of the property. Consider these risks before choosing to neglect getting an inspection on a property that you are thinking about investing in.

 

 

Structural Issues and Illegal Alterations

First and foremost, inspections often reveal severe structural damage and/or illegal alterations made to a property.

Common structural issues include a damaged roof or chimney which can lead to leaks, rotten wood, damaged foundation, and more. These issues can be extremely costly and can take quite a while to fix. Even if the repair costs aren’t a major concern, the time it takes to fix these issues can prevent you from flipping the property as quickly as you want to.

 

Additionally, homeowners often make alterations to their home which are not completely legal. For example, a family might make renovations to their garage to turn it into an entertainment room. However, they might not obtain the necessary permits to make certain alterations legal. This can be a hassle to deal with and can leave you to deal with the legal ramifications if you don’t discover these issues before purchasing the property. 

 

 

Safety Issues

Aside from structural issues, an inspection can reveal some fairly serious health and safety risks.

Dangerous mold, carbon monoxide leaks, radon, asbestos, bug infestations, and more can be detected by a professional home inspector. By neglecting to get a home inspection before investing in a property, you could potentially sell the property to a family without knowing about the serious health risks that they will be facing.

 

 

Leverage

One of the biggest risks investors take by waiving a home inspection is the potential loss of leverage. As an investor, you’re likely always searching for the best deal and trying to negotiate the best price available.

When an inspection reveals issues, whether they are cosmetic or more serious issues, it can be a tremendous hassle to deal with. On the other hand, it can grant you significant leverage. If an inspector finds issues which will be costly to fix or will take a long time to remedy, you can us that information to negotiate a much better deal.

 

Home investors sometimes choose to bypass getting a home inspection for  numerous reasons. Home inspections cost money, can delay the negotiation process, and can take quite a bit of effort. However, if you choose to waive a home inspection, you are opening yourself up to a number of potential issues which can be costly and even dangerous. Consider these factors next time you are considering waiving a final property inspection.