The SMART Way of Planning Your Real Estate Investing Goals

Goals help drive us to achieve the life we want; they are the best kind of motivation and that is especially true when it comes to real estate investing goals.

Setting goals is very important for any investor. However, especially with new investors, we have seen really unrealistic ones. A great way to combat this is by using the SMART method, to ensure that your goals are realistic, and help you know if you are progressing to your end goal!

Real estate investing goals can be as small or large as you want. They can be making sure that you follow up with your contractors that day or even own 2 new properties by the end of the year. Goals are malleable so you can always find a way to make it work for your current situation or needs.

This article expands on one of our 10 crucial tips for real estate investors. Here is everything you need to know, in order to succeed by setting your SMART real estate investing goals.

How Can I Use the Smart Method for My Real Estate Goals?

A study that was conducted back in 2015 found that those who planned out their goals were 33% more likely to achieve them compared to those who only thought of a good outcome in their mind. Additionally, setting goals has proven to help with autonomy and confidence as well! Real estate goal setting is an effective practice when done carefully and properly!

The SMART Method consists of the following:

Is Your Investing Goal Specific: 

What do you want to achieve overall?

• Is this an outcome, process, or performance goal?
  • Separating your goals this way helps you organize what your short/long term plans are and work towards it effectively!

A great example of a non-specific real estate investing goal is: “I want to make big bucks in real estate”. This type of goal is vague because it doesn’t take into account how you are going to do it, or the timelines.

An (actually) great example of a specific real estate investing goal is: “Within 48 months, I plan on owning 3 investment properties that I will use as a rent to own so that I can use the cash flow to switch to part-time work instead of full time”.

Is Your Real Estate Investing Goal Measurable: 

How will you know when you have achieved this goal or milestone?

A lot of investors state lump sum totals that they wish to have by a certain point. A better way of measuring this real estate goal is going week by week. This way you can hold yourself accountable on a weekly basis to save, and it’s easier to make up any money that you had not been able to save the week before. By narrowing your scope, you will have an easier time getting to the big picture.

Is Your Investing Goal Attainable: 

Given your current resources and skills, is this goal or milestone something that you can reach?

• Is this goal financially feasible given your current financial situation?
  • Don’t assume you will be making more sometime towards working at your goal! If anything, make sure you could complete this goal even if you were out of a job for a few weeks.
• Is this goal feasible given my current skill set?
• Does this goal work well with my current time schedule? Is there a way to make more room for it if needed?
• What are the struggles that I might face working towards this goal? How can I mitigate them?
  • No one wants to purposely be negative about a new goal that is showing promise, but it is important to be proactive about what could go wrong so that you are always prepared from a mental, financial, and even physical standpoint.

Is Your Real Estate Investing Goal Relevant: 

Are you sure this goal is relevant to your real estate investing journey? For example, opening your own contacting business by the end of the year when you have no experience in this field might not be the best idea. Make sure this goal matches up with your bottom line.

Is Your Investing Goal Timely: 

Make sure you give yourself enough time to complete this goal. If your end goal is to open up your own brokerage, 6 months might not be enough time to give yourself! Having big goals is great, it shows how driven and motivated you are. But it’s important to make sure your goals are timely to cut yourself some slack and make sure your goals are motivating you right back!

Additionally, it’s not enough to give your total goal a timeline, you also need to time out the steps to meet that goal as a way to keep yourself accountable and motivated. If you decide that you want to learn more about the different ways of getting involved in real estate within a year, what is your timeline to work towards that goal? Are you going to go to a new seminar once? Or you plan on going to investing classes like those held at Rock Star every week? This also helps people get involved in somewhat of a routine, which makes achieving goals just a smidge easier!

Keep Your Eye on the Prize...

Additionally, you can have as many goals as you can handle, but you need to make sure your goals have no overlap, for example, make sure your goal isn’t “Within 24 months I want to invest in 3 properties, start a business and learn how to ride a bike”. By keeping them separate, you can get the satisfaction of giving that goal a big green checkmark, and helps show you how much you have done so far! Don’t undermine your successes, keep your goals separate!

There you have it, using the SMART method for your real estate investing goals. As a real estate investor, it’s easy to get sidetracked and lose confidence with all of the nitty-gritty details, but having a goal can help keep you on track. In this new year, you will make sure you’re getting that bulls-eye every time. After all, hitting the bulls-eye is a lot easier when you know what it is!

If you’re interested in real estate investing goal planning articles, you might like to check out the following:

Big Goals but Small Results? Read This.

Got Two Minutes? Time Management Simplified.

Happy Investing!