Many people will have set property investing goals for the new year and unfortunately, many will fail to achieve them. 

Others may not set any goals at all, because it is very easy to just live in the present without a set plan to move forward, which is an easy habit to fall into.

Whether you’re a new or existing property investor, it can be incredibly beneficial to set property investing goals to guide your investing for the year to come.

These tips can help you set your 2021 property investing goals and ensure you don't lose sight of them and are able to take the necessary steps to see them achieved.

Why have goals?

Setting yourself some smart goals can help to give you a long-term vision to work towards and simultaneously the short-term determination and drive that you will need to get there.

Goals can help to combine your acquired knowledge and experience to provide the focus that you will need to make the very most of your property investing journey and achieve long term and sustainable wealth.

By setting clearly defined goals which you can measure and take pride in, you will be able to monitor your progress, raise your confidence and recognise the achievements you are making. 

1. Set SMART Goals

A useful way of making goals more powerful is to make them SMART, which stands for:

• S – Specific 
• M – Measurable
• A – Attainable 
• R – Relevant 
• T – Time-bound 

For example, instead of having "I will grow my property portfolio" as a goal, it's more powerful to say:

"I will have added at least one property to my portfolio by December 31, 2021, which I will purchase at a price of at least 10% below the fair market value."

Make sure with every SMART goal you set, you have a clear and convincing answer of why you want to achieve it.

This answer can be your anchor, motivation and help you stay on track if and when things become difficult.

When you set this answer, make sure you then realise the benefits and outcomes that you can achieve when you tick off the goals. 

For example if you achieve the example goal stated above, it can bring you many more ancillary benefits, including creating instant equity to help fund future additions to your portfolio, potential future capital gains, helping to you create long term and sustainable wealth. 

2. State each goal as a positive statement

Remaining positive about your property investing goals in 2021 will help keep you motivated towards achieving them.

For example:

Having a goal of optimising my portfolio successfully by 31 April 2021 by:

• Reviewing rents with my tenants and or property manager
• Meeting my lender to discuss my current interest rates to see whether I can obtain a better rate or get a loan review with a mortgage broker is more likely to keep you on track than a negative statement like Don't make the stupid mistake of failing to optimise my portfolio.

3. Write down your goals

There is plenty of research which shows that writing down your goals will increase your chances of achieving them.

It will force you to be clear about what you want, motivate you to act and prevent you from thinking about the possible stumbling blocks on the road ahead.

Place your written goals somewhere prominent - as reading them regularly will help to positively reinforce your convictions.

If the goal is unspecific and hard to measure, make sure to break it down in to smaller, incremental goals which can be measured easily.

For example these 4 incremental goals:

• I will spend 30 minutes per day searching for positive cash flow properties 
• I will spend 30 minutes per day checking the property and suburb fundamentals
• I will make a short list of properties that meet my buying rules and criteria
• I will organise a financial health check and get finance pre-approval organised by 31 March 2021

Are all measurable and can combine to help you achieve a major goal of, for example, adding a property to your portfolio by the end of the year.

4. Create a checklist and track your progress

A checklist will help you keep track of what needs to be done, allows you to tick off items as you complete them, and allows you to see how they contribute to your goals. 

The checklist you make should contain steps to achieve the goal. 

Whether this is what you need to do, what you need to think about or what you need to learn to achieve it. 

Again, to be most effective you should add a completion date to each list item if applicable.

The more detailed your checklist the better, as it will help you stay focused on what needs to be completed before starting the next task.

There are loads of free goal tracking apps that you can get to help with this. In fact, make it a goal to download one of them today!

Real Estate Investar members can also use our Portfolio Tracker tool to set long term portfolio goals and then track progress along the way. 

5. Be prepared to change some habits

One reason that people fail to achieve their goals, is that they don't recognise the need to change some ingrained habits that have the potential to sabotage them.

For instance if one of your goals is to purchase a positively geared property by 31 December 2021, and you do not have accurate analysis tools to help you work out the long term cash flow position of the property in question, you are increasing your risk of failure.  

6. Discuss your goals with family or friends

Telling someone else about your goals and regularly updating them will help to keep you focused.

Giving weekly updates keeps you committed and increases accountability, and you’ll also have the benefit of receiving honest feedback from people whose opinions matter to you.

It can be a family member or a friend  your goals and as long as they’re supportive and willing to provide practical advice, you’ll increase your chances of accomplishing.

7. Celebrate your achievements

Positive reinforcement is a good habit to have.

Reward yourself when you achieve a goal or have made significant progress on your checklist.

This will help reinforce your commitment and give an even bigger sense of accomplishment.  When you have achieved a goal, review the rest of your goals to learn from the experience.

Questions to ask yourself include:

• If you achieved the goal too easily, adjust the next ones to make them more challenging.
• If you learned something from achieving this goal that could lead you to change other goals, do so.
• If you noticed that you have skill or knowledge gaps despite achieving the goal, set goals to address this.

8. Take advantage of resources

There are loads of resources, information and data that can help you fulfill your property investing goals.

For example there are countless eBooks, websites, podcasts, webinars & educators that you can learn from.

Additionally, you may be interested in seeing how Real Estate Investar can help you achieve your property investment goals in a demo

If so, we would love to talk to you soon!

Thanks for reading - good luck!