Did you know that according to surveys only 8% of people successfully achieve their New Year’s resolutions, which means that 92% fail to keep their promise. The majority of these resolutions revolve around health and fitness, dieting, and quitting smoking, and to a lesser extent creating wealth.
While New Year’s resolutions are well-intentioned, unfortunately most people fail to keep them, and in a very short period of time, they ultimately go back to their old habits. Before they know it, they find themselves in the exact same situation or set of circumstances they were in the year before.
So what is the cause and reason behind this mass failure by people to achieve their goals and change their habits? And more importantly, what specific actions can be taken to avoid falling into the 92 percentile of people that fail?
Here is my personal step by step guideline to achieving success in property investing in 2016;
1. Choose a ‘realistic goal’. Irrespective of where you currently are financially, regardless of your risk profile, or how close you are to retirement, whatever your situation, if your goal in 2016 is to secure your first investment property, be clear and specific on what you aim to achieve. That is, asserting generically that you ‘want to buy a property this year’ is perhaps too vague a statement, inevitably leading to hesitation in purchasing arising from overwhelming confusion. Rather, get specific here; specify the exact suburb, number of bedrooms, and rental yield that your property will generate and make sure that the price point of the property is based on a financial pre-approval from a mortgage broker or bank.
2. Create a ‘Game Plan’. Write a detailed business plan, 1 to 2 pages, detailing the action steps that you will need to take to buy your first investment property. This could involve things like catching up with your taxes from the previous years, speaking to a mortgage broker about how much you can borrow, or speaking to an accountant on the best structure you should be using to buy the property. Make sure that you put a deadline on every step that you need to take towards buying your first investment property. In the event that you find yourself passing those deadlines, seek help from your mortgage broker, accountant or property consultant.
3. Break it down to smaller goals. Rather than focusing on one big goal, dissect your ultimate goal into smaller chunks. By achieving several smaller goals you will feel that you are moving closer and closer towards achieving your ultimate big goal. This momentum will create a feeling of achievement and satisfaction. For example, such small goals might be getting a pre-approval from a mortgage broker for 90% LVR, then getting legal and accounting advice, then if the only missing ingredient is in your ability to come up with that 10 per cent deposit, then you will need to write a list of all the possible ways you can raise it. This could involve things like exploring the possibilities of joint ventures with family or friends, or finding properties that are being sold below market and trying to settle against the higher valuation, or finding ways to raise money by selling something, working overtime, etc. Each small step will propel you towards your larger goal.
Check out my webinar recording from 2015 called;
HOW TO BUY YOUR NEXT PROPERTY WITH VIRTUALLY NO MONEY DOWN! How to structure your next property purchase in a way that creates you a 10% deposit!
The 5 Ways that You Can Buy Property with NO MONEY DOWN include:
- Equity Partners and Joint Ventures (JV’s).
- Residential Lending plus Personal Loans in order to obtain 100 percent Finance.
- Long Term Settlement, Off-The-Plan and settling on the Valuation, not the Contract Price.
- 10% Deposit rebate from the developer at the settlement of the property.
- 10% Gifted deposit from the developer when buying property.
4. Create a support network of like-minded people and become accountable to them. The key point that I stress here is that your ‘support network’ needs to consist of like-minded individuals, and investors who have achieved your goals. The absolute worst thing you can do is to choose people to in your support network who are ‘frenemies’, sceptics, and more importantly, those who have not achieved any results in property (you will find the two go hand in hand). I recommend joining investment clubs, networking with people at property seminars, or getting a referral to other investors through your mortgage broker, accountant or solicitor. Once you have identified your support network, meet with them regularly, and share openly with them your goals and deadlines.
5. Seek ‘qualified ‘ professional advice. Behind every self-made property millionaire, you will find a team of experts and professionals that have propelled that person to great heights. Here, I am of course referring to one’s accountant, solicitor, banker or mortgage broker, real estate agent or buyer’s advocate, quantity surveyor… you get the idea. The key is not only to find these individuals, but rather the ability to correctly pre-qualify them as suitable professionals to deal with. The main qualifying question that I would be asking my accountant or mortgage broker, is ‘How many investment properties do you personally own?’ If the answer is ‘none’ then I would politely leave the office and look for another suitable candidate. 50% of your success in property investing will come down to the ‘quality’ of consultants that you are able to align yourself with.
6. Limit the number of goals you set yourself, and focus on the big picture. Setting a goal is the equivalent of making a promise to yourself. Too often I see novice investors set unrealistic goals like “I want to buy 20 properties this year”, or, “I want to retire on one million dollars per year passive income within 2 years”. These goals are often set by individuals who have never invested before, and within a short period of time, they fail, not only to achieve these goals, but in ever setting new goals again. Now, I am not saying that one should not set ambitious goals, rather, set small progressive goals, and once you reach them, continue to set higher ones. You must learn how to crawl before you sprint.
7. Treat yourself with each milestone, and enjoy the journey. There is a saying that ‘Success is a journey, not a destination’, and I tend to agree with that. Make sure that you reward yourself every time you reach a milestone goal. A reward is a psychological affirmation of your progress and will create positive associations linked to your achieving goals and your ability to improve your financial situation. Most importantly though, is to enjoy the journey and decide that you will never stop learning about investing and property.
Finally, the best advice that I can give to any property investor in 2016 is to invest money in your knowledge first, before you invest any money into a property. As a wise friend of mine once said, “the market is simply a vehicle that transfers wealth from the uneducated to the educated”. Be one of the ‘educated’, and make the journey worthwhile in the end.
So…Let me ask you a high level question…
Do you know how to identify the very best performing investment properties in the Melbourne property market right now….in 2016?
If the answer is No…
And be honest with yourself…
Then let me ask you another question…
Would you like to learn the methodology that is widely used by property investors around Australia to not only identify the very best performing suburbs, but more importantly identify the very best performing properties within those suburbs…
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Reserve your ticket today for F.R.E.E.
www.RealEstateFastTrack.com.au
Seats are strictly limited so book NOW in order to avoid disappointment…
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Consisting of 2 days, over 14 hours of practical ‘How-To-Do’ content is delivered by some of Australia’s 2 foremost Real Estate experts and professionals.
Here are just the first 6 due-diligence criteria that you need to consider when shortlisting in Melbourne that are suitable for investing…
- The suburb has had capital growth of at least 10% over the last 10 years (RP Data).
- The suburb has experienced low vacancy rates of 2.5% of less (REIV).
- The property is located close to the CBD, infrastructure, transport, shops, and schools.
- The suburb has had positive population of growth of at least 1% per year (ABS).
- The suburb has a rental yield of at least 4% per year (REIV).
- The property has a land component representing at least 50% of the value of the property (Based on Bank Valuation).
The Real Estate Investing Fast Track Weekend is designed to help you gain the skill and awareness of how to conduct unbiased due-diligence on suburbs in Melbourne which will enable you to take your investing to the next level.
You will gain the ability to spot the winners and losers with laser like precision.
This knowledge could be priceless.
I look forward to meeting you at the event!
Your in Success,
KONRAD BOBILAK
CEO and FOUNDER
