What a market! Deals everywhere! Let’s jump in with both feet!
Great idea, but let’s make sure those feet are planted firmly on solid ground.
The higher you build a building, the more important it is that the foundation is solid. The more investment properties you purchase, the more important it is that you have a solid, workable plan. That is your blueprint for your foundation.
It may sound corny but it’s true. You need to sit down and write out your goals. What do you want? Are you saving for a nice retirement? Do you want to quit your job and live comfortably the rest of your life? Do you want some extra income to help make ends meet at the end of the month? Would you like to send the kids to college and have no idea how you’re going to be able to do that? Decide what your goals are, what you will need to accomplish those goals and then what your time frame is. Write this down so you can refer to it time and again. Yes, it may be indelibly etched in your mind, but there is something very solid and tangible about seeing it in black and white on a piece of paper. It helps to put things in proper perspective and see possible questions to research.
Then you need to figure out where you are. How much money do you have that you plan to invest? Is this money that is “extra” or is this coming from present or future wages and income? If it is not “extra” money, how is that going to affect your lifestyle? Can you afford to give this money up for a year, five years, ten years? Sometimes the present sacrifice just isn’t worth the ultimate rewards. You may have to adjust something along the way.
Last, you need to plan how to get from where you are today to where you want to be. You may be looking at flipping single family residential homes. Maybe turning those single family residences into rentals or vacation rentals is a better idea for you. Possibly multi-unit apartment buildings are where you want to concentrate your efforts. Large or small commercial units may fit your plans better. Fixing up distressed properties can give people a lot for their money. Developing raw land can pay large dividends. Changing the use of a property can be challenging and rewarding. You may very well want to consider a number of the above possibilities.
Whatever you do, make your plan somewhat flexible. The market, buyers, sellers, renters, lenders and all the others you deal with don’t know what your plan is or that they’re supposed to present themselves in a particular way to fit into that plan. However, don’t change your plan just because something pops up that looks good. If it does not fit into your overall plan, plass on it. You will always have slight variances but the basics should not change. That is your roadmap. You can make a minor correction to stay on course but if you end up making a U-turn, it may be very difficult to find that final goal that you started out following.
For more information and/or discussing your particular situation, please Contact Us.