Sunday 20 January 2013

The Business of Property Investing in 2013

With a new year under way, now is the best time to organise your financials and plan for a prosperous year ahead. These four tips will assist you in making 2013 your strongest investing year yet.

Number 1 – Set goals

You’ve probably heard this one a bunch of times, each time brushing it off as unnecessary or something to look at later. It took me quite a few years of doing just that before I finally realised the benefits of setting goals at the start of each year.

Setting goals will help you focus your energy and give you some direction throughout the year. It doesn’t need to be an onerous exercise but each goal does need to be actionable and measurable. For example, ‘purchase another investment property’ or ‘increase passive income to $500/week’ provide clear benchmarks to aim for. ‘Get rich’, on the other hand, won’t really do.
Make sure that each goal:
  • can be achieved within a year
  • is something that you can measure your progress against
  • is, most importantly, something that you’re passionate about achieving.
The goals that you set at the start of the year can be amended and updated as things change.
 
Number 2 – Undertake an end-of-year review
 
An end-of-year review is something everyone should do, regardless if you set any specific goals the previous year or not. When you treat your investments as a ‘business’, your overall results will improve.
Undertaking a review doesn’t need to be too complicated. Start off by asking yourself simple questions such as, ‘Am I happy with what I achieved this year?’ and ‘What area could I have improved in?’.
 
Next, list your achievements for the year (this doesn’t need to be limited to your financials) and areas where you lost a bit of focus (for example, sticking to a budget).
 
The final step is to review all of your current investments to see how they are travelling.
 
Number 3 – Set a budget
 
Budgeting ties in nicely with the first two tips. Once you’ve set your yearly goals and undertaken a review of the previous year, you’ll be in a much better position to move forward with all of your financial pursuits.
 
Find a basic budgeting spreadsheet on the internet and fill it in as accurately as possible. If you’re unsure about any numbers, make an educated guess, but do try to be as comprehensive as possible.
With your budget complete, you will be able to see exactly where your money is going on a weekly or monthly basis. This will also assist you when you undertake your next end-of-year review.
 
Deposit a portion of any excess income into a high-yielding online savings account where it can stay until the next deal comes along.
 
Number 4 – Keep good records
 
Start each year with a relatively clean slate when it comes to records. It’s easy to be overrun with too many emails, RSS feeds and ‘to-do’ lists. Give your inbox a thorough clean-out and try to keep it clear by archiving old emails. Keep one ‘to-do’ list (preferably one that you can access everywhere, for example, with Evernote), then write down each day’s actions on a Post-It note.
 
Lastly, file everything (electronically and hard-copy) that is important using a clear folder structure.