When was the last time you formulated goals for your investment portfolio? While you’ve probably thought about what you’d like to achieve, few of us ever take the time to put this into writing and make an actionable plan.
This has to change. Having goals in place can hold you accountable and help you succeed, but only if you’re SMART about it – literally.
Let’s explore what SMART goals look like in real estate.
Specific
It’s not enough to say ‘I want to grow my portfolio’. Vague objectives like this are easy to give up on and difficult to track.
Instead, be specific – for example, ‘I want to add one townhouse property to my portfolio’.
Measurable
With specific goals, you clearly state what you hope to attain – but how will you know when you have? That’s where the ‘m’ in SMART comes in.
Provide a clear way to quantify your goal or method for evaluating progress. For example, ‘I want to buy an apartment for less than $450,000’.
Attainable
Setting an impossible goal is a surefire way to fail. Buying a unit for less than $450,000, for example, could be attainable. The same goal would be out-of-reach, however, if you had a significantly smaller budget.
Relevant
At this stage, you need to ask yourself whether a goal is suitable for you. This is the time to be realistic with yourself and think about what makes sense.
If you’re paying for a child in university, for example, you might want to hold off on a large purchase.
