Want to get clear on your investing goals but don’t know where to start and what even really matters?
Fear not! For new and current investors alike getting clear on your goals or revisiting your goals is paramount to achieving what you really want and ultimately how you choose to invest.
The clarity gained gives you confidence and ease when making decisions because it is based on what you truly want and not what someone else has told you that you should want.
So let’s dive in and help you to get clear, confident, and ready to start making your desires a reality!
- Cash
It is said that if you want to invest in real estate then you either need money or time and if you have neither then this might not be the investment vehicle for your right now. Don’t be dismayed you might have access to cash even if it is not in your bank account so consider the following questions:
- How much cash do you have to invest?
- How much cash could you borrow from the bank to invest?
- How much cash could you borrow from Hard Money Lenders or people that you know?
- Do you know people who have money and would like to invest in real estate but don’t have the time or desire to actively manage properties?
- Do you have an old 401K and would you be open to using it to invest in real estate?
Then consider when you invest in real estate:
Are you investing to receive cash flow monthly or quarterly or are you okay with no cash flow but would like a large windfall of cash in 5 to 10 years when an investment is sold or both?
Remember there is no right or wrong with any of these questions. Instead, use the questions to help you identify what matters most to you right now.
- Time
How much time do have to invest outside of working your job, business, hobbies or other commitments?
This is an important question that many investors overlook. It is important because you don’t get time back and the way you use your time correlates directly to your happiness and quality of life. So be honest with yourself about what you can give here and what you need so that you can better be able to align your investment strategy with your life.
- Tax Benefits
As your wealth grows as an investor, business owner, and professional so does the potential to pay more taxes. However, depending on how you play in real estate, there are ways you can achieve extensive tax breaks because of your real estate investing. The real estate professional designation is the most desirable from a tax benefits perspective. However, even if you are not a real estate professional but you invest in large multifamily syndications that perform cost segregation studies that accelerate paper losses called depreciation expense then the passive losses can offset the operating cash flows during the hold period of the investment. Hence, here are some questions that can help you uncover your desire level for tax benefits:
- Do you want to invest in real estate to decrease your IRS Tax Bill?
- Are you a real estate professional?
- Or do you need passive losses to offset passive income?
- Would you like to do a 1031 exchange currently or at the sale of your investment?
Don’t know what a 1031 exchange is – then check out my podcast episode here to learn more: https://lisahylton.com/2020/05/exploring-1031-exchanges-with-the-1031-exchange-guys-michael-brady-and-alex-shandrovsky/)
- Appreciation
Appreciation is when the value of the real estate that you have invested in has increased in value. Appreciation can occur in two ways. The first way is through market forces that generally occur with time and is outside of the control of the investor. A great example of this is the city of Inglewood in California. The most notable development project in Inglewood is the Rams Stadium. The impact of this development has resulted in additional knock-on development and an increase in market values of property and rents in Inglewood. Remember appreciation is great but you generally can only access it if you do a cash-out refinance or sell the property. The second way appreciation can occur is through forced appreciation. This occurs when you purchase a property and then perform strategic improvements that results in an increase in its value.
So now that you have an idea of how appreciation can occur consider whether you want to invest in properties for appreciation?
- Experience
When exploring your investing goals it is also a good idea to consider the types of experiences that you currently have. This enables you to assess the skills that you bring to the table currently that could be used in a partnership or in the execution of an investment strategy.
Here are a few questions that can help you uncover your skills:
- What is your experience level with real estate investing – wholesaler, real estate agent, buy and hold, house hacks, BRRRR, flips, construction, development, property management?
- Do you know anyone that invests in real estate currently and how do they invest? Are they looking for help in their real estate investing business?
- What are you good at and enjoy doing in general and in the real estate investing arena specifically?
- Do you enjoy analyzing numbers, looking for properties and/or talking with people?
Remember skills and talents that might come naturally to you and that you might overlook might be something a potential partner or investor might be looking for. Approaching working with others from a place of how can you add value to others can enable you to create new opportunities for yourself and the people you end up working with.
- Landlording
Many people believe that investing in real estate means that you have to be a landlord. Well, that is absolutely not always the case. It largely depends on the way you choose to invest in real estate (also known as your strategy).
So go ahead and consider – do you want to deal with tenants or manage property managers or would you rather be 100% passive and be able to focus on other aspects of your life?
Conclusion
These are a few of the topics and questions that I would recommend going through in order to develop your investment goals and identify your resources. Getting clear on what you want and desire is the first step towards getting what you truly want in life from real estate or anything else for that matter. Once you have completed this exercise the next step is to explore all the various strategies and select the investing strategy or strategies that are most in alignment with your goals and desires. Look out for my next article that will outline all the various strategies and some key information to get you started on your exploration!
Want to Invest with Lisa?
If you are interested in learning more about passively investing in apartment buildings, click here https://lisahylton.com/partner-with-lisa/ to sign up to learn more about upcoming opportunities.
About the Author
Lisa is the founder of Axcel Capital, a real estate company that invests with investors solely multifamily investments across the United States. At Axcel Capital, Lisa and her team focus on buying apartments with investors and shares the profits. This strategy enables her investors to build wealth and passive income through investing in conservative, high-quality multifamily assets.
Lisa is the host of the Level Up REI podcast where she interviews real estate investors on their stories and lessons learned. After a decade working in the financial services industry, Lisa found investing passively in real estate syndications and
was intrigued by the business opportunity to invest in real estate while also providing the opportunity to others to do the same along with her.
You can learn more about passively investing in high-quality multifamily assets that provide cash flow and strong returns at www.LisaHylton.com.
