Initially think what your ultimate end goal is. Not just some general goal. Be specific. Something like this: I expect to be clearing $10,000 a month in passive cash flow within 3 years from today’s date. Think of the SMART principle. Your goal needs to be S = Specific, M = Measureable, A = Actionable, R= Realistic, T = Time limit. Now that you have the ultimate outcome in mind, start doing some reverse engineering. Keep in mind that you’re investing business, oh yes, this is a business and not a hobby, will go through the crawl, walk, run cycles just like any other business. As such, your dollar growth in the first year will probably be less than your second year and your second year less than your third year. Start working backwards charting out “SMART” goals or objectives for each year even down to each quarter.

Now conduct a “SWOT” analysis of both yourself and of the market you plan to invest in. “SWOT” stands for S = Strengths, W = Weaknesses, O = Opportunities, T = Threats. Determine what you are good at and what you are not. For those things you are not good at, find someone who plays with what you struggle with and get them on your power team. By conducting a “SWOT” of the market, you can develop an overall plan that fits the market characteristics.

Next determine what resources you have available in time, contacts, credibility, money (yours and through private investors) etc. If you are deficient in time, figure out how to leverage other peoples time who are experts at what they do as well as utilize virtual assistants. If you are deficient in contacts, learn how to leverage the contacts of the people you do know as well as meet new people. If you are deficient in credibility, who do you know that has credibility and can you put them on your power team or leverage their contacts? If you are deficient in money, learn how to raise private money and how to partner with people who do have money so it is a win-win for everyone.

Once you know where you stand in strengths and weaknesses and understand the market you are investing in, develop a strategy that will move you along in the process on a step by step basis. If you are just starting out and have no money, then a relative risk free strategy would be learning how to assign, double close or possibly wholesale deals to other active investors. Find out what your end buyer wants, then go find the deal for the end buyer.

After you have created some cash reserves, then you can move on to other strategies like buy and hold, buy-rehab-resale, buy and lease option, buy and sell on land contract as well as others. Know specifically what realistic profit margins you can make out of each deal and the specific criteria of the deals you want to hold on to that fits your strategy. This way, you will not get distracted by opportunities that come your way but don’t fit your strategy. I hope you have found this helpful. Let us know what you think.

globalassistantja@gmail.com
Jay A. Redding
President
JMJ Services, Inc.
Phone: 260-444-4582
Fax: 800-706-3479
http://www.InvestmentPropertyMadeEasy.com