Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the festivities that surround this time of year and have started this New Year full of hopes, dreams and goals for the coming 12 months. The 1st of January is always the perfect time to set your intentions and get moving towards your property goals. We know that when you first start out with a dream it may seem like the impossible to get to the finish line, however as per the wise words of Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’. Here are our top 10 tips for that first step, which you can do right now, which will benefit your property success in 2016:
- Set your property intentions – what are you going to achieve? 1 property, a buy to let, a source and flip, a small development, a big development, multiple of all? The worlds your oyster you pick the goal.
- Set up alerts for your perfect property on property search engines – slightly exaggerate your budget by 10% as it will give you a greater range of property. This will give you a flavour of what is available and keep your intensions at the forefront of your mind. Even if a property is slightly over budget, you may be able to negotiate down on sale price so it is always a good idea to look at slightly higher asking prices.
- Decide on how much money you need to start your dream – how are you going to get that? If you are saving put your change in a money box or if you are looking at investors start writing down potential investors.
- Research mortgages using comparison websites – you need to get clued up on this before buying so why not have a play around. Change the variables and see the different mortgages you could be offered – Money Saving Expert is a simple tool to use to get going.
- Sign up for Property news – Our favourites at the moment are Your Property Network Magazine (subscription) and Property 118 (free) as well as NC Real Estate which will keep you up to date and be the support you need along the way – we also read the newspapers as they all are good resources for your investing information. Also network on Twitter – start adding likeminded people and listen to what they have to say.
- Start your 2016 diary – write down key dates which you need to keep an eye on this year. This is especially important for Buy-to-Let Landlords, knowing when tenancy agreements are up for renewal, or you can serve a break, or you need to re-do your gas safety or electrical safety or keep up to date with any other health and safety requirements is key to being a great Landlord.
- Dream of your end goal – decide what and where is it you wish to reach by fulfilling your property intentions. Is this your dream home to come back to every night, the ability to set up your own self-sustainable business… this is personal to each individual but it is really good to know why you are aiming for your dreams.
- List the people you will need along the way – knowing who you need to approach gives you clear focus, for example, mortgage brokers, estate agents, the bank, solicitors, building surveyors. Our blog How to Buy Property includes some key people.
- Find a property event – Arrange to go to networking events to meet other likeminded people, it’s a really good way of finding out how others work and leaning from their knowledge – you never know you might discover a new strategy and meet great people. We can definitely recommend the Your Property Network networking events. Also keep an eye out for property investor shows in your area.
- Create a mood board – We keep harping on about this (see our blog about mood boards), but trust us it’s a great way to creatively mash together all your intensions, having a visual aid of your goals really helps you in getting there, it’s also a fun way of planning.
We hope that the above tips are useful, and if you ever seem to fall off track of your goals then re-visit these 10 tips and re-affirm what it is you are after and how you are going to do it, even if it is different from your previous attempt!
NC Real Estate is here to support and help you achieve your property goals and therefore follow our blog or on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @NCReal_Estate to keep up to date. We always love hearing from you so make sure to keep us updated with your property successes and learning curves.
We wish you a Happy New Year, good luck and huge success in the coming year.
NC
