The American Education Institute

In general, you could think of a short-term goal as being anything you can attain in one year or less. Such a goal might be to buy one parcel of real estate within the next 12 months. Don’t forget that all you do to attain your short-term goals will get you that much closer to attaining your long-term goals.

Other examples of reachable short-term goals pertaining to real estate investing might include: receiving an investment income of $1,000 a month, buying three rent-producing properties, or eliminating a goodly amount of your income tax liability through tax shelters allowed for real estate by the IRS. You don’t even have to think in terms of actual purchases to go after short-term goals in real estate. What if you only have a goal to contact a dozen income property sellers each week? How about shooting for at least a half hour every two days to read the real estate sale notices in your daily newspaper’s classified advertisements? Aren’t these worthwhile short-term goals, too? You bet they are!

In general now, you might think of a long-term goal as one you intend to attain over the course of one to five years and beyond. “Five year plans” are commonplace in business and industry and even in government. Chances are good that your own municipality has used your tax dollars to develop a five-year plan for your locale. If everyone in government and business around you is conscious of long-term planning in five or more year increments, don’t you think you should be planning like this too? The answer is yes!

For your long-term planning specifically in real estate, you might consider the following as good examples of the kinds of goals you could shoot for: to own your own six-bedroom home with a heated pool and outdoor hot tub within the next five years, to be worth at least $750,000 net when five years are up, or to invest in properties totaling 75 rental units by the time three years are up and then selling them all and buying 75 more units within the next two years after that. You might further set down a goal that each unit must be netting you over $1,000 per year in positive cash flow, and then your goal is to sell each one of the units at 100% profit.

Another long-term goal, of course, is to leave you present job and completely devote yourself to real estate investment activities within the next five years. If you set this goal, you will really be developing a career-specific long-range plan, and you’ll be focusing all your energies on earning enough money to be able to leave your present job. Any generalized planning or wishful thinking will have long since vanished. If you’re determined to walk out of the sweatshop, you’re serious. You will become a succesful real estate investor. You’ll have to, right?

1-13-09
Dr. Eric T. Martin