It’s almost that time of year! As you make your list of resolutions for 2024—somewhere between “Peloton more” and “learn to make paella”—consider adding a few real estate-specific bullets to the list.
Not sure what to include? No need to reinvent the wheel. We asked two investors with different strategies, target cities, and portfolio sizes what was on their resolution list for 2024. Let these inspire your own resolution-making!
The Investor
Claire Johnston is an investor and realtor in Minneapolis and currently owns three doors. One is a single-family; another is a duplex she is currently house hacking. Her real estate investments bring in about $4,000/month.
The Resolutions
1. Build my real estate income to match my W-2 income.
2. Personally purchase a fourplex.
3. Start a real estate syndication.
Why and How?
BiggerPockets: Why these resolutions?
These goals support my overarching life goal of creating a business I enjoy working in every single day that supports me and my community. While my ultimate goal is financial freedom, I am less attached to this goal than I am to creating a meaningful and rewarding daily life for myself and those who work for/with me. Helping others, renovating historic homes, and providing safe homes for tenants are all parts of my business that I find incredibly rewarding.
BiggerPockets: How will you achieve them?
As a huge fan of New Year’s goals, I have found the secret to achieving them is making a plan at the beginning of the year outlining when you will work on them on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. A year is a long time, and it’s easy to lose sight of large goals through the ups and downs.
Creating a plan enables me to show up consistently. Even when it feels like I am accomplishing nothing or going backwards, I find that small efforts done consistently have a greater impact on helping me reach goals than when I make massive efforts but inconsistently.
I also find a self-imposed deadline incredibly motivating, and these deadlines help focus my work time. Every goal will have a few milestone deadlines that I will then track my progress against.
For example, for my goal of starting a real estate syndication, my milestone deadlines could look like:
- Q1: Finish researching syndications and start taking action.
- Q2: Connect with a minimum of X accredited investors.
- Q3: Pitch X number of deals to investors.
- Q4: Get a property under contract.
BiggerPockets: How will you monitor your progress?
I like tracking key performance indicators (KPIs). Mine are focused on how much time and effort I am putting into a goal vs. an immediate outcome. Here are a few metrics I am using to track my progress:
Build my real estate income to match my W-2 income:
- How many hours per week am I educating myself on real estate-related items?
- How much time am I spending weekly on lead generation activities?
Personally purchase a fourplex in 2024:
- How many deals in the Minneapolis market am I analyzing monthly?
- How much am I saving monthly for a down payment/renovations?
Start a real estate syndication in 2024:
- How many hours am I spending weekly researching syndications?
- How many potential investors have I connected with monthly?
In reality, I have learned that life is complex, and you are not always in control of the outcome of your actions. Instead, for 2024, I am choosing to focus on the effort I put into my goals (see above KPIs!). If, at the end of the year, I can confidently say I put in the effort, I will be content with whatever outcome or progress they bring.
I’ve had years when I completely missed every goal on my list, only to wildly exceed my expectations the next year. Progress is not linear, and allowing myself to set big goals without the attachment to a specific outcome on a specific timeline has allowed me to be resilient in the face of unforeseen circumstances and maintain my commitment to achieving goals over the long term.
The Investor
Sam Dolciné is an investor and podcast host (Black Real Estate Dialogue Podcast) who invests in the Dayton, Ohio, area.
The Resolutions
4. Get my bookkeeping organized.
5. Get smarter about creative financing.
The Reasons Why and How
BiggerPockets: Why these resolutions?
Bookkeeping: It’s important to understand how your business is doing financially. You may find that you are overspending in certain areas or not spending enough in certain areas. For instance, a typical repair or maintenance item you may have could be done at a lower cost.
I’ll schedule time to review receipts, bank statements, and the accounting software. I may also hire a bookkeeper to do this on a monthly basis.
Creative financing: Off-market deals [from] distressed property owners (e.g., those who need to sell quickly due to a life circumstance) can be advantageous because you may be able to acquire them for less than market value. Creative financing, such as seller financing, can help avoid using the bank. I want to learn more about finding off-market deals and close on at least two using creative financing.
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Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.
