Of all New Year’s resolutions made, “making better financial decisions” is in the top three. But by February 80% of New Year’s resolutions have already failed or been forgotten about. And according to a study by the Statistic Brain Research Institute, only 9.2% of people report feeling like they succeeded in achieving their resolution at all!

It’s March now. Have you put your resolution to buy an investment property in the new year into motion? If you’re still unsure where to start, I’d like to make some suggestions on getting started. The sooner you begin, the sooner you’ll be able to tick this particular resolution off your list.

Do You Have a Strong "Why"?

This is the most important place to start, no matter what your resolution is. You need to know exactly why you want to achieve it. If you don’t have a purpose or a reason behind your goal to succeed as a property investor, you will find it very difficult to gain momentum.

Know your goals. Know your “why”. Even better, write them both somewhere where you will see them every day – for example, set up an alert in your phone calendar, or download a goal tracking app.

Do You Have a Wealth Creation Plan?

Your employer has a financial plan and, if you’re self-employed, no doubt you’ve created a financial plan for your business.

‘If you don’t have a purpose or a
reason behind your goal to succeed, you will find it very difficult to gain momentum’

But do you have a wealth creation plan for your personal life? A wealth creation plan is simply a strategy for building, and most importantly, preserving your wealth.

One well-proven way to build up your wealth and secure financial freedom is through investing in real estate.

However, while thousands of Kiwis own an investment property, they’ve not achieved financial freedom. In fact, many of them will end up selling their investment property, unconvinced that property investing works.

This is because they didn’t have a strategy, so when they ran into the brick wall called “no serviceability” they were stuck … unable to grow their portfolio and secure financial freedom.

Don’t let that happen to you! Speak with an experienced property mentor who can help you work out the best wealth creation plan for your situation.

What Is Your Debt Situation?

Debt not only impacts your financial choices, it also adds stress to your life, and who needs that?

When it comes to buying an investment property you’ll want maximum serviceability, so pay off as much debt as possible.

Are You Routinely Saving

When you apply for finance to buy that investment property, the bank will want to see that you’ve been consistently saving.

If you’re not, make it easy on yourself to get into the good habit of saving by automating your savings. Have money pulled out of your pay cheque and put into an interest-bearing account before you even see it and get the chance to spend it!

Do You Know Where Your Money is Going?

Put together a spending plan. You know yourself best … whether you decide to track each and every expenditure or simply allocate percentages to different categories, choose a budget that works best for you and that you’ll stick with.

Sue is the Head of Education and Director of Postive Real Estate (NZ) Ltd and also one of NZ's leading experts with a diverse knowledge of all aspects of property investing. Sue spent the last 15 + years immersed in the property market. Sue speaks at and runs many property events and has mentored many of New Zealand’s leading investors. Sue works with her investing clients to assist them to grow and enhance their portfolios, whilst keeping her eye on their end goal – financial freedom and choice. sue.irons@positiverealestate.co.nz