Microlearning : Let's start at the end
Microlearning: learning in tiny chunks and short bursts of time.
How often do you hear people saying, “I have soo much time on my hands, I just don’t know what to do with all of it.” Umm, never, like ever. Nope, it’s more like “OMG I am sooo stressed, there is like literally no time to breathe!” Given that reality, let me introduce...drum roll please…MICROLEARNING! YASSS! This year, my blogs will focus on tiny chunks of information that you can easily consume in a short space of time, all strategically stacked to build your property investing skills, week on week. Cool hey? All you need to do is read my blog once a week and before you know it, you’ll understand the in’s and out’s, the do’s and don’ts, the hows and whys, the up’s and downs of property investing.
This week, we discuss the first of FIVE key skills required to be a property investor.
Strategy.
1. Develop a STRATEGY: what exactly are you trying to achieve?
The happiest, most accomplished people are visionaries but also great strategists. They have bold, bright dreams that inspire them, but they’re also very good at creating reliable strategies to reach them.
Broadly speaking, there are two main strategies that can be applied to property investing, namely:
Capital
Cash flow
Of course, there are many more sexy strategies and strange sub strategies which only serve to muddy the water. When you are starting out, pick a path and stick with it until you master it, then move onto the next one. In our culture of instant gratification, taking time to learn just one thing is akin to torture. Yet the reality is you simply cannot learn it all at once, after all the only way to catch 5 rabbits is to catch one at a time.
Which of these statements describes you best:
I am the kind of person who needs the security of a regular monthly income.
I don’t need monthly income; I’d rather chase a large chunk of cash.
I want money, monthly or randomly, small amounts or large chunks, just keep it coming!
You chose 1:
To deliver on this dream, you need to develop you BUY TO LET skills. This strategy sees you buying a property, fixing it up and renting it to a tenant who pays you timeously and takes good care of your property. Lots of variables hanging in the balance there – but it is possible to find a property that needs to be fixed up, a dream tenant is not a myth and yes, there are people out there who can take care of your property. Remember to leverage your letting agent to find the right tenant to make this strategy work!
You picked 2:
Whoohoo! Chunks of change to fund dream holidays! Or pay school fees. (don’t get me started on the cost of a decent education these days…what the hell? No one warned me about THAT when we decided to have kids!) This strategy is referred to as a FLIP strategy. You buy a distressed property, fix it up and sell it for a tidy profit. This strategy involves understanding demand in the market, knowing how to work with builders and so much more.
You are all about 3:
Who wouldn’t want that?! Everyone likes themselves some serious moola on the regular. To pull this off, you need to have a nice Buy To Let portfolio and do the odd flip. If you are starting out, you’ll grow into being able to flip while building a Buy To Let portfolio.
Not surprisingly, these strategies require slightly different skill sets. If you are starting out on your investing journey, determine your initial strategy, (1 or 2) then focus on building that skill set. Once you have mastered it, move onto the next skill set. Ask other property investors what their main strategy is and find out why they chose that specific strategy. Find out if they have any tips or tricks to share with you. Leverage the power of a network to fast track your progress. It might sound very exciting, and you want to jump straight to 3 but remember scattered focus will yield scattered results. Start at the end by determining what you want to achieve and work back from there. Next week we discuss the second of FIVE skills required to set yourself up for success…don’t miss it!
