The 6 Steps to Achieve Success as a Real Estate Investor

Becoming a real estate investor is a journey that begins with a simple shift in mindset. Believe in your ability to build your own business — genuinely believe in yourself — and you’ve already crossed the chasm that separates a regular worker from a successful real estate investor.

A positive outlook and a can-do attitude are the core attributes that shift a consumer mindset to an investor mindset. An investor requires a winning mindset and a thirst for knowledge to develop the fundamental skills for success. A positive attitude plus insightful knowledge equals successful results.

Believe in your ability to achieve success as a real estate investor. Familiarize yourself with enough knowledge to take action. Now, you’re ready to make your plan.

There are six recommended steps (and one bonus step!) to build a successful real estate investment plan. Use this template to structure your investment plan, but remember to personalize how you both qualify and quantify the legs of your journey.

Qualify success with a goal.

Every plan is only as good as the goal to which it pursues. Begin your real estate investment journey by manifesting a series of goals that define how you achieve success as an investor.

Let your goals serve as your north star, the beacon guiding you to success. Create a list of all your goals and bundle them into groups of three, organized into conservative, realistic, and idyllic outcomes.

Paint a word map and be honest as you evaluate your goals. The purpose of this exercise is to clearly and articulately define your metrics of success.

Define expansion vs. contraction.

Now that you’ve set your goals, you’re ready to create a growth plan. Every item should align with your goals for success. If an idea doesn’t steer you toward success as a real estate investor, it shouldn’t be in your plan.

Structure your plan using workback methodology. A work-back schedule organizes projects, resources, tasks, and deadlines into a structured action plan. A work-back plan helps aspiring entrepreneurs organize themselves and focus on the appropriate tasks.

Within your work-back schedule, set qualitative and quantitative milestones in the form of mental, emotional, psychological, and financial achievements. Separate your milestones into two categories — 1) expansion and 2) contraction.

What is an expansion milestone?

An expansion milestone occurs when you have the means to invest in new resources that help scale the growth of your investment business. How do you define “having the means?”

Suppose you set a goal to be cash-flow positive by the end of your first year in business. It’s an accomplishment that’s both fiscally responsible and psychologically satisfying. You remove a massive stressful weight off your shoulders by paying all your start-up costs.

Suddenly, you feel more successful. Now, you have the mental, emotional, and financial stability to invest in growth. You can also review your goals mind map and reevaluate if your idyllic goals now seem more realistic. If so, set new goals to keep pushing for even more success.

What is a contraction milestone?

A contraction milestone occurs while you’re covering the costs to start your investment business. You haven’t reached the expansion phase since you’re still working towards greater flexibility as a business owner.

Let’s say there’s a line of credit you used to help start your business. You borrowed several thousand dollars to help cover business expenses owed to your creditors — a bank, an investor, the government, etc.

Your creditors have their money, but you need to pay off your line of credit before you become cash-flow positive. Set a deadline to pay off your line of credit, and use that selected date as your contraction milestone. Stick to a budget and hit your milestone.

Look for inspirational education.

A winning mindset requires knowledge for nourishment. Education is the best investment for an aspiring investor. Learn from successful investors and apply their teachings to your investment growth strategy.

Consume whatever educational content your resources will allow. Acquire helpful books by successful investors, and seek the parallels in their journeys to your own. Their stories may hold the key to overcoming obstacles impeding your path to success.

You can also read helpful online real estate investing resources for additional tips, tricks, and best practices about building your investment business. Add any new wisdom that could impact revenue and expenses to your strategic growth plan. Remain mindful that you always have the potential to learn new ideas. Remain fluid and open to pivots in strategies.

Seek support from a motivational community.

Broadening your understanding of real estate through learned knowledge points you toward success. But reading and consuming content is only half the battle. You can learn life-changing skills from peers, coaches, and communities of support.

There are several reasons to join a growing investment community on your journey to achieve success as a real estate investor.

1. Feed off the positive energy from a room of motivated peers.
2. Learn helpful secrets from industry-leading investors.
3. Identify collaborative growth opportunities for a fraction of the cost.
4. Gain a dedicated advisory mentor to help structure your business.

A real estate mentor serves a role as your fountain of wisdom. Mentors give you practical tips and advice to grow your business. Most importantly, their years of experience may help you spot pitfalls along your journey to achieve success as a real estate investor. Under their guidance, you can avoid those costly mistakes and concentrate on positive momentum.

Take the right actions.

You’ve articulated your goals and set achievable milestones. Expansion target dates are on your work-back schedule alongside contraction target dates. Your mind is awash with knowledge from informative books, and you’ve read articles, listened to podcasts, and uncovered interviews from the most trusted minds in the real estate investment business.

Your plan looks amazing. Now, it’s time for you to take the right actions.

By organizing your plan into a detailed schedule, you’ve effectively broken up your monumental task of building a business into smaller pieces of a connected puzzle. Each completed sequence in your investment plan marches you one step closer to your defined goal of success as a real estate investor.

Achieve results, conquer your goal.

The more actions you take, the more milestones you achieve. Celebrate your achievements as results in your path to financial freedom and success as a real estate investor. Every milestone brings you closer to conquering your goal and living life on your terms.

Bonus Tip: Don’t sacrifice freedom for security.

Finally, the bonus tip is a cautionary warning. Don’t give in to complacency because you’ll disrupt your path to success.

As you achieve milestones, you’ll feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. But remember, your goals for success as a real estate investor encompass more than one or two milestones. Don’t become too comfortable with your current level of success.

With each passing milestone, reevaluate your goals and set new growth targets. Always challenge yourself to push further and higher above your current status. Goals and motivation are how to remain hungry for new opportunities.

Ready to achieve success as a real estate investor?

Are you working on a plan for success as a real estate investor? Do you need help converting ideas on a page into actionable plans?

Don’t shoulder that burden alone. Join Canada’s fastest-growing real estate investment community and receive all the motivational support you’ll need. Home to a vibrant community of passionate investors, this community brings receipts to validate the keys to success. Learn from the best and begin your journey to success!