Feeling Kind of Stuck

[Brandon Allenczy]

Hey BP!

I'm having some issues figuring out what my next moves should be and was looking for some advice.

Where I'm At: 

Currently, my wife and I are house hacking 1 duplex, and own another duplex as a rental. We have about $20K in reserves and I'm securing a HELOC for an additional $20K. We're cash flow positive, and I'm looking on how to get to the next step.

Where I want to be:

I've recently made the decision to get involved in mid-term rentals (extended stay STRs). I've done some due diligence, and I think my market would be good as we have a solid amount of traveling professionals. Eventually, I'd like to have a portfolio of at least 6 of these units (but no specific time frame). I'm in a town called Hagerstown, MD and am an hour from DC and Baltimore.

Where I'm stuck:

I started off this year using the BP intention journal to get some clarity on where I want to go, but I felt myself focusing WAY too much on the planning, the tracking, the journaling, etc. instead of actually doing activities that moved the needle. For those of you who have scaled and gone to the next level, my questions are:

- How do you balance goal setting, and actually implementing your strategy? Do you spend a lot of time up front "sharpening your axe", or do you just start doing what you want and get good at replicating down the line?

- How should I be spending my time? Should I be setting goals and metrics to hit? Or should I spend my time doing what I can to get more deals, then work on systems/processes along the way? I feel the need to sit down and write an entire business plan on my model, but 1 week in to that I feel like I'm wasting time and start analyzing deals/working toward financing.

Any insight/advice is very much appreciated!

[Katrina Razavi]

Congrats @Brandon Allenczy sounds like you're off to a great start in RE! I like setting "Quarterly biz goals" they're simple, time boxed and specific. For example, "buy an 1-4 unit investment property in San Diego that cash flows by end of Q2." Underneath that I outline the following:

1. What? (what do I want the outcome to be?) i.e. generating at least $500 in month in cash flow

2. Why? (Why do I care about achieving this?) i.e. start building financial freedom to quit my job

3. How? (How will I get this done?) - For the #3 "How"-  I then "chunk" down what I need to do in order to achieve that goal so for ex the sub-bullets would be 1. find an SD agent that specializes in 1-4 units 2. Send out 100 mailers, etc. 

I usually have no more than 3-4 goals per quarter and I keep things simple and specific. I check these out weekly and ensure I'm on track and making progress on the "how's." IMHO it's more important to take action on the "how's" than spend too much time tracking 5 different metrics or spending too much time analyzing goals or creating even more that likely won't get done.

Another great tip-- put EVERYTHING on your calendar so you have specific time slots for all the "how's" you need to get done and stick to them. I also like to do the toughest things in the morning b/c that's when I'm at my best and have the most willpower...but everyone is different 

Hope that helps!