Goals for 2024

[Danny Bennett]

2024 Goals

Daniel Bennett 

Junior attending Virginia Tech | Beginner Real Estate Investor 

StillWater Properties LLC

I want to through myself out there for critique. My goals for this year are as listed below. I wanted to keep it lean enough to be flexible and try to have alot of action plans in it. Be blunt and frank about anything that stands out to you. I want my goals to be strong and SMART.

Please add any questions or feedback below. Thanks.

Personal Mission:

• Maintaining growth in a mindful way where I don't lose sight of the end goal. Freedom and peace. This means allowing growth to happen in my business and school life while maintaining a loving presence through it all.

Yearly Goal:

1. Flip 2 properties for a total net profit of 25k.

1. Hired as an intern at a top exposure CRE Broker on the East Coast

Q1 Goals (Jan - Mar)

1. Build up a team for financing, project managers, realtors, and others to complete a flip.

1. Create a system for long distance investing (ex. Project manager communication, financial tracking, etc.)

1. Come up with a buy box and area to “farm”. Study that markets through connections and public data.

Weekly Networking Goals:

1. Connect over phone or in person with 1-3 real estate professionals, professors, or related individuals. Making strategic connections that have the greatest impact. (pareto principle, 80/20)

1. Connect with 5 new people on LinkedIn that relate to my internship, post grad career or investing.

Weekly Learning Goals:

1. For 15-30 mins daily outside of school or work, read/listen to a real estate related source for current relevant info.

1. Maintain a consistent monthly meeting with one of my mentors.

1. Post once on Slack and bigger pockets forums asking questions relevant to my current situation.

[Michael Dumler]

@Danny Bennett, I am by no means a goal-setting expert, but here are my two cents from my mere five years of experience in real estate (sales specifically). 

I'll first ask several questions for clarity. 1. Do you think your goals are realistic? 2. Are you majoring in Real Estate at VT? 3. Have you been hired or are you in the process of applying/interviewing for brokerages? 4. If you're interested in flipping, why enter the commercial real estate space? 

Question one: As a full-time student, realistically, is it feasible to flip two properties? While not impossible, this goal is going to be very difficult. In my market, flipping is a full-time business and competition is extremely fierce. Raising capital, managing contractors, understanding short-term debt, accounting for expenses, meeting deadlines, and knowing your market extensively; are all skills that take massive dedication and commitment. Furthermore, this all begs the question, what is your target market? Are you going to flip homes in Blacksburg? Again, not impossible, but flipping homes virtually is EXTREMELY difficult (don't let Podcasts and YouTube fool you). 

Question two: What's your major? The reason I'm curious is because there may be better opportunities awaiting you than sales or flipping. 

Question three/four: I could be entirely wrong, but I don't believe many brokerages provide paid internship programs. Payment may or may not come in the form of a 1099. Hopefully, you're aware, that most CRE internships are going to require you to cold call religiously. Moreover, as mentioned above, if you're interested in flipping, in my opinion, there's no need to enter the commercial space.

At the end of the day, I don't know your personality or skill sets so the above mentioned could be entirely inaccurate. I can only speak from experience and I'm essentially trying to highlight potential missed opportunity cost to you. For reference, had I entered a W2 position after my undergraduate there's a good chance I would have more capital saved by now. That being said, after 4 years in sales, I'm now seeing exponential growth/income that a W2 job would most likely never have provided. That's the tradeoff. 

It's great to see your lead measures but I would re-connect with your initial annual goals and make adjustments. Maybe the annual goal should be: To shadow an experienced flipper (much more practical and will help teach you the ins and outs of flipping before diving in head first on your own). 

Hopefully, this makes some sense and doesn't sound like a giant rant haha. Go Hokies!