It's 2012, Happy New Year!
They say New Year's Resolutions are a waste of time, a passing fad and soon forgotten, but what about your long range planning for your real estate future? And do you have a plan? How you implement your plan becomes your story. Are you the author of your story?
I think it is of ultimate importance to have a plan, a dream, and to design the real estate path that will get you there. The New Year is a great time to write down that long range plan, commit to it and refer back to it often to be sure you stay on track. Like anything else, committing your plan to writing makes you accountable to your own destiny. Don't we all want to someday retire comfortably at the beach or to the mountains or to a far off countryside? Creating the plan and committing it to writing is important even in these tough economic times when it seems you may be forced to live in your current home forever. Take heart, the economy is as fluid as an amoeba and WILL change; your situation WILL improve, and by the time it does you may have missed out on some great real estate opportunities if you haven't committed to a plan.
First, summarize your long range plan in a single paragraph or two. Get down the concept, the ultimate goal of where you want to be in five or ten years, confirm it with family and spouse, and say, "I can!"
Next, break the plan down into many baby steps. Here is the secret of all good planning. Folks often are looking so directly over the forest to the horizon that they miss the trees. It is not enough to dream, to envision, to imagine the big picture. The most successful people know that once the plan is designed, one must commit to putting one foot forward at a time; commit to a timeline in which to accomplish baby steps. The is the proactive approach to your dream. Think of each step as a microcosm slice of the long range plan, and understand the importance of accomplishing the baby step and focus on only IT. OK, now let me get to specifics.
This is the example of Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe: They live in a home built in the 1990's, and it is their second home. They have always envisioned selling it to move into a larger home and ultimately selling that to move to the mountains with a comfortable retirement when the kids are gone. So their long range goal is to use their real estate turnover to help supplement their retirement nest egg and it is a 10 year plan. Sometimes the plan seems hopeless because their home is almost under water based on the last appraisal and their retirement nest egg took a 50% hit when the market crashed and hasn't quite recovered though it's on the rebound. They are still making good household income, paying all their bills, have reasonable debt and no problems servicing that debt. The kids are paying their own way through college.
They have just finished putting their Christmas decorations away into an oh-so-overflowing attic and of course this has set the stage for tension. So they decide to write down a few paragraphs about their long range plans and start to wring their hands over the loss of house value, the hit to the portfolio, the face that the landscaping is now overgrown and needs attention, the driveway is cracked, the fixtures are looking dated and the house is too cluttered to show very well. This makes them more depressed and they begin to argue about what the house is worth and when they should sell it, and how are they ever going to pay for their daughter's wedding never mind retire to the mountains :).
Does any of this sound familiar? As they argue, the dream is feeling further and further away and the feelings of hopelessness are making them less and less motivated to take any action at all. Now, I am not a psychologist nor marriage counselor :) but it seems to me that they could lift their spirits by breaking the long range plan down into some very manageable steps -- the microcosm approach.
They might begin a list that looks like this:
1. January: Purge everything in the attic right now while it is top of mind and you have just looked at a number of things that you might be able to toss or give away. If you haven't touched it in two Christmases, toss it or offer it for free upon pickup to your contact list. Don't try to make any money off these items unless they are antiques. I promise you, you will waste more dollars of your time and money prepping it, posting it, packaging it and letting strangers into your house than this process is worth. Think quick purge. Deadline, end of January.
2. February: Start changing hardware, one room at a time, to update it to current buyer preferences -- just one room at a time. Again, give away the old fixtures unless they are rare or very valuable. Do this step until early spring when it's time to trim all the landscaping!
3. March: Trim all the landscaping way, way down. Most evergreens, knockout roses, privets and hollies can handle a hard cutback. I've gone down to 14 inches and they spring back much more beautiful. Confirm with a gardener before you trim. Plan to remulch your yard at this same time.
Now I could give you 9 more steps that would be microcosms of what Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe need to be doing right now in order to stay on track with their long range goals, but it is time for me to stop and explain why I am choosing these steps.
First of all, cleaning, purging, trimming and updating are extremely satisfying - they are their own reward. Besides involving some good old-fashioned fresh air and exercise, which is good for the psyche, they are also slowly adding equity back to their home. In tiny degrees they are preparing it for that ultimate sale. The sale is critical to the balance of the long range plan! If your home is unable to complete with current new inventory in its look, style, bells and whistles, you could have trouble pulling out the equity you need for the plan. Furthermore, as long as there is still land in the Carolinas to build on (and there's a ton) there will be a need for resellers to compete with that market, to provide compelling evidence to the buyer that their home is as fine in look and lifestyle, but has the edge of being tried and true!
Because Mr. and Mrs. Average Joe are SO down in the dumps, they might just cover up the entire list EXCEPT the January goal. Don't jump around. Concentrate on doing the one month task and doing it well. The focus is very rewarding. Both spouses need to contribute to the month's target task. I promise you will stay on track if you approach your plan very deliberately in this fashion. As always, if you want help evaluating the condition or readiness of YOUR home, call me 919-795-5973 and I will help you with that list. Don't try to rush it, the market is still not ripe for your resale. You have at least a full year to make the home sparkle!
Remember, Baby Steps! And Happy New Year again, make 2012 count!
Warmly,
Meg
