Commercial Property Rental and Sales

Successful people everywhere will tell you that you must create goals that are specific and measurable; and that you have to write those goals down to increase your chances of achieving them.

Becoming an investor requires that you have an investment plan, which is very much like a goal, and that you have all of the details written out and committed to paper. This will enable you to maximize your wealth creation. If you go into investing without any real plan or strategy, whether you're investing in the stock market, government bonds or property, you are not going to be overly successful. You won't know what move to make next, and you'll have no way of knowing if you are on the right track.

An investment plan allows you to plan ahead and to review the progress you are making towards your goals. These two aspects are vital to the success of any worthwhile investment plan.

Whether you plan to buy a single property or whether you plan to put together a portfolio of commercial and/or residential properties, creating your investment plan involves having answers to 11 basic questions:

1. How much money you have right now, and how much you will have available in the future to put towards your investments.
2. What level of investment risk are you comfortable with?
3. How will each new investment work within your existing investments, and your overall investment plan?
4. What do you know about commercial property investment?
5. What sources are available to you in order to gain on-going investment knowledge required to become a successful commercial property investor?
6. How long do you plan to invest for? Short term, medium or long term investment strategies will have different investment plans.
7. What return do you expect to achieve from income and capital growth?
8. What is your tax position and how will your investments fit or change that position?
9. What will your ownership structure be?
10. If something unexpected should happen with your investments, what is your fallback plan for recovery?
11. What is your exit plan?

Luckily, you don't have to create an investment plan entirely on your own. There are experts who can help you with the creation of your plan, such as accountants, financial advisors and/or property specialists. With their trusted advice you can commit your personal investment plan to paper. Property investment, particularly commercial property investment, is typically a long term strategy, so you'll need to live with the financial results of your investment plan for quite some time.

Estate Planning - Part Of Your Investment Plan

When developing your well thought-out investment plan, don't forget to include estate planning. Your hard-earned assets should pass smoothly to the people you designate as your beneficiaries - at the best tax rates and with the minimum costs possible.

Estate planning starts at the point of purchase of the property, where you have to decide which entity holds the title to the property - whether it's your personal name, partnership, family trust, private company, etc.

Properly preparing your estate plan will involve advice from your lawyer and/or financial advisor, both of whom will need to be experienced in estate planning for property investors. Financial advice is one area that you don't want to be 'cheap' with! If you obtain cheap advice you may find it to be very costly in the long run!