The Plan

"Plans mean nothing; planning is everything!" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

This is one of my favorite quotes.  I first came across this quote when I was in college taking a construction scheduling class.  This is so true because life is so dynamic.  Situations constantly change requiring us to change our plan and/or create a new plan.  So, here is my plan to achieve my goals.  These plans mean nothing, because they may and will change.  But the fact that I am planning and moving forward toward my goals. . . that is everything!

Quick review. . . here are my goals:

1.  Pay $15,000 in unsecured debt.

2.  Save an additional $10,000.

3.  Increase my cash flow by $2000.00/mo

4.  Add a minimum of one apartment building to my portfolio.

5.  Complete our business structure.

6.  Build deeper relationships with children, wife.

7.  Be more consistent with child training efforts.

8.  Loose weight (down to 175 lbs).

9.  Deeper relationship with God!

So that is the target.  Here is how I'm going to get there.

Goals #1 and #2
In my mind goals #1 and #2 are basically the same.  I've got to bring in an additional $25,000 above and beyond what I normally make.  This is going to be a hard goal to meet.  It's going to require some discipline.

In the past when I have earned extra money, I've always had another deal just right around the corner to spend it on.  Or, many times I've taken a short term loan to do a deal and then have to take my extra cash to pay that off.  So far this has been required to get my investing business to where it is today.  But now that I'm here, I need to knock out that annoying debt.

Because this was one of my goals last year as well, I've already got some groundwork laid to achieve this goal.  Here is what I have so far:
        a.  In Oct./Nov. 2010 we purchased a house on McDowell Ave. in Roanoke Va.  In my opinion this is one of the best deals we have ever done.  We are currently trying to sell this house or find a partner who will help us refinance the house and pull out a little cash.  I'm trying not to "count my chickens before they hatch."  But I think we may have already accomplished this task.  Once complete, this should pay off a huge chuck of the unsecured debt.
        b.  Last year we sold three of our rental properties (with excellent tenants) with 100% owner financing.  This was done during the time period when the "First Time Homebuyer Tax credit" still existed.  The plan is that my new home owners will turn this tax credit over to me as their down payment.  It took a while to get these tax credits filed and it is taking a very long time for the IRS to process them. . . but once they come back, this goal should be met!
      c.  I don't plan to stop once I've met my goal.  There are tons of stuff I need cash for:  My wedding anniversary in May (Exciting plans I'll share in a later post!), vacation, more deals, larger cash reserves, etc.

Goal #1 must be complete before I begin Goal #2.

Goals #3 and #4 
In my mind Goals #3 and #4 also go together.  They go together because Goal #4 (adding a apartment building to my portfolio) should get me halfway to meeting Goal #3.

Let us assume that for each deal I do (not including my apartment building) I make $100/mo. cash flow.  This is a conservative assumption because most all the deals I have done bring in more per month than this, even when I have a partner and am splitting the cash flow.  Using this assumption, to meet goal #3 I need to do 10 deals this year in addition to obtaining one or more apartment buildings generating a total of $1000/mo.  To make this happen, I need to be prepared to do a deal at the rate of 1 per month (looking at single family homes and duplexes).  Praise the Lord, I've already got a deal this month!

To obtain my apartment building, I need to:
        a.  Identify 2-5 close by markets in which I would like to invest. (Accomplish in January)
        b.  Contact a commercial realtor in each market I select.  (Accomplish before mid February)
        c.  Begin looking at and analyzing at least one potential deal per week (Beginning in Feb. - Dec.)
        d.  Begin finding partners and/or investors to help me with my multifamily deals (already have a few)
        e.  Make Offers!

Goal #5  
Basically, this goal just requires some cash that I haven't yet been willing to spend.  This may be a foolish thing on my part because, completing this goal will give me an extra layer of asset protection and may be more advantageous from a tax standpoint.  I have been very impressed with Anderson Law Firm and would like to have their assistance is helping me properly set up these new entities.
        a.  C or S corporation will cost me less than $100 from the state of Virginia + $750 from Anderson Law Firm.
        b.  Nevada holding LLC.  To do this properly will cost me $995.

Goal #6
Basically I plan to put family first.  I can get very excited about business and get carried away chasing after deals and working on deals that are in process.  Last year I made the decision to try my best every day to stop at 5:00 PM and be with Lindsay and the kids.  I think I did fairly well with that most of the time.

I've received many comments from people about my cell phone voice message explaining that my business hours are between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM.  I know that I could go farther faster if I gave it more hours.  Also, I 100% agree with Robert Kiyosaki's statement, "Your not going to become successful by just working your job.  Your going to become successful by what you do during your free time!"  I do, desperately want my investing business to be successful.  But even more than that, I have a greater desire to be a successful dad and husband.  A few weeks ago one of the elders in our church (who is also a real estate investor) made the comment, "I've heard a lot of business men in their last moments make the comment that they wish they spent more time with their family.  I've never heard any of them comment that they wished they made more money!"

Goal #7
Basically I just want to go over the "Point Chart" with our children every evening.  I want to keep their rewards constantly out in front of them so they are always motivated to work hard and keep working hard.

Goal #8
All my other goals I am so excited about.  I am excited about the results. . . once again weighing 175 lbs.  but I am not at all excited about the process.  Last week I went out for lunch with some of my investors. I commented to them that I was trying to loose weight.  My investor made the comment, "You know there is only one way to loose weight. . .  Burn more calories than you consume!"  Although this is very basic, it is the foundation of my plan.  My plan has a two fold approach.
        1.  Go on a diet.  I wanted to choose an established diet because they already have the plan laid out for me.  I don't have to recreate anything.  I just have to understand and follow.  After a little discussion with Lindsay, I've chosen the, "South Beach Diet" mainly because it is popular.  Also, my understanding is that this diet helps me to develop good eating habits!  I've not read the book yet, but from my limited online research there are three Phases.  Phase 1 starts tomorrow (Sunday, January 16th) and will last for 14 days.  It is designed to help me get over my cravings for carbs.  Sounds like, for the next 14 days, I'm eating mostly meat and vegetables!  We are going to go to the grocery store tomorrow because I know we don't have enough of the right kinds of vegetables to feed me.
        2.  Exercise and burn off this belly!  I'm going to start with 20 min. per day.  Mostly just running or swimming.  I know, it sounds pitiful.  I just know my friends are laughing at me because I sound ridiculous.  But I'll start here and build upward.  I figure I can do almost anything for 20 min.

Goal #9
I want everything I do to give God the glory.  It will be only through His grace that I am able to accomplish these goals!  I want to be a reflection of who He is!  To do this, I need to keep building a relationship with Him.  I need to daily spend time with Him reading and listening to what He has to say and talking to Him!