Goal setting is an integral part of successfully investing in real estate. Most people do it in some way or another — but are you doing it effectively?

Effective goal setting will help guide you in navigating the complex world of real estate investment.  Goal setting is very different and a far cry from making a list of things to do.  I hate lists!  They show me all the things that I can't do at one time and then feel bad about when I don't get them done in time!  Do you know what happens then?  We stop setting goals because they became lists and we start become haphazard practicers of any type of goal-setting techniques.

Everyone has something to say about the real estate market. That’s no surprise, considering local real estate markets vary and can’t really be used to gauge or predict the overall national market.  Watch the national news for five days in a row and you are likely to get five different stories on the real estate market with five different "revelations".  

You’ll hear a lot of conflicting information from plenty of people, and many of them are considered credible in their field and others just claim the mantle of credibility.  So how do you know which headlines to trust?  How do you know when the source of information is real or when, say a magazine, is carrying the water for their advertisers.  It can be very confusing to know where good advice can be found in today's real estate space.

People pass by abandoned properties every day. You know the type: no one lives there, no one works there. Weeds take over, windows are broken or boarded up and everything falls into disrepair.  I am not talking about the run down parts of town either.  Every day real estate investors can look in many neighborhoods where the last thing you would expect to find is an abandoned home and yet, right there in the middle of the block is a home with weeds three feet tall and pieces of colored paper taped inside the windows.  Those are the notices that the water has been turned off or that a management company has been contacted to look after the property.

Whether you’ve taken on landlord responsibilities yourself as a real estate investor or you’ve hired a property manager, there are things people dislike about property management. 

It’s not all petty griping —there are some good reasons to complain. When you invest in real estate, It's a job that takes enormous patience, sacrifice and interpersonal and organizational skills.  Add the responsibility of managing your properties and it’s not for the faint of heart.

We’ve already established that there is no such thing as hands-off real estate investment. “Passive” real estate investment doesn’t usually mean sitting by while other people handle your investments for you as you enjoy a tasty piña colada on the beach of some tropical island (though if you've figured out the secret to this method, please share!).

"They just aren’t built like they used to be."

People say it about practically everything that’s been around for more than a few decades — cars, houses, furniture, blue jeans. Usually it's said disparagingly in reference to a lack of quality and a nostalgia for “the good ol’ days,” but there have been improvements to some of the old ways. After all, we used to have lead in our paint.