There are a lot of ways for us to boost our financial portfolio. For me, investing in real estate is the top-tier way to grow my money because it serves as passive income as the property is highly likely to appreciate in value over time.
Since getting into this kind of venture involves a huge amount of money, it's our due diligence to do the research so that we'll be able to make the best decision and seal the best deal. I'm still very new to all of these. Instead of being intimidated by the idea, I just went ahead and studied my situation so that I could actually go and start somewhere. Here are some of the factors that I studied and considered to check if I'm actually ready to venture into real estate investment.
Purpose
I placed this as the first factor because right from the start, I want to set my goals for this investment-- will this be something that I would want to use some day, or just something that I want to purchase for passive income?
Budget
I think this is common sense, but sometimes I tend to daydream and stretch my options. It really helps if from the start, I already know the maximum amount I can conveniently allot for this investment. This area of research is kind of confusing and overwhelming because (aside from dealing with numbers 😆) it's extremely important that I do this accurately. It's not enough to just look at the total price of a property (because I won't be paying the whole amount anyway). I needed to find resources online to have some knowledge about computing loans, amortizations, and personalizing all those computations to my situation. Good thing, these tools are readily available online for free! There are even resources that helps me assess my buying power, without compromising the budget for the other areas of my life. I would also then need to check available loan options that are available to me like PAG-IBIG or maybe from a private bank.
Type
Based on my purpose and my budget, it would then be easy for me to determine what type of real estate I'm eyeing on. Would purchasing a condo be my best choice? How about a house & lot? Apartment? Or maybe just a lot for now, so that I could have more flexibility with the form of the house that I would build on it?
Location
Working with the factors above, I would also need to decide which locations would be the best one for me? If it's a property that I would want to live in for myself, I would consider my personal preferences like accessibility from my place of work, and other places of interest (malls, hospitals, schools). This is the time wherein I need to actually scout and canvass for listed properties online.
At this point, my goal is to work with these four factors in filtering my options and choosing the properties that I will be investing in. All of us have our own specifications for each of these areas, so it's important that we lay out the pros and cons of each option, and just match them with our own priorities.
Starting the investment journey is one of the most difficult stages, so I'm just thankful for my resources on Instagram like homeandassetph, and on YouTube like Charm de Leon of Ready2Adult Ph) for providing digestible tips about personal finances and investments. Finding the right real estate for you is a daunting process, but I'm sure there would be a lot of knowledge to be earned. It will be extremely rewarding in the end! Go ahead and kickstart your real estate investment! ✨