It happens every year. We make our new years resolutions. Our plans for the future. Our self-improvement or goals or thing/s we've put off for far too long. 

But are we setting our resolutions as S.M.A.R.T. goals? S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym for...

Specific -so it's clear. What will be done and by who.
Measurable - having a way to measure it so you know the progress of the goal
Achievable - realistic goals set it up for success. 
Relevant - fits the purpose and makes the person/people setting the goal motivated to accomplish it.
Time-Bound - have a timeframe for completion or for each specific "marker" on the way to achieving the goal.

The most common goal for Americans each year is weight loss.  However many don't accomplish this or give up after a short amount of time.  Why?  Well, there are many reasons but sometimes it's because the goals weren't clearly defined or written down. 

Saying to ourselves in our head on December 31st that I want to lose weight isn't a resolution or goal for that matter.  If it was then how many other millions of "goals" do you say to yourself in your head every day?  So maybe set a S.M.A.R.T. goal instead.

I want to lose 45 pounds by 10/31/2023 or better yet. I will enjoy weighing 200 pounds by 10/31/2023.  Then we would add our other markers.  

Lose 5 pounds by January 31st, 10 pounds by February 28th, 15 pounds by April 24th, and so on and so forth...that last 5 lbs is the hardest! 

Is it realistic for you...that's not for me to say. But all of your items should be hit by setting these goals in the S.M.A.R.T. way. 

The one we hear about the most in our business is buying a home.  The only problem is this comes with a lot of different parts, and complexities when making these S.M.A.R.T. goals. 

The specific goal starts simple enough...to buy/own a home.  But that is about the size, price, location, school district, etc. 

The measure is easy...are you able to get the home. 

Then it gets trickier with the Achievable.  There are many factors here including, financing and creditworthiness. This might mean reducing your debt or improving your credit rating. We help people with these all the time.  One quick way to start is to make sure you have less than 30% of your credit allotment on all credit cards or lines of credit. (Example. if you have a $10,000 credit card limit make sure you have less than $3,000 used on that card...repeat for each one.) Another is, do you even want a home? Maybe a condo or cooperative purchase is better for you.  Or maybe renting makes the most sense because you plan on being in an area for a short amount of time. Which also affects the...

Relevant - most people know and have certainly seen the massive value in home ownership, especially in recent years. Now we are hearing people say "well interest rates are too high" or values have increased or decreased too much" -BTW we haven't seen a decrease in values to this point yet, but the market slowing to a norm has made it appears that they have decreased when in fact demand has just decreased some thus making the $30,000 over asking price norm of the last few years dissipate. But sometimes it's just not for you and the rental option is still there.  But get one thing straight, you are paying a mortgage regardless, it just might be someone else's. 

Then last is it Time-Bound? Set a date you want to make this a reality and share it with the people in your life that can help motivate you to help you get there.  We as your agent/s will want to know so we can help you accomplish your NextHome goals in 2023...and BEYOND...see what we did there!? 😉