The Best New Year’s Resolution for Real Estate Investors: Give Homeowners H.O.P.E.

Last year, the New York Post reported that after analyzing more than 31 million online global activities over the month of January, data from Strava, a social network for athletes, indicated fewer than one in 10 people actually manage to keep their New Year’s resolutions.

This was the case even though the Strava population should have been particularly motivated: They were all athletes, and more than half made health- and athletics-related resolutions! The results were pretty discouraging. In fact, Forbes Women contributor Ashira Prossack, actually suggested not making resolutions at all.

Of course, Prossack did not actually say you should not try to take steps to improve something about yourself, your health, your professional life, or your personal situation. Instead, she suggested readers “set goals instead of resolutions.”

By setting a goal, many researchers believe the person setting the goal is more likely to create a specific set of parameters that will define success or failure. Then, they can clearly determine if they have kept their “resolution” and enjoy the social rewards of doing so as well as the personal benefits.

What Types of Goals Should Real Estate Investors Set in 2020?

If you are a real estate investor, then your social media feed is probably dominated by New Year’s resolutions from about October onward.

Business coaches try to get a “jump” on the New Year by starting their reformative messages early. Turnkey operators remind you that tax policies could change next year, so it might be better to add to your portfolio now. Everyone in real estate is busy telling themselves, their clients, and each other how important it is to make a New Year’s resolution, but what can you resolve to do that will not only be good for your business, but also for the broader community?

Well, Strategic has the answer. Our H.O.P.E. program helps make homeownership a reality for those who may have believed it to be impossible. HOPE stands for “Home Ownership Preparation Experience,” and it is a great way for real estate investors to have a direct, positive effect on a homeowner who otherwise would likely never experience the massive benefits associated with owning their own home.

Here’s how it works:

Investors allow Strategic Passive Investments to invest in a fix-and-flip opportunity, and the property is repaired and listed. When a potential buyer who cannot qualify for a traditional mortgage expresses serious interest in the home, PIP and the would-be buyer investigate creative financing options like lease-options and owner financing. The price, the sale, and the purchase are negotiated just as any traditional purchase, but then the buyer works with CreditSense to improve their fundability within the next three to five years. The entire process and deal is monitored closely for the duration, and when the homeowner is able to finance out of the creative loan structure, the investor (you) who started the whole process by funding the fix-and-flip enjoys returns on the acquisition, amortized interest accrual, a loan term between one and five years, and a variety of other financial benefits in addition to making a huge difference in that homeowner’s life.

Strategic named this program the H.O.P.E. program because we have extensive knowledge about homeownership and the process of getting to that point. We live to share our knowledge with prospective and current investors and future homeowners, and we hope you will consider contributing to the resolution of the U.S. housing affordability crisis in 2020.