How to save and budget towards an investment property

Budgeting and setting goals towards investment

Thinking of buying an investment property? Setting goals and developing a home loan budget are important to turn your plans into reality.

Property can be much more than a roof over our heads. It could play a role building personal wealth. But buying an investment property is a major commitment. Having a strategy can give you a roadmap to achieve your goals.

Setting investment goals

Setting formal goals gives you something to work towards. But it could also help you break down your goals across short-term (12 month), medium-term (1 to 5 years) and long-term (5-years-plus) time spans.

In the short term you may want to clear any debt you may have and focus on saving a deposit for an investment property. A medium-term goal may be to buy an investment property that suits your objectives and budget. Your long-term goal may be to renovate the property to add value. Or you might want to sell and use the profit to buy an owner-occupied home.

Prioritise your investment goals

Multiple goals can muddy the waters, making it harder to see how you can achieve your targets. It’s a good idea to decide what’s important and understand which goal takes priority. 

Take small actions to achieve goals

It takes action to transform goals into reality. So, think about the steps you could take to achieve each goal across different timeframes.

Some initials steps to achieve your goal, could include:

• Setting up a regular payment plan to deposit a set amount of money per week into a savings account
• BYO lunch to work several times a week and using the money saved to add to your deposit

It’s sometimes easier to stick to the small steps rather than take larger steps which may call for a major lifestyle change. Check out Aussie’s Goal Setting Worksheet to bring it all together.

Talk to an expert

Take the what-ifs out of your goals. Speak to your Aussie Broker who can help you understand how much you could borrow for an investment property and what your loan repayments might look like.

Budgeting, saving and expenses

Budgeting plays a role in property investing. A personal budget may help you identify ways to adjust your spending so you can save a deposit. Budgeting could also help you manage cash flow and expenses once you become a landlord.

Budgeting is about understanding your spending habits and how money going out compares to money coming in. Download Aussie’s Budget Planner to develop and fine-tune your budget.

Keep learning