Avoid The Shopping Traps

by Magical Penny on September 20, 2017

shopping tips for supermarketsIt’s the back to school season.

It’s nearly Christmas.

It’s the last sales before Halloween.

It’s Black Friday.

There’s always a reason to go shopping.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if you’ve got a very good reason. For a lot of customers, a trip to the shopping centre can have catastrophic results for their bank account. In fact, you don’t even need to go to the shopping centre. Nowadays everyone can shop comfortably from the comfort of their home via eCommerce websites, or even on the go, using their phone. In financial terms, shopping is a poor investment that is likely to bankrupt your budget if you’re not careful. But it is also an indispensable element of everyday life. In short, how do you improve your shopping habits for the sake of your finances?

window shoppingOops, I did it again

Browsing, whether physically window shopping or from a digital screen, can be a dangerous experience. If you’re not careful you can end up buying a lot of items that you didn’t even need in the first place and that you can’t afford. Did you know, for example, that the main reason for quick no guarantor loans, such as the ones from New Horizons, is to buy high-tech devices. It’s no coincidence that credit scores take a negative hit at around the time Apple or Samsung presents their latest smartphone. Sometimes, you feel trapped into buying because the shop assistant is insistent. Sometimes it’s your response to social pressure. But this has to stop!

Become an organised shopper

You can’t avoid shopping. But you can become an organised shopper, starting from your grocery list to your trip to the shopping centre list. Souq Planet has calculated that making a shopping list can save you up to 25% on the final bill. Let’s imagine that you do your grocery shopping every week: at the end of the month, you’ve saved the price of an entire shopping trip.

Can you do it yourself?

Have you ever thought that you don’t always need to buy new items? To take a simple example, if you are considering redecorating your home, you could try your hand at some clever DIY tricks instead of buying everything new. Being crafty can save you a lot of money in the long term, and it’s also a fun hobby if you love working with your hands. Old furniture can get a breeze of fresh air with a new coat of paint – and you can spend less than £15 on revamping a cabinet. Surely that’s cheaper than buying everything new.  

Make money out of your excess

Everyone buys items they don’t need, even though keeping a shopping list helps you to reduce the risk of cluttering your home and your finances with unwanted items. But you could turn what you don’t need into money. eBay is a good platform to start selling your prized possessions – assuming you provide an honest description and a fair starting bid. Unless they are collectors, items sold on eBay won’t go at the price you’ve paid for them. But it’s a way of getting your finances in order while decluttering.

Avoiding the trap of a shopping trip is a mixture of skills: organisation, creativity and knowing what to sell. From preventive actions to quick fixes, you can learn to turn shopping into a positive investment in future.

 

For more spending tips read more Spending articles here on Magical Penny

 

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Affiliate Marketing and 3 Other Great Website Monetization Models

by Magical Penny on September 15, 2017

Affiliate marketing businesses work by connecting advertisers with websites. In the past, advertisers would have to trawl through literally hundreds of millions of websites in order to find one where they could advertise best. At the same time, website owners would have to trawl through countless brands to decide which ones they would like to advertise on their website.

shopping tips for supermarketsEven after all this searching, there’s the strong possibility that either the advertiser doesn’t like the website or the website doesn’t like the advertiser. After that, both parties have to start the process all over again.

Affiliate marketing networks are helpful because they act as much-needed middlemen. By using huge amounts of data, the aim of affiliate marketing is to connect the right advertiser to the right website, eliminating the legwork which neither advertisers nor website owners enjoy doing.

For advertisers, this means they can start advertising right away. For website owners, this means that they can start making money right away. Everyone’s a winner.

What Is Voluntary Subscription?

The voluntary subscription model (or the donation model) is a way for website owners and internet creators to monetize their content without advertising and without forcing their users to pay.

Despite how naysayers feel about a website funding itself by what people feel like paying, it’s a model which works. Wikipedia has become the fifth biggest website in the world through donations alone and The Guardian monetizes its content through donations as well.

For everyone else, there’s Patreon — a voluntary subscription service which entered its current form through a merger with Subbable.

wallWhat Are Paywalls?

In order to make money, some websites put a wall in between their users and their content. The reaction to these walls is mixed and the walls themselves don’t always make the website money. However, it’s a model which has worked for many news organisations and it’s the most straightforward in terms of who is paying who and for what.

“The most straightforward” doesn’t necessarily mean “the best” but — like the other models — it has some impressive success stories, the most notable of these being Netflix. Netflix is not a news website. Rather, it’s the most successful of the streaming services, another kind of website which is monetized almost entirely by paywalls.

Netflix also falls very firmly only the side of having a soft paywall in the form of a month’s free trial — as opposed to a hard paywall, where users are expected to start paying straight away. Most streaming services use this same model. In fact, one of Netflix’s biggest rivals claims that its free trial helps it to retain a staggering 70% of customers once the trial has ended.

What Is Merchandising?

Much like with the donation model, merchandising acts as a way for people to indirectly fund what you do, but in their own way and in their own time. Chance The Rapper famously swept up multiple awards at the Grammys while giving his music away for free. So how does he make money? Merchandising. People like what he does, so they choose to pay him for it.

Selling merchandise to loyal fans of your product is a great way to monetize your website, but it also has other benefits. It helps to diversify your income stream so that you’re not solely reliant on just one thing, and the merchandise itself acts as free marketing for your brand. In essence, people are paying you to advertise your product.

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How To Have A Clean Slate After Debt

by Magical Penny on September 15, 2017

 

Using credit cardsDebt can weigh you down, it invades your life and can cause no end of worries and stress.

With the average household owing upwards of £12,800, without mortgages included, debt is very real and can seem impossible to pay off.

However, there are ways to manage your debt and pay it off and have a clean slate afterward.Here are some tips to help you get out of debt and start again.

Manage Your Debt

The first step is to get your debt under control. If you have many payments, it might be easier to pay them all off in one go with a consolidation loan, like the ones found at https://www.debtconsolidationloans.com/find-reliable-debt-consolidation-loan-company/. This process doesn’t clear your debt straight away, but lessens the stress and the interest rate and allows you to make one payment each month rather than multiple.

Another way of managing your debt – particularly if it is a smaller amount – is to contact a debt management charity like https://www.stepchange.org/. You make a single, affordable payment to them each month and they split it between your debtors. However, this way may not be the best for your credit score, so you would have to work to get your good credit back.

Regain Your Credit Score

Start immediately, don’t wait until your debt has been paid off. In fact, paying off your debt in time will help your credit score. Make sure you’re paying your bills on time. If you can’t quite afford to pay something all in one go, like your car insurance, then break into down into monthly payments.

Pay for big things you can afford on your credit card, like flight tickets, and immediately pay it off. This helps your credit both at the bank and with your credit card provider. Plus some credit cards come with extras like flight miles, so you build up your money off without getting into more debt.

british pound notesCancel Any Unnecessary Subscriptions

Look at your outgoings and see which bills aren’t necessary, can you cancel your gym membership, or find a cheaper one? Can you simplify your TV package by removing sports out of season, or movies and just use pay-per-view? You may find that you’re paying for something you haven’t thought of for years, like a magazine subscription.

Saving money doesn’t have to mean you can’t have luxuries, it just means moderating what you can spend on. Start switching take-away night for a new recipe night, or a cinema trip to a home movie night.

Lose Contact With Credit Cards

When you have paid off and finished with debt, then say goodbye to those credit cards. If you want to keep one for the flight miles, then do, but be 100% sure that you won’t dip into temptation. Even give it to someone you trust so that you can’t use it for anything else.

Delete the card details from any online shops you’ve used them in, shred any check books that go with the cards. Obviously, you need to keep some of the paperwork just in case but file them away – out of sight, out of mind.

Your fresh start can now begin.

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Don’t Allow Financial Woes To Add To Your Health Concerns

by Magical Penny on September 15, 2017

save moneyManaging your money can be stressful at the best of times.

Add to this the concerns you have about a long term medical condition that you’re suffering from and it’s even more crucial that your financial management skills are honed and implemented in the correct way. It can be even tougher if your ailment prevents you from working for any length of time. The burden of your mortgage, debt repayments, utility bills, food, and fuel can become overwhelming. However, there are ways that you can prevent your financial woes from taking over your life.

Set Up A Manageable Budget

Whether you have a disability, a long term chronic condition or a short term injury, it’s vital that you have a monthly budget. This allows you to utilise the money that you have at your disposable in a measured and structured way. This way you can allocate some money to the necessities, and you can work out how much disposable income you will have each month. You shouldn’t run into debt, and you can develop sound money management.

Ensure You Get What You Deserve

There is a stigma attached to claiming benefits. However, this antagonism is attached to those people who try to fiddle the system and claim benefits fraudulently. The benefits system is an allocated pot of money to help those people who are in need.

There are a wealth of conditions that are viewed as preventing you from working such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis, and diabetes. It is worth seeking professional advice when investigating the most effective way of getting disability benefits for diabetes. Like other long term conditions such as epilepsy and Lyme disease, diabetes can lead to secondary ailments such as glaucoma or kidney disease. It’s vital you know what you can claim and how you can claim it to avoid slipping into a financial abyss.

today is soon the past, the future is foreverFutureproof Your Income

If you are fortunate enough to have a little nest egg in a savings account, it might be worthwhile considering if the bank is the best place to house your cash. You may not want to take huge financial risks with your money and start trading in commodities or foreign currencies, but you may want to look at investing in bricks and mortar, downsizing your current home, or spreading your savings across a range of investment options.

By keeping the risk low, you could still see a more lucrative return on your hard-earned money rather than seeing it wallow in a savings account accruing minimal interest.

If you don’t bury your head in the sand and you are able to tackle your financial concerns head on, you have the best chance of being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Being out of work and feeling the strain financially can take a great toll on your mental health. Try to mitigate this with sound money management.

You need to do everything within your power to receive the money that you deserve and make it work in the best way possible for you.

 

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The Smart Way To Invest In Collectibles

by Magical Penny on September 14, 2017

toy-story-3 sunnysideInvesting your money wisely is the best way to make yourself financially secure. You can go to a financial adviser and get some advice on the best businesses or stocks to invest in. It’s a tried and tested way to see your money grow but there is always going to be risk involved. Putting your money into collectibles is a great alternative to traditional investments, but only if you get it right. The risk can often be higher with collectibles because the markets are more unpredictable and it’s difficult to tell whether something will retain its value or not. Collectibles like baseball cards have been known to go for tens of thousands so it’s definitely worth looking into the collectibles market. When you’re just getting started out, these tips should help you invest wisely in something that will go up in value.

Choose Something You Know

Of course, you aren’t going to be an expert right away, but you need to choose something that you’re already interested in. That way, you’ll have at least a little bit of an idea of how much these things are worth. If you go into a collectible shop and you haven’t got a clue where to start, you’re probably in the wrong place. There are certain collectibles that have always been fairly safe so if you don’t know where to start, choose one of those areas. You can get great collectible coins from places like https://www.lpm.hk/silver/perth-mint/australian-lunar-series.html. People have been collecting coins for years and it’s unlikely that they’ll fall out of fashion anytime soon. The same can be said of things like stamps or baseball cards. Going with these tried and tested collections might not always be the most profitable, but they’re the safest.

Keep Updated With The Markets

The collectibles market is very unpredictable and if you don’t keep on top of it, you might find that your collection that used to be valuable is suddenly worth nothing. If you know ahead of time that the value of your collection is going down, you can sell it off and reinvest in something more lucrative. There are plenty of online forums like http://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/forum4/ with huge communities of collectors that can help you get started. Checking these regularly is the best way to keep up to date on the state of the market, and you can also post any questions that you might have.

Enjoy It

If you think of your collection as an investment and nothing more, you aren’t going to get very far with it. Normal investments don’t usually need a lot of hands on involvement on your part, but a collection is a different story. You need to be constantly updating and cataloging your collection and if it’s something that you aren’t passionate about, it’ll be hard to keep yourself interested. You won’t want to spend hours organising a collection of old action figures if you don’t have any interest in them at all.

Investing in collectibles can help you grow your money, but it can also be a great hobby to have at the same time.

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Only Pay For the Mobile Data You Need

by Magical Penny on September 11, 2017

The typical smartphone user utilises 2-3 GB of data every month.

Most phones provide a breakdown of the data usage. They display an analysis of data usage for every application on your phone. As such, you can determine the data used up by popular apps like Spotify, Instagram and Whatsapp and set a data range for each application based on your billing cycle.

Users who have never set a data range are likely to find a cumulative figure of data usage from the time they activated their phones. The next discussion will help you determine the data your phone needs to save on monthly billings.

calculating costsDetermine How Much Data you Need

Estimating the amount of data your applications need may prove difficult. It is only possible by knowing how much data you use every time you download a movie, check the email or stream a song. Rough estimates show that an average data user consumes up to 1.9 GB to watch a two-hour movie in the regular definition setting. However, if they are streaming a high-definition movie, they uses 4.2 GB. Gaming apps use up 43MB while streaming live music for an hour consumes up to 80MB.

Of course, all the estimates depend on the supporting browser on your phone. YouTube, for example, provides live streaming options, i.e., high, low and medium video quality, which is adjusted manually. Thus, your phone is likely to consume up to 1.5 GB per hour when live streaming a video.

Netflix, on the other hand, uses up to 3GB per hour if you are streaming a high-definition video. For social apps like Facebook and Instagram, you are bound to use less data if you utilise the apps without watching videos or uploading videos and photos. These estimates should help you make an assessment of how much data your phone requires and adjust your monthly payments.

rising costsManaging the Use of Data

  1. Switch to low data consumption Settings

Alternatively, you can determine how to reduce usage without tapering off the number of videos you watch. You just need to turn off particular applications from your settings menu or adjust individual settings without compromising on the way you use the phone. Depending on the data usage, you can focus on apps that consume most of the data.

For applications such as YouTube, you may switch to the low-quality option for videos and music. A social media application like Facebook allow you to turn off the automatic video option as it takes up lots of data.

  1. Adjust your Data Plan

The use of all such data apps often causes users to exceed their monthly data limit, leading to additional charges. Any data bought outside the initial monthly subscription is more expensive.

Instead of paying for add-ons, users should consider upgrading to a contract that provides a higher data usage. The prices differ, which depends on the tariff you have subscribed to and the network available in your areas.

It is advisable to wait for one month or two to determine how the new habits affect data usage. If your usage still exceeds the monthly plan limit, then you can upgrade to another plan.

  1. Use WiFi

With WiFi, you don’t have to use cellular data. As such you can stream, upload and download videos and music without using up lots of data. For example, users who listen to Spotify on their way to work can download their favorite playlist at home using WiFi and listen in an offline mode to save on cellular data.

Getting acquainted with various ways of saving on mobile data goes a long way in managing cellular data and making notable monthly savings. You only pay for mobile data you need.

 

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Often Ignored Investment Opportunities That Can Make You A Lot Of Money

by Magical Penny on September 7, 2017

Whether you have a lot or a little money tucked away for a rainy day, you can use investing to make the most of it. However not enough people know about all the options they can choose from. In fact, there are some great investments that go largely ignored to the private investor, that they can make a great return on. Keep reading to find out more.  

cautionPenny shares

Penny stocks are the high risk, high drama sister of the ones floated on the major stock exchange like NASDAQ, IDX, and LSE. While they don’t often cost a penny, they are usually considerably cheaper than most regular stocks, and here’s the rub, their potential for growth is massive. This is in part, because of the volatility of the market. Making it more like a game of chance where you bet on who you think is gaining to win, rather than an educated and well-informed decision.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do your due diligence and homework, and there are plenty of sites like https://www.timothysykes.com/penny-stocks that will give you the low-down on how to purchase penny stocks, and which industries and specific companies are looking good at any one time. What you do need to remember though, is that a market that is volatile is one where the rug can be swept out from under you at any moment. You can win big, yes, but you can lose big too. So like any investment you make, never, ever invest money that you can’t afford to lose, or you need quick access to, in the near future.

house mortgage UKCommercial property

Commercial property is also overlooked in favour of its residential cousin. Perhaps because it’s not so glamorous so say your own a factory as it is to say you own more than one house? However, it’s a great market to invest in because businesses always need premises, meaning you can make a killing renting it out or selling it back to them.

Obviously, it’s not recommended that you jump in with both feet if you have never made investments in a commercial property before.  As you will need to know exactly what to look out for before you part with any money. In particular, a location near to transport hubs and main roads is essential for the company using it. As this allows them to keep their supply chain going without incurring extra expense. Many businesses are also looking for access to natural resources, especially if they are involved in manufacturing process. So proximity to water and other resources will make the commercial property you invest in much more desirable.

 

You will also need to be aware of how commercial property investment works, and the stages you will need to go through to secure your purchase. The first step is often using websites like http://rumahdijual.com/pabrik-dijual to locate a suitable match for your budget and needs. Then it is important that you or a representative visit in person to check the suitability of the site. A personal visit is no replacement for a decent survey though, so if your interest has been peaked make sure to get this step done before you go further for put any money down. From this point, it’s also a good idea to have a legal representative in the form of a property solicitor like https://www.yufendypartners.com/Partners that can help you check your documents for any potential issues and manage the bidding side of things.

Residential buy to let

 

Now, while residential property investment may not seem like an often ignored opportunity, buying a residential property to let can be. Basically, this is the process whereby you purchase a home and then lease it out to tenants, who pay you a monthly fee.

Yes, it can seem more appealing to buy and then flip a property quickly, but there is actually really good money be made with this buy to lease strategy, as long as you get a few things right. The first is that you must pick a location that is both desirable and already has good rental prospects. Up and coming areas in big cities are great for this, as there is always an influx of new people ready to move in.

 

You also need to work out the minimum length of time you will need to keep the property to make good on your investment. Buying to let is often a long term strategy, as the aim is to pay off as much of the mortgage as possible, thus freeing up a greater return on the property when you do sell. Lastly, you need to make sure that you can lease the property for a price that is higher than the mortgage. This is because you don’t want to be in negative equity each month once you have paid this, as well as all the fees that a rental agency will charge you to manage it.

Equity income funds

For those of us that are looking for middle-risk investments, but still want a decent return on our money, the often overlooked Equity Income Fund can make a good choice. These are mutual funds that invest in stable, reliable companies, paying back to their investors in the form of dividends. See a graph of their progress over the years at https://www2.trustnet.com/Investments.

The advantage of this sort of fund allows you to diversify across many different companies, making it a safer investment. Although, once again it is one that needs to be executed over the long term. As this will likely provide a higher yield on your original investment.

Opportunity fundISAs

Lastly, for the more safety conscious investors, there are Individual Savings Accounts or ISAs. These include fixed ISAs, cash ISAs and Stock and Shares ISAs.

If you can get a good rate on interest on a cash ISA, you are onto a winner. This is because they are tax-free, so everything you earn you get to collect. The problem, as mentioned at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com is that most interest rates aren’t that good, ranging from just over 1% for flexible cash ISAs, to just over 2% for fixed ISA account. That means if you need the flexibility to withdraw and use your cash, you won’t be earning too much, even over a long period. Although there is the benefit that your personal limit of £20,000 won’t be affected if you do choose to withdraw, as long as you keep within the guideline set down by your bank or lender.

Fixed ISAs are accounts that you can pay into and but make no withdrawals from. They are like to give you a higher interest rate because they have to encourage you to keep your money with them. That’s great if you are looking to save in the long-term, but can be very costly if you find yourself short with no way to access any funds other than closing your accounts and cashing out.

 

Lastly, there are the Stocks and Shares ISAs to consider as well. These are a good way of testing the waters in the stock market as you can choose to invest everything in one go, or do it a little at a time, month by month. You also have the choice of the type of funds you invest in, meaning that you can diversify in a difficult market, or focus on areas of growth if you so choose.

However, unlike the other types of ISA, a return on your money isn’t guaranteed here. So make sure you don’t confuse one with the other, as you could end up seriously out of pocket if you do.

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Want More Money In Your Life? Look No Further

by Magical Penny on September 7, 2017

If you want more money in your life, you’ve come to the right place. We’d probably all say we wanted more money for one reason or another. We all want to feel abundant! Here are just a few ways you can have more money:

Be Specific

Great, you want more money. Here’s $1. Now you have more money, you’ve reached your goal! Do you see why you need to be specific? Try to get really clear about how much more money you want, so you can start thinking of ways to ftse100reach your goals. Do you want an extra few hundred dollars a month?

Do you want to triple your income?

Make sure you’re specific about it, or you are unlikely to live the lifestyle you want!

Start Investing Your Money

People think they’re investing when they buy a property, but they’re not. They think they’re being smart when they put money in a savings account, but again, they’re not. Investing in stocks and shares is one of the best way to invest money and get a return. It isn’t without risk, but it can produce a high ROI.

Find Stress Free Ways To Save Money At Home

The home is probably the biggest drain on our finances. We have to pay utility bills, maintenance, repairs…the list goes on. However, there are so many stress free ways you can save money at home. You might be spending more than you need to on your utility bills because you haven’t checked out the competition lately, for example.

Take a look at the infographic below for 20 stress-free ways you can save at home:

credit to Sunny.co.uk
If you want more money in your life, have a look in the Saving and Investing categories here on Magical Penny too.

 

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From The Ground Up… Is It Worth Building Your Own Home?

by Magical Penny on September 6, 2017

Every person looking to invest in a piece of land or trying to find somewhere that’s a suitable country break away from city living means running into the same issues time and time again.

thumbs up down smallLooking for the right home in the right area that offers peace and quiet but is also near enough to essential amenities, not to mention the costs involved in renovating the space, but have you thought about the secret option of building your own home? The benefits, of course, are numerous, but is it a better option than buying a home? Are there more hidden costs? And on a personal level, is it better for you to buy rather than going through the hassle of building a house from scratch?

The Pros

The first thing to discuss when it comes to the upsides of building your own home is the aspect of control over every single contour. In building your own home, you need to have a unique vision of how you want your house to look before you press on with buying the cement and bricks. But the great thing about customization is you have complete control over every single part of the layout. It’s extremely beneficial if you plan on moving to a new area and especially if you are looking to start again on a personal level. There is nothing more beneficial to you than being the first owner of your home. You can find an area of the world that you have always wanted to move to or somewhere with a more rural setting. A place like Colorado, for example, is ripe for agriculture and livestock if you wanted to start a farming operation, you could find more information at Sports Afield about Colorado and why it’s a place of natural beauty. But the fact of the matter is that in choosing a piece of land to build on means that you are starting from the ground up.

The other great advantage of building your own home is that more often than not, brand new homes are built to meet the strict standards of current building codes.

In addition to this, homes are now more energy efficient if you build from scratch by adding up-to-date tech and energy efficient changes to your home, this means a lot of additional costs. There is also a limited warranty for home builders so if there are any issues on the structural side of things, it could save you a lot of money. It’s a lot of peace of mind to know that you won’t have to deal with any major repairs or maintenance issues for at least the first 10 years of your home’s life. And while there are many personal pros to building your own home there are, inevitably, downsides.

The Cons

 

The first thing to bear in mind is to understand the overall cost of building your own home.

It may appear that it will save you money in the long term, which it undoubtedly will, when you think about the environmental impacts and reducing your bills, as well as being able to live in a cost-effective home that doesn’t let out heat and waste energy. But the costs of building a new home mean a lot more money up front, not just for the materials, but also the cost of the land, especially if you are looking to build in an area of high demand. Couple this with costs you may not immediately think about such as window coverings, driveways, fences, and even furniture, especially if you are building a bigger house than what you are currently living in. These will all add up. According to The Lenders Network, the current cost of building a house in America comes to $289,145, while the median home value is currently $258,500, considerably less! Throw into the mix the time it takes to build a new home, which on average is 7 months, meaning that as well as the cost of building your new home, you may have additional costs on top such as renting a property to tide you over.

house questionOr if you are in your current home you won’t see the cash based on the sale for quite some time meaning that the cost of building your new home is going to run into thousands of more dollars than the straight up cost of $289,145. Buying your own home outright means negotiating on price as well as less of an impact on your stress levels, however you may not be able to get everything that you want. It’s also important to bear in mind that the experience of a real estate agent comes in handy when understanding how the builders operate based on the market meaning that they may be able to negotiate a lower price when buying your own home rather than building. The materials will more than likely increase in price rather than decrease, and as the building codes become more stringent, this may mean a more sophisticated wealth of building materials.

If you don’t see money as an object, building your own home can come with unlimited benefits, but it can be a surprise when all the hidden costs reveal themselves to you.

Buying your own home can come with personal downsides such as buyer’s remorse as well as neighbor’s remorse, especially if you are moving to a neighborhood where someone is inclined to play loud music in the middle of the night! Buying your own home comes with a lot less hassle in the long run, but when you look to build a home, there isn’t much leeway when it comes to purchasing price or closing costs.

The one thing to take away from this is to make sure you know exactly what you’re getting into, and whether you plan on building or buying, it’s best to utilize the knowledge of a real estate agent. Ultimately they will have better knowledge of the state of the market than you and can advise you accordingly on how to progress. Building your own home can be a great adventure, however, it can also be a major hassle personally and financially, so make sure you weigh up the pros and cons.

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#RealTalk On Real Estate Investments

by Magical Penny on September 6, 2017

The property market is undoubtedly an investor’s dream.

Average prices have increased steadily for over half-a-century, meaning that it’s one of the safest options out there. Moreover, it’s an arena that offers huge versatility. This allows individuals to find suitable solutions for their specific budgets and goals.

riskHowever, making money on the real estate market isn’t as easy as it might first seem. If it were, everyone would be doing it. Before jumping in at the deep end, it’s vital that you make yourself aware of some realities. Do this, and your hopes of success will be greatly increased.

 

#1. There Are Risks

Generally speaking, the increase in property prices outweighs the rate of inflation. But you’d be very foolish to think that all investors make money. This world doesn’t provide free cash for everyone. While there are plenty of winners in this playground, there are many losers too.

Experience is vital, which is why you must be wary of taking on too much too soon. Fixer-uppers can be particularly risky business, so taking an alternative approach may be better. Buy-to-let deals on multiple properties can be particularly useful as you’ll only need to have them partially full to break even. Ultimately, though, you must analyse the options to find what’s right for you.

#2. You Will Need Help

Again, the perceived ease of making money can convince investors to go it alone. While you might generate a profit this way, the chances of unlocking the investment’s full potential are very slim. Finding the right support is essential.

Financial advisors can suggest where your capital will be best spent. Meanwhile, Patrick Ascenzo Fawkner real estate experts can help assets fetch a far greater sale price. If nothing else, asking experienced investors to be your tutor can prove to be priceless. Either way, taking on the challenge alone is rarely the best solution.

#3. You Must Remove Affection

When building a home to live, growing an emotional attachment to the property is very natural. For a financial investment, though, you must refrain from thinking about personal tastes. Maximised gains are the only concern.

As an inexperienced investor, research is everything. The Investopedia guide to attractive features should help you spot the best possible opportunity. Just remember that little quirks can often limit your potential audience, and you’ll be in a far stronger position. The sooner you appreciate the differences between buying a home and an investment, the better.

time is on your side#4. Patience Is A Virtue

When done right property investments can be lucrative. But if you thought it would be a route to quick returns, you were sorely mistaken. The process of buying a property can be long winded while finding a buyer or renter can take time too. As such, you may require some patience before seeing any ROI.

Timing is everything in the real estate market. If you don’t have the personality to sit patiently before striking at the right moment, you might be better suited to another form of investing. Because if you aren’t going to turn a profit, the whole venture is a waste of time. And that’s real talk.

For more Property-related advice click here to browse other Magical Penny articles on the Property topic

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