How To Become Rich And Get Dumped

May 31, 2008 at 3:30 pm · Filed under make moneys

No kidding! It shows that I’m a bachelor.

Most people buy residential real estate based purely on emotion, without ever really thinking rationally about why they are doing what they are doing. For example, I have a friend who lives in a suburban community distant three hours by car from Downtown Vancouver, where I live. As my pal also works in Downtown, he has to travel six hours each and every day of the working week - that’s 30 hours per week just to come here to earn a living and go back home. That’s an awful lot of driving. When I asked why he bought his home so far away, his answer was simple: that’s where his mother-in-law lives, and the wife wanted to be close to her.

The trouble is, in that location the home is a tough sell and will appreciate in value slowly, if at all. Heck, I’m not even sure it’s Canada …. Meanwhile, six hours a day on the road is enough to eat up a normal car every three years and run up a mountain of gas and maintenance bills. That real estate decision may make the wife happy, but it is hardly logical. The point is that when you are dealing with the single most expensive asset of your life (your house, that is … not your wife), representing the bulk of most people’s net worth, then emotion has to be relegated to the back seat.

The most valuable feature of real estate, by far, is where it is located. The old adage of ‘location, location, location’ as being the three cardinal rules of housing is true today as it has ever been. Real estate is, afterall, an unmovable commodity and it is worth what it is worth mainly because of where it is at. Therefore, location is the very first thing to take note of, not the condition of the structure that sits on that apron of land. In ultimate analysis, whatever may be wrong with the house can always be fixed, rebuilt, repaired, restored or replaced. However, a bad or questionable location can never be changed - unless one buys the entire subsection of the city.

This is the reason why one should buy the worst house on the best street, and not the other way around.

In every city and town there are invariably neighbourhoods or areas that are ‘in demand’, and they are in demand for a reason - either they sit on a lake or river frontage, command views of the city skyline, of a ravine or the ocean, or have peaceful, leafy streets. Some areas are close to schools or public transportation routes, or are unique in terms of topography, history or population variety. So the savvy Buyer will try to get into these areas whenever he can, and then will sleep well knowing that he has taken care already of the resale value of the home he has just finished purchasing.

When shopping for a home, it is always best to avoid houses that sit near major traffic thoroughfares because of reduced privacy and more traffic; or houses sited next to schools or retail stores, as they will always sell at a discount compared with the ones in the middle of a quiet residential block. And forget about buying anything that is near a police, ambulance or fire station, or a hospital or factory. Furthermore, it pays to avoid neighbourhoods that are in transition, since tree-filled areas will always and invariably be worth more than new, suburban streets with twigs planted along the boulevards.

But since what one buys will always reflect what one spends at any given time, to buy the worst house on the best street is the sure way to maximize capital gains at the time of resale, simply by fixing it up a little. It sure pays to live where everybody wants to live and make a little money in the process. And if you get dumped by your loved one in the meanwhile, look at it on the bright side - you can also enjoy your new neighbourhood in peace and tranquility.

Luigi Frascati

Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle at http://wwwrealestatechronicle.blogspot.com where you can find the full collection of his articles on Real Estate Economics and Finance. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.

Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.

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Defining the Marketing Niche

May 30, 2008 at 3:07 pm · Filed under make moneys

Ever wonder why some business seem to be more successful than others are? Why do some business flourish even in tough economical times?

The answer is quite simple.

Successful business owners define and target specific niches to sell. This is easily the best way for the online small business owners to compete … and profit even in tough economical times.

How they define the niches?

The answer is quite simple as well. Successful owners succeed in making the close relation between their business and customers needs. They pay a special attention to identify motivate and rewarding those sales channel that works on customer relationship. More than that, these owners recognize that a multiple channels-to-market sales strategy provides the best coverage and get market leadership.

How they define the niches then?

Let’s recap:

1. Identify customers needs, that means to see what specifically needs do the current customers have in common
2. Motivate customers explaining that the product covers the needs. Develop your own product/service, or find existing ones, that satisfy the needs you’ve identified from your research.
3. Reward customers offering a good price, a permanent support and assistance. Create your unique selling proposition, website content, and advertising campaigns. Stay close to your customers answering questions and providing available support.

To succeed in all above, you need a plan. My suggestion is to create a micro-plan for the very beginning, because that way is easy to see how much this plan is just plain copying the leader or the extending present product ideas. Try to be innovative, this is the way to big success.

Valerian Dinca is a freelance writer specialized in internet marketing. He thinks that any home business is an opportunity to make money

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Make Money on eBay - By Saving on eBay Fees

May 29, 2008 at 6:31 pm · Filed under make moneys

This is such an important topic and the majority of sellers don’t control their ebay fees. Are you completely aware about the costs involved when you are selling on eBay?

Have a look at John:

John has bought a nice antique vase on a garage sale for $55 US. What a bargain, since he knows that on eBay he could sell it for a big profit. He makes 3 beautiful photos and John wants to use one of photos as a gallery picture, because he knows that without a gallery photo it is hard to sell your items.

So, he starts to create his auction listings.

The auction starting price should be $55, to break even. John also ads a ‘Buy it Now’ price for $110 and an additional subtitle. As John is not satisfied with the first look he decides to add the ‘bold’ feature as well and finally he submits his auction. This auction looks perfect now, but does John really know how much he paid on eBay fees just for this listing.

Let’s do the math:

Insertion fee: $2.40
Buy Now Price: $0.25
Subtitle: $0.50
Bold: $1.00
Gallery Photo: $0.35
2 Extra Pictures: $0.30

John finally sells his vase for $98 as the highest bidder so John pays additionally:

Final value Fee: $1.31 (5.25% for the first $25)
and: $2.19 (3% of $50 ($75-25$)

= $8.30 just on eBay fees!

But this ‘fee journey’ is not over yet…John receives payment from the bidder of $108 ($98 for the item and $10 for shipping) The bidders pays via PayPal and John has to pay PayPal fees of 2.9% + $0.30 US = $3.13 +$0.30 = $3.43.

In total John has paid $11.73 just on fees. He has already paid $55 for the vase plus the $11.73 in total for listing = $66.73. And almost forgot! Yes, John needs to pay the $10 for shipping. Therefore, total costs are:

Buy merchandise: $ 55.00
eBay fees: $ 8.30
Paypal Fees: $ 3.43
Shipping: $ 10.00

Total Costs: $ 76.73
Received: $108.00
Profit: $ 31.27

Well, John has made a profit. That’s pretty good anyway, but I think John could save massively on his ebay fees. Here some tips how to save on eBay fees:

John could easily host his own pictures through his internet service provider, through some online pictures services. In fact he could add unlimited ebay pictures as he wants without paying additional cents. John would have saved $0.30 on this additional picture hosting feature. Then, John could have easily removed some special features like ‘bold’ and ’subtitle’. John could have come up with a more descriptive and detailed main title with some snappy keywords to attract more buyers. John could have also started with a lower price to decrease the insertion fees, yes even a a starting price of $1 No reserve’. The positive effect with these $1 starting auction is two fold; Firstly, you save on insertion fee and secondly more buyers place a bid if the starting bid is low. This increases dramatically the number of bids and this attracts even more buyers because they think ‘When so many people place a bid, then this item must be really cool’ and they bid as well.

In summary: Keep your eBay fees in mind and don’t guess how much your listing will cost. Sit down and do the math before you launch your auction listing. It’s worth and maybe saves some surprises at the end of the month when the monthly bill from eBay is waiting in your mailbox.

T. Haselhorst is CEO of Monster Internet Empire and webmaster of
http://www.auction-design-for-free.com,
http://www.powerseller-articles.auction-design-for-free.com,
and http://www.submit-articles.biz

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