It was only last November when we finally closed a transaction on purchasing one property here in Las Vegas but do you know that we have never stopped looking for another good deal in the real estate market?

We believe that this is still a good time to buy properties because the prices are still low and the interest rates are still down. (Although I’ve noticed that prices of properties are slowly starting to increase. I would say that it’s still a good market for investors.)

As I had mentioned in my previous post, we didn’t pay in cash (so we’re not rich, ok? LOL!). We try to practice the teachings of Robert Kiyosaki in his books such as “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” “Retire Young, Retire Rich,” and other books in the Rich Dad Series. We looked for the best home loan lenders in the market to finance us in buying a new property so that we can accumulate passive income while using other people’s money (legally of course).

With a down payment of less than 8% in our recent purchase, we believe that we correctly applied Kiyosaki’s principles of using other peoples money (bankers and the renters) in acquiring passive income from the fourplex rental property. The rent can pay for the mortgage and we still have some extra (as long as it’s fully rented) to save up for another property again.

If you’re also planning to invest in properties and take advantage of the low prices of properties right now, it is important that you arm yourself with lots of information. You can research on the internet some articles on mortgages for home buyers and home owners especially if you intend to borrow the money that you’ll need to finance your home.

Refinancing Your Home

If you haven’t taken advantage of the low interest rates yet and are still paying your mortgage at high interest rates, I strongly suggest that you consider refinancing your home. You don’t have to cash out some money (unless you will need it to invest in another property), just bringing down the interest rate by a couple of points is already enough to cut down on your mortgage payments.

For example, on a loan of 150,000, you pay the following amounts for mortgage:

• Interest rate: 6%, monthly payment (principal and interest): $899.33
• Interest rate: 5%, monthly payment (principal and interest): $805.23
• Interest rate: 4%, monthly payment (principal and interest): $716.12

Can you see the significant difference in the mortgage payments? Imagine how much you can save by just a one digit change in the interest rates?

Whether it’s for buying a new property or refinancing your current mortgage, now is a good time to take advantage on the low interest rates. Take advantage of these opportunities to earn or save on your mortgages.

Aside from window shopping in the malls, I also like (window) shopping online. I feel that it’s much easier to save when buying online. First, doing comparative shopping is a breeze because you can easily compare prices by browsing the catalog of different merchants even at the same time. If ever I find something nice that you wanted to buy, it’s also easier to save on your purchases because you can find lots of coupons and discount codes in the internet to cut your purchase cost.

I find online shopping as a great way to buy techie gadgets and items, books and computer stuff. Sometimes, software programs are also cheaper online although I don’t like buying downloadable programs.

But there are some stuffs that I need to buy in stores or malls – such as clothes.

I prefer buying clothes in the mall. I guess no matter what your size is (whether you’re into petite, regular or plus size fashion), you’ll prefer buying your clothes in malls or stores because you’ll have a chance to fit it first before buying it.

What other things do you buy online? Which do you prefer to buy on malls and stores? Do you do online shopping at all?