Good News For Vulture Investors - The Real Estate Market Continues to Crumble

By MoneyBlueBook

This is for those of you who missed out on the real estate boom of the last few years. I think you'll know where I'm coming from.

Back in 2004 I was feeling downtrodden. I was only very recently a year out of graduate school and already my friends were snapping up properties left and right. I know it's not good to be envious of others, but I felt like I was missing out on the greatest boom of the decade.

A few of my friends and acquaintances at the time were making lucrative incomes by flipping houses, and perfecting the art of buying distressed properties, fixing them up, and selling them for quick profits. Some were even working on the side and making good money as house appraisers. I even knew a few people who took trips to Miami and Las Vegas to take advantage of the red hot housing markets there. Many were putting money down for pre-construction condominium projects that gained in market value even before the contract ink was dry. During the boom, it seemed like everyone was making money off of paper gains due to rapid appreciation of housing prices.

Great Real Estate Investing Opportunities Opening Up

Now, everything has changed. The real estate market has cooled and completely caved inward. Housing values are depreciating and foreclosures are up.

In the midst of this doom and gloom, I can crack a smile. The opportunistic eager beaver in me knows that my time to shine will soon be near. Am I

By MoneyBlueBook

Okay, it's time I joined the personal finance blogging community. I've been writing and posting quietly to myself like a hermit in my cave and I think it's time I shared more about myself.

I've been tagged by Pinyo at Moolanomy to reveal 7 random things about myself. I'm not sure what people would want to know about me so I decided to include a wide assortment.

By MoneyBlueBook

I used to fly a lot and racked up a lot of frequent flyer miles over the years, but now I have to be extra careful. Airline travelers who don't use their frequent flyer miles...well, frequently, may soon discover that their miles have expired. It is a growing trend, but airlines have shortened the time period that an account can remain inactive before miles expire. In most cases that time period ranges between 1 to 2 years.

Here Are the Expiration Policies For Some of the Biggest Airlines:

• AirTran: Points in A+ Rewards expire after 12 months.
• American Airlines: AAdvantage miles expire after 36 months of inactivity.
• Delta Airlines: Delta SkyMiles expire after 2 years of inactivity.
• JetBlue: TrueBlue points expire one full year from the date that they are earned.
• Northwest Airlines: Northwest WorldPerks miles expire if none are earned for 3 calendar years.
• Southwest Airlines: Rapid Rewards points expire after 2 years.
• United Airlines: Mileage Plus miles expire after 36 months of inactivity. Starting December 31, 2007, miles will expire after 18 months of inactivity.
• U.S. Airways: Dividend Miles expire after 18 months of inactivity.

How You Can Easily Prevent Mileage Expiration

The way to prevent your miles from lapsing due to inactivity is to simply generate miles-earning activity for each airline that you have an account with. Other using than using a specialized miles-generating credit card rewards like

By MoneyBlueBook

I was a late comer to the cell phone scene, but once I got the cell phone I ditched the traditional land line. Today, I only use cell phones and my high speed internet service. Who wants to pay for an extra land line?

I have not owned a traditional land line phone since I started using a cell phone more than half a decade ago. Frankly I just don't see the need to have an extra line that can only be used at home. I know advocates of land line service point out that wireless phones can be unreliable and that for emergencies it is best to have a land line, but in my opinion, my most potentially critical emergencies aren't likely to occur at home. My crucial times of need will likely occur on the road or somewhere far away from traditional phone lines when I may need to summon help from afar. At that time, only my trusty cell phone will do the job and my clunky land line sitting at home won't do me any good.

I'm Not Alone And I'm Part of A Trend

Apparently, I am part of a growing movement towards cell phone only households. According to a recent study by Mediamark research, a firm that has been tracking such data since the mid 1980s, the firm found for the first time that cell-phone only households were starting to outnumber land line-only homes. More than a quarter of young adults have only cell phones, making them the leading

By MoneyBlueBook

This is my first entry about my student loans. For starters, I think I am very lucky compared to some people. As of today, I only have about $30,000 in student loans left from my college and graduate school days. Aside from the prestige or other benefits of attending more expensive private schools, I feel fortunate to have stuck with more affordable state schools for my undergraduate and graduate education. As a result, I'm not living a life of student loan servitude like many of the people I am reading about in the news, and personally am in no particular rush or hurry to quickly pay off my student loans.

Student Loan Debt Is A Massive Burden To Many

Student loans never go away and can't even be discharged through bankruptcy. The student loan creditors will essentially come after you until you eventually pay it off, a sobering reality that many students don't fully comprehend or realize until they've graduated. I truly sympathize with their burden and know how much of a shackle it can be. I have friends who graduated from law school and medical school carrying tremendous six figure student loans. Even with their advanced degree education, in today's market, there is no easy guarantee that they will have a breezy way of paying it off.

But I Am Taking My Time Paying Off My Loans Thanks To Low Interest Consolidation

I am fortunate to have consolidated my student loans at the lowest rate seen in the last decade or so. I

By MoneyBlueBook

I don't do it as much as I used to but back in college and for a few years after I used to sell products on eBayas part of my experiment in running a part time online business. It was more of a hobby than anything else so I never quite grew it into something big. But I did learn a thing or two about online selling during that time.

When I was an active seller, I focused primarily on electronics and gadgets that I liked and that were must-haves at the time. One rudimentary search of eBay's auctions reveals the obvious - consumer electronics was and is still in great demand and there is fierce competition for steep discounted prices for such products. EBay consumers have grown accustomed to paying discounted prices for their electronics and this has made it more difficult for sellers today to profit from their sales.

Selling Electronics Is Tough

New eBay sellers will come to discover that consumer electronics is the toughest category to compete in. This is due to the slim margins for consumer electronics. Even Powersellers in this category often times only break even. The key to profiting from sales of consumer electronics is the bundling of products with value added accessories.

Successful eBay sellers make their money with accessories, or create packages that include items that have higher profit margins such as earphones, or padded protectors. This allows sellers to avoid competing on price alone. Profiting from the addition of accessories works because as a general psychological matter,