Everyone wants to be a millionaire, but not many are prepared to make the sacrifices it takes to be one. Real estate consultant and property investor Nancy Ng has certainly worked hard for her success. Together with her husband, they have accumulated approximately 18 properties that include apartments, SoHos, land, factories, houses, shop offices, retail and condominiums. Their loans amount to more than RM10mil and their monthly passive income is a much-desired five-figure sum.

Ng, 41, started her property investment journey six years ago in year 2004 with just RM60,000. It was at one of the lowest points of her life as she had to sell the house they were staying in for RM333,000 (they purchased it for RM165,000). They still had RM100,000 in loan. After paying off all debts, she and her husband were left with approximately RM60,000.

“I really have to thank my late father-in-law. We wouldn’t have made it through without his help. He offered a place for our family to stay in when we had to sell our house,” says Ng, as she fondly remembers her father-in-law.

“Don’t give up. I refused to give up even at my lowest point. Property saved me. It was my saviour,” Ng adds. By investing carefully, Ng has attained financial freedom and has made it her goal to share her knowledge about property investment and give back to the community by pledging to give away properties worth RM1mil.

“I plan to give away RM1 million worth of properties. I have given away two properties worth RM 500,000. I hope to achieve this by year 2013. A man gave away a piece of land to a church after listening to my story. I am so excited ! I hope more people will also start giving! My dream is to have more people join me in giving away properties to charity or any deserving organisations of their choice,” says the charitable investor.

StarProperty.my chats with Ng, whose high-pitched boisterous laugh never fails to liven up a room.

Driven: Real estate consultant and investor, Ng, is also the project sales director for Qube, an integrated commercial development in Shah Alam

Were you always a real estate consultant?
I have been a real estate consultant since 2003 or 2004. Before that, I was in logistics for 12 years. Actually I took a break in 1999 to fulfil my dream of being a full-time mother (laughs). But it didn’t last long. I rested for about two years and I think everybody knows about the recession in 1997 and the spill-over effect in 1998 and 1999. I resigned at the end of 1998. I thought I had a lot of money because I was saving for so many years. But I didn’t know my husband lost it all (laughs). He kept this dark secret from me.

You did not see the bank accounts?
I was pregnant with my second child and he didn’t want to frighten or upset me. If he told me, then I would have given second thoughts about being a full-time mother. So how? Resigned already (laughs). I think the savings lasted for a while as I worked on a part-time basis for two companies as a consultant. I wasn’t just doing nothing, but it was more of ‘relax’ mode.

We did not have to be really rich, as long as we can provide our children with local education. Property investment was never a goal. I was contented. But I went into property investment with a clear mindset. In 2002 or 2003, I attended a few seminars because I was desperate. Our savings was running low. I did a trading business with a friend, of which I owned 20%. After a year, I asked myself if this was what I wanted. There has to be something better than this. So my husband and I explored all types of courses such as Forex trading, options and Internet courses, which was very ‘in’ at that time. Some of the courses we attended were free previews by Renesial Leong and Milan Doshi (local property gurus). Then I realised and felt that it made sense.

And when Robert Kiyosaki went to Singapore, we went to listen to what he had to say. Upon returning to Malaysia, I realised that, that’s it. I shouldn’t just be a real estate agent, I should also be a property investor.

At what point did you decide to become a real estate agent?
I became a real estate agent after selling my property. I actually engaged a lot of agents to sell my property but none of them could me get the price that I wanted. So I was angry (laughs). I had renovated the house nicely. I told the agents that I wanted to sell my house for RM330,000. All five agents said that they could only get me RM280,000. I refused to accept that and tried selling it myself. And I sold my first property for RM330,000.

How did you sell your home for RM330,000?
Ahhh. It was a brand new house and I only stayed in it for four years. I took care of the house. The basic houses in that area were valued between RM260,000 and RM280,000. You mean that there’s no value to the renovations? I didn’t think so. So that’s why, I told them (agents) that I would do it. After I sold my house, my mom asked me to sell her two apartments, and then my cousin also asked me to sell two apartments. Then all my friends asked me to sell and rent their houses and apartments. So before I knew it, I was helping to transact over 30 properties and I wasn’t getting paid (laughs).

All of them took me out for lunch, dinner, supper or tea. Then my husband reminded that we are not that rich anymore and our savings were depleting. I did not have a regular income, have decided to give up the (trading) business, and here I was doing ‘busybody’ work for people. So he suggested that I sign up as an agent. It made total sense, because as a friend, I don’t think that it’s nice to ask them for one or two percent (commission). It doesn’t work. So I agreed to be an agent. From year 2004 till today, we have not stopped investing. So a lot of people were amazed that we attained our financial freedom in four years.

How did you do it?
(Laughs) I think that we were very “sharp”. The first few properties we invested in were small properties. When we started in real estate investment, we were down to our last RM60,000 in both our accounts. I looked at him. He looked at me (laughs). Do or die, we had to make wise choices; cannot simply “shoot” (laughs). We started with small condominiums with zero down payment. We bought the condo for RM80,000. We knew that we wanted to buy properties, so we had to work hard. Like what one of the property gurus said, “Earn as much as you can”. I think that’s very important. We worked until at least 1 or 2am every day.

Doing what?
At 9am, we make at least eight appointments. We travel a few hundred kilometres in a day. We see a lot of customers for listing. We see prospects buyers and find out what they want. So, being hardworking is very important. Throughout the first two years, we saw seven to eight customers every day. We never stopped on Saturdays or Sundays either.

People might say that you are real estate agent, so it’s easier for you to view properties.
But during our free time, we would go and see properties for ourselves. I think if you saw me five years ago, I looked very haggard (laughs). I was not this fat also (laughs). The journey was challenging. In the evenings, we would put up signboards. I remember taking a ladder with our friends (other hardworking real estate agents) and we hung banners during weekends. At that time, we were not rich, so we did everything ourselves.

It was tough but I saved money from every deal. Once we have saved 20% (enough for down payment), then we would buy a property. So until today, I am still that broke (laughs). That is a habit that my husband and I had cultivated. The last three years, we were very aggressive. Of course, the first two years, we were not able buy so many properties; only two properties. The second year, we managed to buy four properties. Then the following year, we were able purchase six and we continued doing so. This year, I have purchased six. So I am keeping my pace.

When you started, was it all lower cost units?
Properties that are RM300,000 and below.

Is your husband a real estate agent as well?
Yes. When we started, we handled a lot of sub-sales. But in the last four years, we concentrated on servicing developers. I don’t want to be a regular agent next door. I have found my niche. So in the last five years, 70% of my job scope is working with developers. Qube (integrated commercial development in Shah Alam) is one of them. Qube outsourced the entire sales and marketing to me. Usually, upon achieving certain (sales) target, we would hand it back to the management. But Qube is different. Prudence Wong (developer of Qube) requested for me to handle it all the way. Prudence is a friend, so it’s different. Certain projects, once I achieve 50% to 60% (sales), I would return the project to the management. The sales figure depends on the contract.

So you are involved in just the sales and marketing?
No, we usually sit with the developer to plan on what’s best to build. I give my feedback on the features to be incorporated, the latest concepts, decide on the look, width, height, dimensions and all that. So we come in at a very early stage and we provide our input so that we build a more relevant product. A lot of developers want things done the right way, so we encourage them to carry out market surveys first.

It is known that you prefer not to share your story. What has changed, now that you have begun to share?
I got to know Michael Tan (property investment coach) last year. He said, “Nancy, you have so much wealth in knowledge.” I think he liked the idea that I literally created a few millionaires.

So I told Michael, “If you are doing it the right way, then I don’t mind giving input in terms of providing certain statistics, data and such.” I have seen thousands of properties and have visited many areas, so this is something I can share with him. But he told me, “Nancy, why don’t you do me a favour. Instead, I put you out there and you share.” I told him that it doesn’t work for me because I didn't want people to know me as I enjoy my freedom. My husband and I have been travelling extensively and we enjoy our holidays and good food with good friends.

I told Michael, I don’t need to because I am not going to be a guru. But then when he looked at me and said, “Can you consider it as a form of charity?” I said, “Oh dear!” Then he phrased it differently, “By not sharing, it is actually very selfish of you.” I was surprised. He is very “cunning” you know (laughs). He said that once a while, when they have an event and if I think it is relevant, then I could share to help motivate or inspire people to the next level. So I agreed. So far, I have spoken at two of Michael’s events.

Knowledgeable: The amicable Ng (second from left) sits with fellow speakers (L-R: Ho Chin Soon, Juanita Chin and Peter Yee) at the recent Property Millionaire Challenge seminar.

How do you help people become millionaires?
One example. I met this real estate agent four years ago. Very hardworking. When I saw him, I saw me. He takes seven to eight cases per day and he has been doing so for seven years. I asked how many properties has he invested in and he said none! So I told him that I must take him out and buy something. I took him to buy one zero-money-down condominium. It didn’t cost him a single cent. We bought the property at RM125,000 and I got him a tenant at RM1,500. The monthly instalment about RM700 to RM800. So that’s the first time that he tasted the ‘sweetness’ of passive income. The second property, he wanted it to be a joint-venture with me. He saw a shop that costs RM728,000. I told him that he can afford it himself. He said he couldn’t because he didn’t pay his taxes for three years. That’s why he can’t purchase ‘big’ properties.

That’s why I always advise people to pay their taxes—it is very important. I told him to declare whatever that he has not declared. My accountant went through his papers and did three years of back taxes for him. We went to Jabatan Hasil and he paid the fine. The he was able to present his EA and J Form to my banker friend. His loan was processed at RM550,000. Can you see how busybody I was (laughs)? After three years, the shop was completed and I provided a tenant for him. Actually the tenant was mine, but the tenant wanted two intermediate units, so I gave it to this young man. It was a corporate tenant and before you know it, he sold the shop at RM1.55mil the following month. By selling at RM1.55 mil, he cashed out almost RM1mil. It’s amazing, isn’t it? This is the joy of seeing another person make it in life. So I want to create as many millionaires to share the enjoyment of life.

Do you specialise in a particular area when you started investing?
I invest in properties in KL, Subang, Klang and Shah Alam. These are the four areas that I zoom into.

Do you have any mentors?
In life, you have to be very self-motivated. Maybe because I am a very positive person. I am always hungry for information. Not many real estate agents would take on developers’ projects. I tell them (developers) to outsource the job to me. I have trained my people in the last six years. They know the job. If a development is not that big, there’s no need to employ people. Otherwise when the project is done, what are they going to do with their staff? So, I would encourage small- or medium-sized developers to outsource. Let me take over their problems. Actually, I am happier taking on smaller jobs. We complete it in two to three months, or maximum, six months. After that, I can take another six months for holidays (laughs).

During Qube’s launch, Ho Chin Soon (map maker) spoke about property bubble. What are your thoughts and advice?
If you mark Ho Chin Soon’s advice properly, he said that there is a little bubble being created.

Yes, he mentioned that we are in year one.
Yes, year one only. We still have two good years to go. So there is no bubble yet in the market. A lot of people are saying that the prices are too high. But you must know which market you are talking about. I would say that the market would not burst, but if the area that you invest in has very high supply, then look again.

For example, I know of a developer that launched a 750-unit condominium in Phase 1. It was priced at RM180,000 for 350sq ft. A lot of people bought. If you have spare cash, and you purchase one or two, it’s okay. But if you are a first-time investor, I would advise against purchasing because it will take some time for the market to digest, especially when it comes to rental. Is yours going to be the first one to be rented out? Even if your unit is among the first one hundred to be rented out, it takes time (for the market) to digest. I have seen another apartment in Subang where the first phase had 250 units. It took a year and half to fill up half the units. Another project in Subang with 600 units. Today, in its third year, the occupancy rate is just slightly more than 50%.

So for newcomers, if you are thinking of purchasing condominiums or service apartments, try to look at those with less than 300 units. Otherwise, I encourage them to look into sub-sales, where it might be ready with tenants. I don’t want newcomers to be stuck with cash flow problems. I don’t want newcomers to take big risks. I want them to take calculated risks. You never know, like when SARS came, it came all of sudden. So in the event that you have such unforeseen circumstances, the completed ones are the ones you can sell. In fact, if I feel that some of my customers are not ready, I advise them against investing. If your risk appetite is not so big and you are the type who gets worried and can’t sleep and eat thinking about your investment, then don’t invest. What you should do is to buy your own house. Even if buying your own house also worries you, then better to buy completed ones. Not everybody is for property investment.

I’ve spoken to a few property gurus. They always advise to do your research. But there can be such a thing as wrong research. What do you think?
I would share with you one of the simple things that I did when I started. Firstly, if it is completed, even though my agent has shown me the property, I would still go and look at that property for at least two more times. I would go to the nearby areas and understand the new housing area that is within five to 15km radius. I would check the income level of the residents there and check the developer’s launch price.

About three years ago, I bought a property. The developer’s price was RM840,000. The agent wanted to sell it at RM1.4mil. Now, this guy would make quite a lot of money from me (laughs). After I surveyed the area, I felt that the potential is there. A shopping mall and high-end housing is being developed in that area. To me, these are all positive things. The resident’s income level is high and the nearby rental is also high. So it justified the purchase at RM1.4mil. Some friends said that I am mad, because I won’t be able to make money from it. I said that it is okay, because the potential is there and nearby areas have almost 90% occupancy rate. So I am comfortable with the whole area. My husband and I paid for it. Now, after two years in our hands, somebody offered me RM2.3mil. Am I earning more or that guy who sold it to me earning more?

Ermmm... you.
(Laughs) So you see, sometimes it is a longer term. After two years, everything has been completed. Highway done nicely. All housing completed. I rented the place out for RM10,000 a month. So it doesn’t mean that once people have already earned, you do not go in. I think that there is still the chance for the property to appreciate to the next level. Now that we have seen a few thousand properties over the last few years, we are able to tell if a property has potential or not. Now, we usually take a day or two to do our survey. Before, we took two to three weeks. I believe that property gurus should be on the ground. Get out there and check it out. Some property gurus might not be able to teach their students relevant information because they are very privileged, whereby agents present properties to them.

For Qube, how many percent has been sold?
We are left with Bumiputra units. I am very positive about this project. It definitely will sell all. It’s a matter of time. Do you know that a lot of office projects take a long time to sell? There is a project in PJ that is smaller than Qube. They are completing this year and they are still selling. Selling office is always a challenge. If we compare ourselves with some of them, we are very lucky, blessed and fortunate. We are down to 30% but we have just started.

Has piling works started?
Master David Koh (Feng Shui master) has chosen a date in September to do the piling. Prudence is a strong believer of Feng Shui. So everything must have the best Feng Shui date. Everything was chosen on dates. It has to be auspicious all the way.

Any promotions for Qube?
At the moment, we have an interesting promotion. If you bring any Bumiputra friends to Qube office and if they buy a unit, we will reward you with the latest Samsung Galaxy S handphone that is worth RM2,000 plus, free. So if your Malay friends are renting offices, drag them here to buy instead of rent. Then you can get your free handphones (laughs).

Are the remaining units the bigger ones?
No. We made sure that there are still many RM300,000 units available for Bumiputras. We made sure that these are the reasonable sizes.

What’s next for you—personally and/or professionally?
I am actually renovating my house and hopefully I can move in by Christmas. So I am travelling again to buy things for my house. This is the time I take a long break, normally October to December. This is the time where I read up on a lot of books and I am actually looking, no promises though, to compile a book with stories on how my clients made it, because I’ve known too many people who have made it (laughs).

So I’m going to talk to them to see if they can contribute their stories to me. Of course, not only success stories. Failures as well. Those who got burnt, lost a lot of money and what they have learnt from the experience. So if I can compile 101 stories of success and failures and the book is made available, then many people can have a better understanding on what property investment is all about. What motivates me is that the profits (from book sales) can go into charity.

What sort of charities do you do or I heard you have given away properties?
People do charity in different forms. I do it the property way. Two years ago, we set up a little foundation. We bought a Great Eastern fund at RM160,000. The funds give profit every year. With this profit, we can contribute to charity and the poor. Last year, I told my husband that we could do better than that. The fund that we purchased, in the event anything happens to my husband and I, it will go to charity 100%. The second thing we did was that we gave away two properties this year.

We gave away one small office and one apartment. The two properties’ combined current value is about RM500,000. So how do we pledge it away? The condominium I am settling the loan this year. Whatever monthly rental I get from the condominium, I give it to charity. The small office’s rent is also given to charity even though I am still servicing the loan, which I intend to settle in two years. So we hope that once we pay off the loan in the next two years, we will be able to pledge one more. I hope that by contributing (knowledge), these people would be able to learn.

Property investment can be very rewarding but it also involves a lot of hard work.
It’s not easy. It’s a lot of hard work. I am happy that all my staffs also own a lot of properties. If the successful people and the people with them also have certain success, then these people are able to share and teach. I don’t see myself as a property guru because I think that it is my responsibility to share and one day, if ever I want to contribute to any courses or charity, these people who have benefitted from my sharing, I hope that they will join hands with me to contribute to this fund or that fund. It need not be Christian-based of course. I think that’s more meaningful.

When I meet successful clients, I always ask them what their secrets are. For me, I give my e-mail address. I answer e-mails everyday during my spare time. Some people are not pleased that I am not charging. To me, by giving back, these people might credit me for changing them and help them invest. Then, I make sure that these people contribute 10% to charity (laughs).

I plan to “retire” next year; to manage a project a year, but it must be a good project. I am looking at two parcels of land for development with my developer friends. For developers who are looking for group purchases, they can contact me. I get excited buying in a group and becoming a negotiator for the group. I would have vested interest and I might benefit my friends, so why not? After that, I make sure that they contribute 10% to charity (laughs).

Property investment advice from Ng

• Married couples should go as a team. Your portfolio will grow faster.

• Be responsible for your own property, otherwise don’t be an investor. Make sure that everything is in good condition. Your tenants would also be happier. Treat your property with respect.

• Sell in a good condition. “Don’t you hate to see rubbish inside? That’s the wrong attitude. If needed, paint the place so that it looks nicer. If you don’t like trouble, then don’t buy. It’s not the game for you. There are a lot of responsibilities. If you want to be an investor, play your part,” Ng shares.

• Don’t give up. “I refused to give up even at my lowest point. Property saved me. It was my saviour. I had only one house and I sold it for RM333,000. I really have to thank my late father-in-law. We wouldn’t have made it through without his help,” Ng reflects.

• Newcomers should look into sub-sales, where it might be ready with tenants. So in the event of unforeseen circumstances, the completed ones are the ones you can sell.

• What’s your risk appetite? For newcomers, if you are thinking of purchasing newly ready condominiums or service apartments, try to look at those with less than 300 units.

• Earn as much as you can, which will enable you to purchase more properties at a faster pace to attain your financial freedom.

• Being hardworking is very important. Do your research, and learn from people who are in the field and on-the-ground.

• Sometimes, you have to think long-term. Just because a seller has profited from you doesn’t mean that you will not be able to profit, in the event that you decide to sell. There is still the chance for the property to appreciate to the next level, if it is in a good area.

• Share your knowledge and wealth. If you have benefited from your property investment, give back to charity and/or deserving organisations.

• If you are not ready to invest, don’t. If you are the type who gets worried and can’t sleep and eat thinking about your investment, then don’t invest. Not everybody is for property investment.

• Pay your taxes. If you don’t pay your taxes, it will affect your ability to borrow from the bank.

Carlos Slim Helu (Carlos Slim), a telecom tycoon and billionaire with well-known frugal tendencies, has a net worth of $60.6 billion, according to Forbes. Assuming no changes in his net worth, he could spend $1,150 a minute for the next 100 years before he ran out of money. To put this in perspective, he could spend in 13 minutes what a minimum-wage earner brings home after an entire year of the daily grind.

Granted, the world's billionaires (all 1,011 of them) are in the debatably enviable position of having, quite literally, more money than they can possibly spend, yet some are still living well below their means, and save money in surprising places. Even non-billionaires (currently 6,864,605,142 of us) can partake in these seven spending tips from frugal billionaires:

1. Keep Your Home Simple
Billionaires can afford to live in the most exclusive mansions imaginable -- and many do, including Bill Gates' sprawling 66,000 square foot, $147.5 million dollar mansion in Medina, Wash. -- yet frugal billionaires like Warren Buffett choose to keep it simple. Buffett still lives in the five-bedroom house in Omaha that he purchased in 1957 for $31,500. Likewise, Carlos Slim has lived in the same house for more than 40 years.

2. Use Self-Powered or Public Transportation
Thrifty billionaires including John Caudwell, David Cheriton and Chuck Feeney prefer to walk, bike or use public transportation when getting around town. Certainly these wealthy individuals could afford to take a helicopter to their lunch meetings, or ride in chauffeur-driven Bentleys, but they choose to get a little exercise and take advantage of public transportation instead. Good for the bank account and great for the environment.

3. Buy Your Clothes off the Rack
While some people, regardless of their net value, place a huge emphasis on wearing designer clothes and shoes, some frugal billionaires decide it's simply not worth the effort, or expense. You can find David Cheriton, the Stanford professor who matched Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to the venture capitalists at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers (resulting in a large reward of Google stock), wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of the furniture company Ikea, avoids wearing suits, and John Caudwell, mobile phone mogul, buys his clothes off the rack instead of spending his wealth on designer clothes.

4. Keep your Scissors Sharp
The average haircut costs about $45, but people can and do spend up to $800 per cut and style. Multiply that by 8.6 (to account for a cut every six weeks) and it adds up to $7,200 per year, not including tips. These billionaires can certainly afford the most stylish haircuts, buy many cannot be bothered by the time it takes or the high price tag for the posh salons. Billionaires like John Caudwell and David Cheriton opt for cutting their own hair at home.

5. Drive a Regular Car
While billionaires like Larry Ellison (co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation) enjoy spending millions on cars, boats and planes, others remain low key with their vehicles of choice. Jim Walton (of the Wal-Mart clan) drives a 15-year-old pickup truck. Azim Premji, an Indian business tycoon, reportedly drives a Toyota Corolla. And Ingvar Kamprad of Ikea drives a 10-year-old Volvo. The idea is to buy a dependable car, and drive it into the ground. No need for a different car each day of the week for these frugal billionaires.

6. Skip Luxury Items
It may surprise some of us, but the world's wealthiest person, Carlos Slim (the one who could spend more than a thousand dollars a minute and not run out of money for one hundred years) does not own a yacht or a plane. (Reducing the amount you spend is the easiest way to make your money grow.)

Many other billionaires have chosen to skip these luxury items. Warren Buffett also avoids these lavish material items, stating, "Most toys are just a pain in the neck."

What We Can Learn
Some of the world's billionaires have frugal tendencies. Perhaps this thrifty nature even helped them make some of their money. Regardless, they have chosen to avoid some unnecessary spending (at least on their scale) and the 6,864,605,142 non-billionaires out there can follow suit, eliminating excessive, keep-up-with-the-Jones style spending. No matter what a person's income bracket is, most can usually find a way to cut back on frivolous spending, just like a few frugal billionaires.

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Good bass is critical to a great-sounding home theater and is especially important when you are talking about a subwoofer-satellite speaker package. A well-designed subwoofer should complement the satellites, making them sound much larger than they are while adding deep, low bass reinforcement. The SCS145.5’s eight-inch subwoofer has both strength and light weight, so it reproduces bass effortlessly and with maximum impact. Its 100-watt on-board amplifier delivers all the power that a subwoofer needs to get things really moving, while the level control allows you to customize the subwoofer’s performance to your taste. And since it uses a small enclosure, this subwoofer can fit easily into nearly any room.

The included wall brackets make perfect speaker placement easy

Quick and Easy Installation

Whether you’re doing it yourself or a professional is doing it for you, the SCS145.5 is easy to set up and wire. High-quality connections on the back of each speaker allow you to use high-performance speaker wire, while the powered subwoofer uses a line-level LFE (low-frequency effects) connection that attaches easily to today’s 5.1- and 7.1-channel surround-sound receivers. The LFE input even has an “audio sense” circuit to turn itself off automatically when you’re not using it. The included wall brackets allow full horizontal rotation, so you can precisely lock in the best speaker placement.

What's in the Box
Four SCS145.5 satellite speakers, one SCS145.5 center channel speaker, one SCS145.5 subwoofer, brackets for all five speakers, and speaker wire

Product Description

SINGAPORE, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- PayPal and comGateway today announced the Asia Pacific launch of HopShopGo that enables consumers to conveniently shop, buy and ship from over 300,000 U.S. online retailers at the touch of a keyboard and a click of a mouse. HopShopGo is now open for business across the region - in particular for shopping-happy consumers in Australia, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia - at http://www.hopshopgo.com . All consumers need to get started is a PayPal account to enjoy the benefits of this exclusive e-destination from today onwards.

HopShopGo is a one-stop online shopping site that takes care of consumers' payment and shipping needs, typically the two biggest barriers for online and overseas shopping. PayPal has teamed up with comGateway to provide a faster, safer online payment experience, while enabling consumers to find and snap up bargains and bestsellers from U.S. retailers, even those who do not ship to Asia Pacific or accept purchases outside of the U.S. What really makes HopShopGo truly special is a Buyer Protection policy* plus 10% lower shipping fees when shoppers pay via PayPal.

According to the Asia Digital Marketing Association (ADMA) 2010 Report, 39% of online shoppers across the region say they buy from overseas websites with the top reasons for online shopping include: convenience of being able to shop anytime; compare prices to get better deals; and finding and comparing products.

With HopShopGo, consumers across Asia Pacific can now easily get their hands on well-known U.S. brands for fashion, electronics, health & wellness, homeware and more, such as:

-- Fashion: Neiman Marcus, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue

-- Electronics: RitzCamera, NewEgg, BestBuy

-- Health & Wellness: MacCosmetics, Drugstore, Bath and Body Works

-- Homeware: OverStock, Costco, Williams-Sonoma

"Shopaholics no longer have to wait for the latest trends and items to hit their shores as HopShopGo provides easy access to the most famous brands and products in the U.S. With our Buyer Protection policy, consumers will have greater confidence shopping on HopShopGo knowing that they can get a full refund for the eligible items they purchased from the U.S. but did not receive," said Nimish Dwivedi, Regional Marketing Head, PayPal Asia Pacific.

"Cross-border shopping is on the rise, as consumers are increasingly exposed to international fashion, cultural and technology products. So PayPal and comGateway have made shopping from the U.S. easier by allowing consumers to sign up at HopShopGo with their PayPal account. On top of the savings from shopping online over physical stores, users can benefit from many other exclusive discounts on HopShopGo," said Wee Yirong, Business Development Director, comGateway.

Online shopping experience with better consumer protection and more savings

When shopping on HopShopGo with their PayPal account, consumers will enjoy these benefits:

-- Faster shopping with express checkout: They do not have to

enter their financial details every time they buy an item.

-- Greater confidence with Buyer Protection Policy: They will

get a full refund if they do not receive the eligible items

that they ordered.

-- Lower shipping fees for greater savings: They will enjoy a

further 10% shipping discount.

-- More security through online financial privacy: Their financial

information is not shared with merchants.

"Online shopping allows me to find and buy items that can only be found overseas, like the latest items from ThinkGeek.com. I also get to enjoy better deals, especially when international sales are on and now when the Singapore dollar is strong," said Jerry Loi, 26, IT executive from Singapore. "With HopShopGo, I now can shop, pay and ship more easily and with bigger savings, while I can relax with greater peace of mind as my financial details and purchases are protected by PayPal."

So how does it work?

For those who are new to overseas online shopping, HopShopGo is convenient to use. You can simply:

1. Hop online (http://www.hopshopgo.com )

2. Shop and select their must-have items from a wide range of

U.S. retailers

3. Go straight to checkout using PayPal's safer, more secure

online payment system

Shopping with confidence and ease on HopShopGo is assured as customers are able to take advantage of a variety of services adding to this unique shopping experience:

-- Use the BuyForMe service in case your preferred payment

method is not accepted by a retailer. HopShopGo will simply

buy the product on the shopper's behalf providing unlimited

access to sites.

-- A ShipforMe service is also offered on HopShopGo, overcoming

international shipping restrictions to Asia Pacific and arranging

delivery of your items to your door for stores that don't offer

international delivery.

Launch Promotions

Celebrating this launch, consumers shopping on HopShopGo will get to enjoy:

-- First 2kg international shipping waiver*: For the first 3,000

registered users of HopShopGo who make a purchase with PayPal

before September 30, 2010.

-- Prime Membership for the first three months*: Consumers will be

entitled to a discount of up to 15% on shipping charges, 30%

reduction on service fee, longer free storage period and more!

* Terms and conditions apply.

About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send payments without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts (where available), credit cards and other methods. With more than 87 million active accounts in 190 markets and 24 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global e-commerce. The company's open payment platform, PayPal X, allows developers to build innovative payment applications on multiple platforms and devices. More information about the company can be found at https://www.paypal.com.sg .

PayPal is headquartered in San Jose, California and its international headquarters is located in Singapore.

About comGateway

comGateway was established in 2000 with its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. comGateway offers online shopping services that enable customers globally to shop from US websites, including those stores that do not ship internationally or accept credit cards issued outside the U.S. The company offers several products that partner with reputable banks and payment companies such as Visa and American Express. It also partners DHL, as its official logistics partner. comGateway's US operation is in Portland Oregon and it also operates commercially in more than 200 countries.

For more information on HopShopGo, PayPal and comGateway, please contact:

Dickson Seow

PayPal Asia Pacific

Email: dseow@paypal.com

Tel: +65-6510-6463

Jolin Tan / Jeremy Seow

Text 100 Public Relations (for PayPal)

Email: paypalteam@text100.com

Tel: +65-6603-9000

Wee Yirong

comGateway

Email: yirong.wee@comgateway.com

Tel: +65-6289-8993

SOURCE PayPal; comGateway

June has been one of the most amazing months of my life. My wife gave birth to our second child in the middle of June. I took time off from my busy schedule to spend the whole month with my wife and to witness the birth of my newborn daughter, as well as to spend time with my family.

It’s times like these that I count myself fortunate to be able to enjoy time off with my family. To me, this is what really counts. Although I still have to work, my time is very flexible and it is only because we made a wise decision three years ago to invest into real estate. Both real estate and business has given me the opportunity to spend more time with my loved ones.

We are fortunate to live in an age where modern medicine makes childbirth a relatively safe and routine event. However, it can be quite a burden to see how much the medical bills can amount to these days. A decent birth in a private hospital is easily a four-figure or five-figure event. Looking into the future, with an additional member in my family, expenses will definitely go up. According to several studies in the United States, the cost of education for a dual income family per child until the age of 18 will be approximately USD250,000 in total (reference: http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/family/kids/tlkidscost.asp) This would be chalk up to almost RM1,000,000 per child!

A friend once warned me that the aftershock will arrive 20 years later, when it’s time to enrol the kids for higher education. Parents would normally want to provide the best education for their children. Depending on where you intend to send them, you should allocate anything from RM200,000 to RM500,000 per person for their education.

Important questions
As a parent, here are a couple of questions that you should ask yourself.

a) What is a good guarantee that you’ll be able to provide fundamental/ basic higher education to your child without breaking the bank?

b) How can you hedge against inflation, and ensure that you’ve sufficient savings, should the cost of education double in the next 20 years? (It’s very likely!)

c) How can you provide for your children’s higher education expenses for just a fraction of the cost… say only 10%?!

The answer is simple. Yup! You’ve guessed it. Get yourself an investment property or more.

Securing your children’s educational future
To ensure your children’s financial security, you should invest into a property when your child is born. That is one of the safest and cheapest ways of securing your child’s education fund.

Allow me to illustrate this in an example.Peg your estimated education fund to a property. For example, you need RM200,000 for your child’s education in 20 years’ time. You immediately invest in the following:

• Purchase property: RM250,000 (Property value to be 25% more than total education value, just to be safe)

• Down payment: RM25,000

• Assume fixed interest of 6% for entire tenure of 25 years

• Assume minimal appreciation of 1% per annum

Green line = Property capital appreciation Red line = Loan reduction with time

Looking at the illustration above, at year 20, you could easily sell the property and make a net profit of RM230,063. Alternatively, you could keep the property and still get money by refinancing the loan. If you refinance the property at 90%, you could still cash out RM199,558.20

Regardless of the strategy used, the property could easily provide a good education fund for your child. All you need to do it to manage the property and consistently get tenants for your investment unit. Tenants will rent your unit, which in turn will pay for your loan’s installments, hence indirectly sponsoring your child’s education.

Repeat the steps
If you do it right, you can repeat the same formula for your children’s education fund and also create your retirement nest egg and so forth. I’ve made it a habit to invest in a property for each of my child, when they were born. Perhaps I’ll even extend it to invest one property for each of their birthdays!

Why not?
In my next article, I’ll highlight the typical mistakes that new investors make when buying properties. Until then, happy investing!

Juanita Chin is one gutsy lady. Her property investment journey with her husband began in year 2003 and today, they own 13 properties in Penang worth approximately RM5.6 million. 12 of those properties were purchased from developers.

How do these numbers make her gutsy you ask? They don’t, but the following figures do; when she started, she was a bank teller earning RM400 and she had two young children. She had the courage to take action and the story of her journey towards financial freedom is as inspiring as it is heartwarming.

In a recent two-day property investment course titled Breaking the code: Discover the secrets of buying from property developers in Malaysia, Chin partnered with fellow property millionaire and close friend Michael Tan. This is not their first collaboration and certainly, will not be their last.

The first day – information download by Chin
Even before looking at new residential developments by developers, there are many things that each investor must do and ask oneself.

• Research: Spend 80% of your time on research before placing any deposit. Make sure that the price per square foot and location is right. Chin shared, “There was an expo overseas and most of the buyers bought a property that was in the jungle, with beautiful scenery and all that. But these investors were not aware that the development would be 100km from the nearest town! By asking the right question(s), these investors would not have been stuck with their purchase.”

Energetic: Michael Tan “warming up” the crowd

If one does not conduct the necessary research, one could be stuck with a property that has depreciated from RM100,000 to RM50,000 and be stuck with the property after seven years (and counting!). That is another example that Chin shared. The unfortunate investor told her, “I should’ve invested in seminars. What is a few thousand (to spend on seminars), to save a RM50,000 mistake!”

• Set your goals: You need to know whether you are going purchasing to keep (for rental returns) or flip (buy-to-sell upon capital appreciation). It is also important to figure out who the target tenants or buyers are once the project is completed as that affects your goals. Ask yourself, “Would a restaurant or grocery store want to do business here?”, because future tenants or buyers will ask such questions.

• Set your budget: Decide on your property portfolio, whether it would be less than RM500,000 or RM100,000 and so on. For a newbie, it is advisable to begin with a smaller budget.

• Set your target location: Don’t run all over the place. Instead, be an expert in a particular area and keep farming (investing) in that area.

• Pick type of developer: Would it be residential, commercial or industrial?

Once you have figured all that out, then you should analyse the developer. To evaluate, you need to find out these key information - track record, financial strength, reputation, past projects (completed / abandoned), end-financiers, workmanship, license approval and the individuals behind the project.

Chin also cautioned that it is important to find out if a developer has been blacklisted by the Ministry of Housing and Local Development. As reported by The Star on March 23, 2010, a total of 1,345 housing developers were blacklisted from carrying out projects the previous year. As at March 5 this year, a total of 1,120 developers were blacklisted and the highest number of blacklisted developers were from Selangor, followed by Kuala Lumpur and Johor.

To help residential property investors select the right project, Chin shared a list of positive and negative indicators.

The second day – field trip
On the first half of the day, all participants were ferried to two upcoming residential projects. They had to evaluate these projects based on the first day’s learning and decide which project (of the two) that they would purchase.

The second half of the day was a sharing session with two property investors – Prudence Wong and Nancy Ng, who are of course, property millionaires themselves. In fact, they are so successful that they are currently collaborating on a commercial project in Shah Alam. Both have attended many workshops and courses (property and non-property related) before finding their Midas touch in property investment. They actually met through an Internet course eight years ago.

Passionate about property: Juanita explaning the “property analysis” exercise to attentive participants

Read the interview with driven property investor-turned-developer Prudence Wong next week and find out about her property investment journey and retail-cum-business suite project, The Qube.

Nancy Ng is the sales project director for The Qube. She began investing since year 2003 and has attained more than 15 properties within six years. This comical and cheerful Ng shared the following with regards to financing.

• Pay your taxes

• Refinance some of your paid properties or properties that have increased in value

• Be a member of banks’ priority or privilege clubs

• Pay all your loans on time

• Establish good working relationships with your bankers, lawyers and property agents

• Look out for discounts and promotions such as 5/95 (5% down payment / 95% financing from bank), 10/90 or 20/80 from developers

If you are new to property investment, she advised to take baby steps and invest in yourself by attending property seminars (or attend to get the latest updates if you are not a novice investor).

The mindset of a property millionaire

19 properties in Malaysia. 1 property in Singapore. Properties worth more than RM22 million. Five-figure positive cash flow. Those figures belong to Milan Doshi, a property and stock investment guru who have made his millions over a course of more than 20 years. In his recent Property Intensive workshop, Doshi posted an interesting question, “Which would you rather be? A debt-free beggar or a financially free billionaire?”

Milan Doshi sharing the importance of changing one's mindset

For most people, the answer would be the latter but they might be doing the opposite, which is to earn as much as possible to pay off debts. Doshi highlighted that the old school of thinking is to not borrow money or borrow as little as possible and return it soonest possible. His thinking is, “The more you borrow, the richer you get.”

He also advises investors to analyse the advisor before analysing the advice. For example, one might make the mistake of taking financial advice from people who sell investment products rather from successful investors. He also said that it is likened to getting advice from university professors who might not have personally put the theories they teach to the test in the real life situations.

He also said not to be deceived by looks as some people who are poorly dressed are rich and vice versa, which explains why Doshi was simply dressed in a t-shirt and pants.

These are some highlights from a handout that Doshi shared in his property intensive preview.

• Have a firm idea on your financial goals. Otherwise, you won’t know which direction to head to. Some examples of financial goals include knowing the number of properties to invest in, your desired passive income, investment strategies you want to apply, and so on.

• Individuals who are less than 35 years old should focus on maximising their earning potential as they are at the prime of earning age.

• Invest in low-risk commercial properties that give high returns of over 8% per annum, with low entry costs.

• For beginners, it’s advisable to start investing in apartments of condominiums as it’s easy to achieve zero or positive cash flow every month, as compared to landed house.

• When you get married, you buy a dream home right away. Instead, it makes more sense to buy an investment property and rent a home for the first 10 to 15 years of your married life.

• Instead of buying costly high-end residential properties, you could invest in commercial properties that give the best of both rental returns and capital appreciation.

• It’s always worthwhile to pay a premium and buy the best properties in great locations.

• Savvy investors creatively buy one property a rear or even one every few months with little or no-money-down.

• Most people’s financial goal is to retire debt-free at age 65. Smart investors aim to retire at age 45 or earlier, by accumulating good debts of at least RM3 million via property investments.

• You focus on hitting a certain net worth instead of generating passive income. For example, when you retire debt-free, you must have RM1.8 million in fixed deposit at 2% per annum in order to get RM3,000 per month. Instead, one might be able to get the same amount of passive income by investing RM500,000 in properties.

Upcoming property investment talk/workshop by Doshi
1. One-day Real Estate Investment Congress
Doshi will be conducting the one-day Real Estate Investment Congress on June 27, 2010 in Penang and July 4, 2010 in Kuala Lumpur. Two of Doshi’s past students – Nancy Ng and Prudence Wong – will be sharing their success stories. Both are property millionaires with more than RM10 million in loans and earning a five-figure passive income from rentals each. Participants may e-mail questions to the speakers before the event and the speakers will select the questions to be answered.

• Click here or call 019-572 8898 / 017-966 6178 to sign up for Doshi’s one-day Real Estate Investment Congress.

2. Three-day property investment programme
For the three-day property investment programme, Doshi said in a previous interview, “I actually spend one whole day on personal money management because a lot of people are managing their money wrongly. They are not going to optimise or get the best out of properties.

“The first day is on money management and the second day is on property investment. The third day is spent on property negotiation and I also talk about stock market for about two hours. For the stock market, I teach three basic "no-brainer" strategies. Because of increased volatility today, the stock market will give you, at a minimum, two to three opportunities per year, where you can make 10 to 15% in six months or less. So why not learn it? And all you need is plain common sense. We also spend the last two hours on case studies based on three volunteers from the workshop.”