Owning your own property is one of life’s secret goals, but owning your own home outright is something many of us might never achieve, no matter how hard we try.
But as anyone will tell you, paying off your mortgage as fast and as early as you can, is one of the best financial decisions you might ever make. Easier said than done, I hear you say. And you’d be right.
Paying off your mortgage early means that your monthly outgoings are decreased dramatically so that you could direct that money towards something else such as helping your children, or grandchildren through University. Or it could free up finances so that you could take the trip of a lifetime, or indeed, several trips of a lifetime!
But whilst in real life, the buying and selling of property, and the financial implications of profit, loss, and outright ownership are all something that needs very serious thought, online there is also a lighter side to property ‘ownership’, particularly for children. Yes from an early age, they can enjoy online games with a financial spin to them, helping them to understand money, and the way it works, a little better.
One of the online financial games I particularly like is Play Real Estate Tycoon Game
The aim of the game is to buy property at a low value and watch as the value goes up, or down, and to sell at the right moment to make a profit. It’s a game of speed combined with making the right decisions at the right time.
As the properties appear on the screen, they are spread easily and evenly in straight lines. As the game progresses, buildings come into play more quickly, and the values go up and down multiple times. The key is to watch and click quickly when you want to buy or sell to make the quickest profit.
But it captures attention and keeps you focused as the profit score goes up, or down.
The mission score shows your goal, which in my game was $1000, and there is always a timer to beat. The balance score is just that, how much you have made in profit/loss.
I learned that as more and more buildings appear, it was best to focus on just a few big buildings rather than trying to keep up with the cheaper smaller ones. But you need quick reactions!
You can see that the blue bars above represent the values going up and down. I wasn’t very good at first, and it took me some time to make a profit of just $18, I had a long way to go to reach $1000.
The game has 3 modes, and I started in Career Mode as I’m a complete novice. As the game gets more competitive and you have got the complete hang of it, you can move to Time Trial Mode, to challenge yourself within a time limit. If you just want to have some fun, then Endless Mode is the one for you, with no time limits or earnings goals.
I love the idea of online games not only as a fun distraction, for both children and adults alike, this one has the added benefit of encouraging players of all ages to react quickly, to identify risk, and to take chances all whilst playing a game.
Who would have thought that a site that primarily offers mortgage guidance and advice on calculating repayments and budgeting in real life, would also offer, fun, educational online games as well?