Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?: The Boom Will Not Bust and Why Property Values Will Continue to Climb Through the End of the Decade - And How to Profit From Them [Hardcover]

David Lereah (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 22, 2005

Are you missing the real estate boom? Can you increase your wealth from it? For most people—including current homeowners—the answer is a resounding yes.

But it’s not too late to increase your stake in the greatest real estate boom of our generation. Whether you are a first-time buyer or already own your home, Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom? will show you how you can dramatically increase your overall wealth. Author David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, shows why the real estate market is poised to climb higher over the next decade—and explains what you can do to profit from it.

Lereah calls today’s market a “once-in-every-other generation opportunity.” Today's boom is not just driven by low interest rates—there are a host of demographic and economic reasons why real estate will continue to outpace other investments, from the growing needs of the baby-boomer generation and the rise of the “echo” boomer generation to the new ways real estate is marketed and sold.

Are you a first-time buyer? A current homeowner considering whether or not to trade up? There has never been a better time to do so, Lereah convincingly claims. In Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?, Lereah explains what to look for when you’re buying a home; which improvements add the most value to your current home; what to consider when purchasing rental properties; how to evaluate real estate investment trusts (or REITs); and the pros and cons of second homes. Full of detailed information on how to work with a real estate agent and a mortgage lender, how to analyze local markets and regional fluctuations, and how to best finance your investment, Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom? offers readers the seasoned advice they need to invest with confidence and reap outsized rewards.


Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom? author David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors®, asks. We are experiencing a historic wealth-building opportunity. To ensure that your don’t miss out, Lereah provides the tools, information, and analysis you need to become a savvy real estate investor. And he shows how to integrate real estate into your overall investment strategies and financial planning goals. Among the information you’ll find in the book:

• How to become a master at dealing with real estate agents, brokers, and lenders.
• Which home improvements will result in the greatest long-term gains.
• How to identify the vacation homes and regions that will increase the most in value.
• How to finance a first-time home—with or without a big down payment.

The long-term fundamentals for housing remain strong into the foreseeable future, claims Lereah. Far from a real estate “bubble,” what we are experiencing today is a phenomenon that takes place only once every other generation: a long-term real estate market expansion.

Isn’t it time you started taking advantage of it today?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

For most people, their home is their biggest investment. In 2000-2002, when stocks suffered and many businesses went under, the real estate market was a source of stability for the economy. A number of factors, including low interest rates, streamlined mortgage approval, and Internet listings, have helped to fuel the real estate boom in recent years. Although some economists believe that the real estate market may be headed for bubble territory, Lereah disagrees, arguing that continued low interest rates, a healthy boomer population, and the "boomer echo" of next-generation buyers should keep the market healthy for at least the next 10 years. But he says that in order to profit from this sector you should invest now. He offers tips on how to select a real estate agent, the ins and outs of mortgages, tax strategies, home improvements, investment properties, and vacation homes. Senior vice president and chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, he has written numerous articles on the subject. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“An invaluable book . . . Today’s real estate markets are booming and Lereah makes a convincing case for why the real estate expansion will continue into the next decade. This book should prove to be a truly practical guide for any household looking to create wealth in real estate.” —DEWEY DAANE, FORMER GOVERNOR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

“An important book, whether you agree with the author (as I do) that housing will remain an excellent investment or are convinced that home prices are poised for a plunge, David Lereah lays out a compelling vision of housing as a continuing positive investment—and how you can profit from real estate if you already own the home you live in, are looking to move from rental housing to an owner-occupied home, or want to use real estate as an investment.” —DAVID BERSON, CHIEF ECONOMIST, FANNIE MAE --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business; 1ST edition (February 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385514344
• ISBN-13: 978-0385514347
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

419 of 428 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Better title - "Join the Greater Fools of America Club" April 19, 2005

By NewYorkBuck

Format:Hardcover

For me, this was more comic relief than any scholarly analysis. The author has a vested interest in the bubble not bursting, and he's selling his soul with this book to prove it.

He spins webs of demographics and interest rates, but he never ever addresses the core issues that determine housing values. What is lost here is that housing in itself creates no value, its value is completely predicated upon peoples ability to pay for it. Ergo, housing prices for the last 100 years have tracked income remarkably closely, that is, except for the last five years. Historically, the ratio of housing price to annual income has been 2.1, with very little variation. In many parts of the country, this ratio is now approaching 10.5! Can you say "major correction?" Further, the amount of leverage used to buy homes during this boom has been increased to absolutely unprecidented levels. Even during the last boom of the late 80s/early 90s, the standard was still 30 yr fixed and 20% down. Not anymore. Last year, less than 15% of borrowers put down 20% or more! Further, the 30 yr fixed has been replaced by the IO, or interest only loan. See now, we have the same borrower capable of bidding 30-40% more for a propery without any better credit or ability to repay. Neat trick, but sadly, Lereah at no point addresses any of these fundamentals.

Our stock/housing pattern appears remarkably similar to the one Japan had 20 years ago. First the stock market busted. Right after, the real estate market rallied, and it busted too. The current Japanese real estate market is in a 14 year slide to date, and houses are going for roughly their 1980 value.

Keep talking Dave - we'll need the comic relief soon!

147 of 151 people found the following review helpful

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204 of 214 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars "He whose bread I eat is the song I sing" April 28, 2005

By Robert M. Campbell

Format:Hardcover

Go back in time to the year 2000 when the NASDAQ was trading at 5,000. Some people said it was a bubble and couldn't go on forever. Yet the temptation to go with the flow and make was seemed to be easy money was irresistible. Driven by the marketing efforts of those who make their living in the stock market, it was argued that prices would still go higher. If you bought into their line of reasoning, surely NASDAQ 10,000 was not too far away.

I was reminded of those times when I read David Lereah's book "Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom." Even after the biggest 5-year run-up in housing prices in U.S. history - where 40% of all homebuyers must now resort to interest-only adjustable rate mortgages in order to qualify for home financing - Lereah tries to convince us that the U.S. real estate market should continue to stay healthy for the next 10 years.

His arguement goes something like this: Even though housing prices are high, the combination of low interest rates, 80 million wealthy baby boomers and their offspring ("echo boomers") will continue to fuel demand. This is not objective, unbiased advice. As head cheerleader for the Realtor hallelujah choir, Lereah is using the same tactics that have been well-honed on Wall Street: "When the ducks are quackin', feed 'em."

I don't remember what Lereah was saying about U.S. housing prices in 1998 or 1999 when prices were 30% lower than they are today (and 75% lower in many of the highly populated coastal regions), but I think its safe to say he wasn't forecasting a coming real estate boom that would last for the next 15 years.

The key to making money in real estate - and keeping it - is to get aboard a rising real estate trend early, not late. While it is true that real estate is a good long-term investment, what Lereah ignores is the cycle nature of real estate. In other words, if you buy an overvalued house late in the market cycle - and you are over leveraged and illiquid like most Americans are today - you may not be around for the long-term.

Robert Campbell

Author of "Timing the Real Estate Market"