From Publishers Weekly
Positing that "the longer-lived an economic expansion, the deeper the resulting recession," Rubino (Main Street, Not Wall Street) argues that the housing bubble, like other investments, will soon pop. He explains that as stock prices fell in 2001, housing became the safe bet for American investors; but the very factors (i.e., low interest rates) that helped the housing boom will soon change directions. In such chapters as "Bubbles: Past, Present, Future, Foreign," Rubino lays out the last century's history of real estate ups and downs, both throughout the U.S. and in other countries. From here, with handy graphs and charts, he sets out a clear course for homeowners and investors to plan for the future. His solution? He recommends "shifting into reverse, financially speaking, and doing the opposite of what worked in the in 1990s." One way to effect such a reversal is, basically, to convert riskier investments into "cash" (e.g., money markets, bank CDs, and Treasury notes). While Rubino paints a worrisome picture of the future, he does offer readers useful tools and solid plans for preparing for it.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Inside Flap
How to Profit from the Coming Real Estate Bust
Money-Making Strategies for the End of the Housing Bubble
The housing bubble is about to burst. Are you ready?
While the rest of the economy teeters on the edge of recession, home sales are booming and home prices are surging. Can this continue?
Not a chance. The housing market is hot because Americans-- apparently convinced that the good times will never end-- are borrowing record amounts of money to buy ever-larger homes. And we've learned to treat our existing homes like piggy banks, borrowing against our home equity to maintain our lifestyles. This boosts the economy but causes us to incur debts that will soon force us to stop spending. The result will be a deep recession, complete with declining home prices and a collapse in the value of housing-related stocks.
And that's the optimistic scenario! With mortgage, corporate, and government debt soaring, the bursting of the housing bubble might set off a chain reaction that wreaks 1930s-style havoc on stocks, the dollar, and real estate.
In clear, easy-to-understand terms, this book shows how real estate has become the latest in a long line of financial bubbles, how the bubble is likely to burst, and how you can both protect yourself and make money as the drama unfolds. You'll also learn:
* Why all "cash" is not equally safe
* Why gold will soar as the dollar falls
* Which stocks will be casualties of the housing bust, and how to profit from their collapse
* How to ensure against-- and even profit from-- a decline in the value of your home
Whether you're worried about the value of your home, your stock portfolio, or your bank account, you'll find answers here. You can't stop what's coming, but you can turn it to your advantage.
From the Back Cover
"The trends that produced the housing boom-- falling interest rates, soaring mortgage debt, and plunging levels of home equity-- have nearly run their course. This virtually guarantees a real estate showdown and makes a crash-- complete with plummeting home prices and mass foreclosures-- quite possible. And because housing is the only thing other than the federal deficit that's propping up the overall economy, a broader slowdown may also be in the cards. So, the question today is not just whether home prices in Boston and San Francisco will fall by 30 percent over the next few years (though if you live there, that's enough to worry about), but whether the bursting of the housing bubble will deflate the rest of the economy."
--From the introduction of How to Profit from the Coming Real Estate Bust
You might be foreclosing on your future and not even know it!
In How to Profit from the Coming Real Estate Bust, you'll find out:
* How to tell if your home is wildly overvalued, and what to do about it (page 215)
* Why your property tax bill is probably too high, and how to lower it (page 239)
* How today's inflated real estate prices can make estate planning easier (page 235)
Millions of Americans have their children's college education and their retirement-- their future-- tied up in their homes. You might be one of them. When the housing bubble pops, it will vaporize billions of dollars of hard-earned savings just as it wipes out plenty of easy money. Two of America's biggest public corporations might default. The stakes are high. Learn how to protect yourself-- and even profit-- from the coming crash.
About the Author
John Rubino spent the 1980s as a Wall Street financial analyst and since 1990 has been a regular contributor to TheStreet.com, Individual Investor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Ziff Davis Smart Business, Consumer's Digest, On Investing, and many others. His first book, Main Street, Not Wall Street, was published by William Morrow in 1998. He is currently at work on a book about gold.
