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Greater Fool: The Troubled Future of Real Estate
 
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Greater Fool: The Troubled Future of Real Estate [Paperback]

Garth Turner (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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A young couple in Toronto starts house-hunting with a $450,000 budget and ends up with a $700,000 home, after losing fifteen bidding wars. In Vancouver the average bungalow soars past $900,000. In Saskatoon, house values rock higher 56 per cent in one year.

At the same time, real estate values in the US plunge for the first time since the Great Depression. Millions of families are forced out of their homes. Canadians are told it can?t happen here, while first-time buyers outside Toronto sign up for monster houses with virtually no down payment and 40-year mortgages for 98 per cent of the cost.

When the average family can no longer afford the average home, how can so many people be deluded into believing a boom will last forever?when none has before? How could we have put so much money into something we might never be able to sell, except to a greater fool?

Truth is, homeowners and homebuyers have been seduced by a cabal made up of real estate marketers, builders, lenders and bankers, along with a pliant media, to buy, buy, buy. Canada has its own, hidden debt crisis just as dire as the subprime mortgage fiasco, and the same self-dealing industry tactics have led us to put more than 80 per cent of our net worth into a single asset, ignoring the obvious threats and repeating the disastrous mistakes of others.

Are we next? Yes.

About the Author

GARTH TURNER is a former Member of Parliament and a bestselling author, syndicated columnist, business editor and radio and TV personality. His books include Greater Fool: The Troubled Future of Real Estate; 2015: After the Boom, The Strategy, The Defence and 2020: New Rules for the New Age. Currently he is heard in person by more than a hundred thousand Canadians at 700 lectures and seminars across the country.

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Garth spoils the party again..., Nov 11 2008
By 
Eric (Richmond, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Greater Fool: The Troubled Future of Real Estate (Paperback)
Just finished Garth's book.

It is a must-have if you are either about to invest in real estate or if you have been led to believe that us (good Canadians) won't go through what happened in the US real estate market.

As it often happens, Garth has to guts to speak up (a rare quality.) In this case, he will tell you why the real estate party is pretty much over, despite what some real estate promoters are trying to make you believe.

The book is well written, never boring and contains some good jokes whether they were all intended or not. Bottom line: a solid read.

Give yourself a deeper perspective before to sign that mortgage and buy this book. Maybe you will still go ahead but you won't be as easy to fleece as you might have been before reading this book.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A very graphic warning, Sep 11 2009
By 
Ian Gordon Malcomson (Victoria, BC) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME)    (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Greater Fool: The Troubled Future of Real Estate (Paperback)
Garth Turner, a very respected financier and market investor, has released a very helpful little book on the future of the Canadian real estate market. I enjoyed his analysis of what he believes to be inherently wrong with the present Canadian housing market, though some of it might have been slightly overdone with a welter of examples from the American real estate scene. According to Turner, who is cautiously invested in the Toronto housing market, Canadians homeowners are seriously overexposed in home mortgages. Too many of us have got our futures invested in our houses, which makes us very vulnerable to serious market downturns stemming from deflationary collapses. The greatest tragedy in this scenario is that the banks and the realty profession have purposely hyped the market to new heights in order to drive profits at the expense of affordability. Just because we are not living in the US where the housing market has been rocked by subprime mortgages doesn't mean we're immune from any significant reversals of our own. In fact, according to Turner, we are just as hopelessly lost in controlling our futures as our cousins to the south because we have little or no savings to fall back on when housing prices suddenly correct and mortgage rates increase. In short, Turner suggests to his readers a cautious approach when it comes to speculation or outright ownership in the Canadian housing scene: stay away unless you can afford to absorb the reversals.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars All Canadians should read this before they buy a home, Aug 7 2009
By 
P. Harling "Walrus" (Maple Ridge, BC Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Greater Fool: The Troubled Future of Real Estate (Paperback)
A good reality check for any Canadians planning to take out a home mortgage in the near future. I read it cover to cover in 2 days, I couldn't put it down. Easy to follow and he backs up his predictions and warnings with compelling evidence. I watched my parents fall into a very similar trap in the early 80's and they paid dearly for over 10 years. If you know any young (or forgetful) people thinking of mortgaging themselves down to their underwear to buy a starter mansion, do them a huge favor and give them this book. At least you'll be able to say "told you so".
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