Scary headlines and scarier statistics tell the story of a financial crisis on a scale not seen in decadesâcertainly not within the lifetime of most Americans. Moreover, this is a worldwide financial crisis. Financial institutions on both sides of the Atlantic have either collapsed or have been saved from collapse by government bailouts, as a result of buying securities based on American housing values that eroded or evaporated.
Now completely revised in paperback, The Housing Boom and Bust is designed to unravel the tangled threads of that story. It also attempts to determine whether what is being done to deal with the problem is more likely to make things better or worse.
About this product: Now updated â America's #1 bestselling home-buying book!
Want to buy a house, but concerned about the market? Have no fear â this trusted guide arms you with Eric Tyson and Ray Brown's time-tested advice and updated strategies for buying a home in current market conditions. You'll discover how to find the right property, make smart financial decisions, and understand the latest lending requirements and tax implications.
New to this edition â new and expanded coverage to help homebuyers take advantage of low home prices, understand the subprime mortgage crisis, obtain a mortgage, and improve credit scores
To buy or not to buy? â weigh the advantages of owning versus renting, get your finances in order, and know how much house you can safely afford
Handle financing â understand your credit rating, navigate the different types of mortgages, and complete all paperwork
Play the real estate game â find the right location and property, assemble an all-star real estate team, and make the most of the Internet's real estate resources
Let's make a deal â negotiate with finesse, make successful offers, inspect and protect your new home, and cover all your bases in escrow
"Invaluable information, especially for the first-time home buyer." âFort Worth Star-Telegram
"A reference you'll turn to time after time." âSt. Petersburg Times
Open the book and find:
Reasons why home prices rise and fall
Hands-on instruction for buying a home in up or down markets
How to pay the price you want
The best mortgage options
A sample home-buying contract
Pros and cons of comparable market analysis
Tips for overcoming mortgage and appraisal problems
"Steve Bergsman provides his readers with one of the most comprehensive, yet concise overviews of real estate and all its property types."âChristopher Macke, Vice President, GE Real Estate
"This is an extraordinary work of detailed research and compelling writing. I've never seen the subject presented in such a cogent and skillful manner."âPhil Hall, editor, Secondary Marketing Executive
"The way out of the financial crash of 2007/2008 will come through skilled operations, astute investing, and the ability of real estate practitioners to give up their mental memory of the future! The heated success of ten-year, unprecedented growth in the real estate industry has somehow atrophied the industry's application of knowledge. What we need is a fresh look at opportunities and strategies for real estate investing. We are lucky that Bergsman's book has fit the billâjust in time."âJack M. Cohen, CEO, Cohen Financial
"Insightful and informative; connects all the dots, providing the basis and foundation for making strategic decisions about real estate."âStephen Blank, Senior Fellow, Finance, The Urban Land Institute
Referred to as the "Grand Prix of epidemiology" by The New York Times, this study examines more than 350 variables of health and nutrition with surveys from 6,500 adults in more than 2,500 counties across China and Taiwan, and conclusively demonstrates the link between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. While revealing that proper nutrition can have a dramatic effect on reducing and reversing these ailments as well as curbing obesity, this text calls into question the practices of many of the current dietary programs, such as the Atkins diet, that are widely popular in the West. The politics of nutrition and the impact of special interest groups in the creation and dissemination of public information are also discussed.
About this product: John Meriwether, a famously successful Wall Street trader, spent the 1980s as a partner at Salomon Brothers, establishing the best--and the brainiest--bond arbitrage group in the world. A mysterious and shy midwesterner, he knitted together a group of Ph.D.-certified arbitrageurs who rewarded him with filial devotion and fabulous profits. Then, in 1991, in the wake of a scandal involving one of his traders, Meriwether abruptly resigned. For two years, his fiercely loyal team--convinced that the chief had been unfairly victimized--plotted their boss's return. Then, in 1993, Meriwether made a historic offer. He gathered together his former disciples and a handful of supereconomists from academia and proposed that they become partners in a new hedge fund different from any Wall Street had ever seen. And so Long-Term Capital Management was born. In a decade that had seen the longest and most rewarding bull market in history, hedge funds were the ne plus ultra of investments: discreet, private clubs limited to those rich enough to pony up millions. They promised that the investors' money would be placed in a variety of trades simultaneously--a "hedging" strategy designed to minimize the possibility of loss. At Long-Term, Meriwether & Co. truly believed that their finely tuned computer models had tamed the genie of risk, and would allow them to bet on the future with near mathematical certainty. And thanks to their cast--which included a pair of future Nobel Prize winners--investors believed them. From the moment Long-Term opened their offices in posh Greenwich, Connecticut, miles from the pandemonium of Wall Street, it was clear that this would be a hedge fund apart from all others. Though they viewed the big Wall Street investment banks with disdain, so great was Long-Term's aura that these very banks lined up to provide the firm with financing, and on the very sweetest of terms. So self-certain were Long-Term's traders that they borrowed with little concern about the leverage. At first, Long-Term's models stayed on script, and this new gold standard in hedge funds boasted such incredible returns that private investors and even central banks clamored to invest more money. It seemed the geniuses in Greenwich couldn't lose. Four years later, when a default in Russia set off a global storm that Long-Term's models hadn't anticipated, its supposedly safe portfolios imploded. In five weeks, the professors went from mega-rich geniuses to discredited failures. With the firm about to go under, its staggering $100 billion balance sheet threatened to drag down markets around the world. At the eleventh hour, fearing that the financial system of the world was in peril, the Federal Reserve Bank hastily summoned Wall Street's leading banks to underwrite a bailout. Roger Lowenstein, the bestselling author of Buffett, captures Long-Term's roller-coaster ride in gripping detail. Drawing on confidential internal memos and interviews with dozens of key players, Lowenstein crafts a story that reads like a first-rate thriller from beginning to end. He explains not just how the fund made and lost its money, but what it was about the personalities of Long-Term's partners, the arrogance of their mathematical certainties, and the late-nineties culture of Wall Street that made it all possible. When Genius Failed is the cautionary financial tale of our time, the gripping saga of what happened when an elite group of investors believed they could actually deconstruct risk and use virtually limitless leverage to create limitless wealth. In Roger Lowenstein's hands, it is a brilliant tale peppered with fast money, vivid characters, and high drama.
About this product: Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal lifeâfrom six weeks to four months to two yearsâto discover and experience the world on your own terms. Veteran shoestring traveler Rolf Potts shows how anyone armed with an independent spirit can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel. Potts gives the necessary information on:
⢠financing your travel time ⢠determining your destination ⢠adjusting to life on the road ⢠working and volunteering overseas ⢠handling travel adversity ⢠re-assimilating back into ordinary life
Not just a plan of action, vagabonding is an outlook on life that emphasizes creativity, discovery, and the growth of the spirit.
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