From the publisher
David Bach is the author of Start Late, Finish Rich, which debuted on the New York Times Advice bestseller list, the Wall Street Journal business bestseller list, and the USA Today business bestseller list. He is also the author of the runaway bestseller The Automatic Millionaire, which spent fourteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and was simultaneously number one on the New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, and Wall Street Journal business bestsellers lists. He is also the author of the national bestsellers Smart Women Finish Rich, Smart Couples Finish Rich, and The Finish Rich Workbook. Bach has appeared twice on The Oprah Winfrey Show to share his strategies for living and finishing rich, and he is a regular contributor to CNN’s American Morning. His FinishRich seminars are the leading financial seminars in North American, having been taught by thousands of financial advisors to more than half a million people in more than 2,000 cities. He lives in New York with his wife, Michelle, and his son, Jack.
Details
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Title
The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner, Canadian Edition: A Powerful Plan to Finish Rich in Real Estate
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Author
David Bach
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Binding
Hardback
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Edition
Canadian Edition
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Language
EN
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Publisher
Doubleday Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Date
2006-03-07
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ISBN
9780385661744
Excerpt
Introduction
What if I told you the smartest investment you would ever make during your lifetime would be a home?
What if I told you that the way in which you buy your homes over the course of your lifetime would determine whether you ever become rich?
What if I told you that in just an hour or two I could share with you a simple system that would help you become rich through homeownership?
What if I told you that this system was called the Automatic Millionaire Homeowner–and that if you spent an hour or two with me, you could learn how to become one?
Would you be interested? Would you be willing to spend a few hours with me? Would you like to become an Automatic Millionaire Homeowner?
–David Bach
CANADIANS ARE STAYING CLOSER TO HOME!
Over the last few years, something radical happened to the way Canadians think about money and investing – something so radical that it may have forever changed the way we live our lives and plan for our futures. What happened is that a lot of people got fed up with the stock market.
The reason for this change of heart was simple. Between August 2000 and September 2002, Canadian stocks experienced their worst decline since the Depression in 1929—1932. After a bull market that began in 1998, Canadian stocks lost 43% of their value between the summer of 2000 and the Fall of 2002. To say the least, it was one brutal meltdown. Even though the Canadian stock market in general and technology stocks in particular bounced back by 2004, the effects of the meltdown linger to this day.
For many families – maybe yours was one of them – this market “correction” (which is what the experts called it) was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Canadians simply decided that enough was enough. They were taking their stock market “chips” and going home – literally and figuratively.
Instead of keeping their money in stocks, many Canadians started investing in real estate – mainly in homes, home improvements, and second homes. This simple change has led to a boom in real estate and homeownership the likes of which we’ve seldom seen before. It’s an exciting time to be building wealth in Canada, but it’s also a frightening time because Canadians now have so much of their wealth tied up in their homes–about $1.6 trillion in equity, according to Statistics Canada, or about 77% of non-financial assets. According to a report from Scotiabank, the value of real estate assets in Canada rose by 27% between 2002 and 2005, more than double the 13% increase in household financial assets. Home equity now accounts for 36% of the average net worth of homeowner households in Canada, up from 29% in 2000.
And many people are wondering – maybe you’re one of them – whether this is a safe place to be.
SMART HOMEOWNERS ARE FINISHING RICH – HOW ABOUT YOU?
Between 1997 and 2005, the average Canadian homeowner saw the value of his house jump by almost 50%. Since 1980, according to The Canadian Real Estatxe Association, the average Canadian home has increased in value by more than 200%. Many homeowners doubled or even tripled their wealth in just a few years because of exploding real-estate values. As prices soared, experts began warning that the real estate market was starting to look like the overheated technology market of the late 1990s. Nonetheless, as I write, the gold rush to real estate continues.
The average home price in Canada hit $237,900 in 2005 – up $15,000 from $224,729 the year before. Not as high as increases in the U.S., but that was just the average. In some markets, including Edmonton and Calgary, home prices have risen more than 8% in the same period. In Vancouver, the average price of a house is $400,000. Some people have literally bought a home, lived in it for a few years, then sold it and retired. Done. Game over.
Imagine that. Buy a home, live in it, build your wealth–and then retire rich. It may sound too good to be true. But it’s not. It has happened – and it will continue to happen for thousands of people over the next few decades. The question is, will it happen for you? Will you catch this wave, miss it – or will it crash on you?
BOOM OR BUST–YOU CAN STILL MAKE MONEY IN REAL ESTATE
As I sit here in August of 2005, I have no idea when you will actually be reading what I’m writing. Maybe it’s March of 2006 (when this book is scheduled to be published) – by which time the real estate market could be slowing or cooling down to more modest annual gains (or not). Perhaps this book was bought by a friend of yours who passed it along to you – and it’s now 2007 and those once “certain” boom markets are going bust because of speculation. Or maybe the opposite has happened–interest rates have remained at historic lows and home prices have continued their march upwards.
In fact, it doesn’t really matter when you happen to be reading this or what’s going on right now in the markets. This book is not about the boom . . . or the busts. It’s not about timing the real estate market. It’s not about the fantasy of “getting rich overnight” in real estate.
What this book is about is the truth. And the truth is this:
Nothing you will ever do in your lifetime
is likely to make you as much money as
buying a home and living in it.
Realistically, the best investment you will ever make will be your home.
Don’t worry about timing the market in real estate. It’s time in the market that will matter for you.
