"The Coming Crash in the Housing Market" shows homeowners how to avoid owing more to lenders than their houses are worth--known as an "underwater" mortgage--and reveals commonsense steps for protecting one's assets when the bottom falls out.

After five years of skyrocketing real estate prices, fueled by low interest rates, aggressive lenders, and relative economic prosperity, something has to give. Thanks to nonstop recent press coverage of America's overheated housing market, you are probably wary of buying your next property at the top of the market. So what should you do? Whether you're an individual investor or a homeowner, Cash In on the Coming Real Estate Crash shows you how to gauge the risk of a housing bust in your own local market. More importantly, it shows you how to hedge against a crash and position yourself to profit if the bubble bursts. Critical advice covers: * Identifying signs of an impending collapse * Balancing your real estate portfolio so a crash doesn't wipe you out * Conservative financing strategies * Developing a vision for value in any market * Buying low after the bubble bursts * Knowing when to sell * And many more strategies for making money when the real estate market collapses Peppered with true stories of how homeowners, small investors, and bona? fide real estate tycoons handled and mishandled past crashes, Cash In on the Coming Real Estate Crash is the resource you need to prepare for the comingdownturn, weather the storm, and emerge on the other side stronger than ever.

The definitive account of the housing bubble that caused the Great Recession—and earned Wall Street fantastic profits. The American housing bubble of the 2000s caused the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression. In this definitive account, Adam Levitin and Susan Wachter pinpoint its source: the shift in mortgage financing from securitization by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to “private-label securitization” by Wall Street banks. This change set off a race to the bottom in mortgage underwriting standards, as banks competed in laxity to gain market share. The Great American Housing Bubble tells the story of the transformation of mortgage lending from a dysfunctional, local affair, featuring short-term, interest-only “bullet” loans, to a robust, national market based around the thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage, a uniquely American innovation that served as the foundation for the middle class. Levitin and Wachter show how Fannie and Freddie’s market power kept risk in check until 2003, when mortgage financing shifted sharply to private-label securitization, as lenders looked for a way to sustain lending volume following an unprecedented refinancing wave. Private-label securitization brought a return of bullet loans, which had lower initial payments—enabling borrowers to borrow more—but much greater back-loaded risks. These loans produced a vast oversupply of underpriced mortgage finance that drove up home prices unsustainably. When the bubble burst, it set off a destructive downward spiral of home prices and foreclosures. Levitin and Wachter propose a rebuild of the housing finance system that ensures the widespread availability of the thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage, while preventing underwriting competition and shifting risk away from the public to private investors.

Corrupt bankers, FBI investigations, IRS raids, offshore bank accounts and more as an insider exposes those responsible for the housing crisis and explains what's in store for the rest of us.

Explains how we got into the current economic disaster that developed out of the economics and politics of the housing boom and bust. The "creative" financing of home mortgages and "creative" marketing of financial securities based on these mortgages to countries around the world, are part of the story of how a financial house of cards was built up--and then collapsed.

Conventional wisdom held that housing prices couldn’t fall. But the spectacular boom and bust of the housing market during the first decade of the twenty-first century and millions of foreclosed homeowners have made it clear that housing is no different from any other asset in its ability to climb and crash. Housing and the Financial Crisis looks at what happened to prices and construction both during and after the housing boom in different parts of the American housing market, accounting for why certain areas experienced less volatility than others. It then examines the causes of the boom and bust, including the availability of credit, the perceived risk reduction due to the securitization of mortgages, and the increase in lending from foreign sources. Finally, it examines a range of policies that might address some of the sources of recent instability.

"Argues that America is enjoying a government-inflated bubble, one that reality will explode with disastrous consequences for the economy and for each of us"--Dust jacket flap.