Description
Chosen for July 2009 PEOPLE’S BOOK PRIZE COLLECTION for Non-Fiction
Real estate is sold as a much safer investment than the constantly fluctuating stock market. Share price volatility is compared unfavourably with the steadier and impressive gains made from real estate which is, we are told, ‘as safe as houses’.
As millions of Americans – and countless others in the Western world – have recently found to their cost, house prices can also suddenly and dramatically drop. Yet no other text on real estate, either current or from the past, mentions this fact, reinforcing the perception that real estate is an almost risk-free investment.
Now for the first time, and long overdue, a book that details and explains the cyclical nature of real estate.
The latest real estate downturn in the USA (and in other countries) is just one of many that have occurred since 1800 with astonishing regularity. This book is the story of the American experience of those downturns: the move out of recession, how the banking system facilitates that move, the boom and the characters that shaped it, the bust and then the recession, or worse, depression. This is always followed by a new cycle repeating each phase again, varied only by the new ways bankers find to avoid the regulations put in place after each collapse to ensure it will never happen again.
The Secret Life of Real Estate and Banking explains, quite simply, how the real estate cycle originates, offers a fascinating study of US history to illustrate the stages through which each cycle passes, then explains why this cycle of boom and bust must repeat, given present economic conditions.
Real estate can only be a truly winning investment if you know the cycle. For investors, the author has designed a 24-hour Real Estate Clock which plots the progress of the cycle, with tell-tale signs so that investors can recognise exactly where they are in the cycle at any point in time and so help them decide whether to invest, sit tight or sell. He has refined this clock over a period of many years and those who have attended his courses have found it an invaluable and remarkably accurate guide for their investment strategies, not only in real estate.
With its invaluable insights and practical guidance, The Secret Life of Real Estate and Banking is a book for both novice and experienced investors alike who want to know why the real estate cycle moves as it does, learn how this movement can be forecast well in advance, and more importantly, wish to learn how to profit from this knowledge. A must read for any serious investor.
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Author Details
Phillip J Anderson is Managing Director and founder of Economic Indicator Services (EIS), an economic forecasting service operating out of London and Melbourne. EIS is the world’s foremost authority in the area of business, real estate and commodity cycles. Subscribers to the service are educated to the movements of these cycles in the economy, none more important than the real estate cycle.
You can read more about Phillip J Anderson on his author page.
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Testimonials
‘I met Phil Anderson in the late 1990s when I sat his short course. On the last day after finishing Phil spoke to the class to let them know about another course that he only held once a year. This was his specialty and it was to do with technical analysis, long term cycles and how to forecast future market movements. This intrigued me because all the so-called ‘experts’ say that market movements are random and that it’s not possible to forecast them.
Well, many years have passed since then and I must say that I don’t think I have seen anyone who can forecast the markets like Phil Anderson. What I was most impressed with was the fact that Phil makes his money from trading the markets, not teaching people. What Phil has taught me over the years has been invaluable. I took what Phil showed me and proved it to myself that you can forecast market movements. Those with foreknowledge will profit, and that’s what it’s all about.’
P. Scicluna, Melbourne, Australia
‘With little knowledge in the financial market, I attended Phil’s courses which captured my imagination. It has opened a completely new world for me and has improved my lifestyle. I have personally come to know many of his students who have become very successful and profitable traders. Over the years, he has kept us informed and educated on past, current and future market aspects with his unique perspective and insights, always so passionate, always so unselfishly. His emails are of great interest to follow, often with such helping hands to our share trading.’
M. Tse, Melbourne, Australia.
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Reviews
‘I recommend you read Phil’s book. It’s one of the best books ever written on long-term real-estate cycles.’
Harry S. Dent Jr., Senior Editor, Survive & Prosper
‘This is an exciting, important and timely work; it will sell well. Anderson has ferreted out and marshaled dozens of sources on the 18-year cycle of boom and bust in real estate, its history, its mechanics, and its dynamics. Some sources are old and neglected; some are current and neglected; but after Anderson it will be hard for macro-economists to continue neglecting them. He melds the dramatic skills of a raconteur with the industry of a scholar and the discipline of a field marshal, to keep readers wide awake while they follow and most likely accept Anderson’s take on economic history.’
Professor Mason Gaffney, University of California
‘Required Reading for Property Investors,
A superbly written, logically structured study of the property market. His ideas are clear, the writing crisp and the book free from philosophical dogma. His analysis of property market booms and busts over the last 210 years shows how we fall into the same traps over and over again. A stunning historical perspective with which to immunise yourself from political and economic commentators who clearly fail to grasp the real reasons for the mess we are in. Overall a fantastic book and well worth the price.’
Reader on amazon.co.uk
