Renters Win Amazon bn.com Category:  Business/Investing Publisher: Authorhouse Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 178 Copyright: June 12, 2009 ISBN-13: 9781438993188 Renters Win, Home Owners Lose: Revealing the Biggest Scam in America exposes the long-term financial impact about home ownership, information banks, mortgage companies, and the housing industry hope will never be discovered. Most importantly, the book arm readers with inside knowledge to take control of housing options (buying or renting) with key leverage for wining big! Renters Win, Home Owners Lose...is a masterpiece in the pursuit of financial success. Home ownership has been widely regarded as the “best financial investment” in the pursuit of wealth accumulation. Americans believe that the appreciated value of a home provides a great hedge against inflation, giving home owners an opportunity to make a profit when they sell the property.  Today, two-thirds of American families own their homes. Nearly 80 percent of the 78 million baby boomers are home owners. Many of them have bought and sold several homes. Yet, close to 90 percent of American families are broke.    What if this popular, “best investment” choice is nothing more than a dangerous Dream?   Is home ownership simply a huge economic scam designed to KEEP buyers broke?  Could home owners be working to pay a mortgage that make their lenders rich while they stay poor? What if “home equity” is only  an illusion?  Could renters be in a  better financial position than those who own their home?  RENTERS WIN, HOME OWNERS LOSE: REVEALING THE BIGGEST SCAM IN AMERICA is a bold approach in unraveling the long-term financial reality of home ownership in America.   The book compares buying vs. renting a home and reveals that renters clearly have financial advantages over the majority of home owners. RENTERS CAN TRULY BE WINNERS!   Tables and models are used throughout the book to poignantly demonstrate that most home owners receive no more than a zero percent return on their investment, even in the absolute best economy. Many more lose thousands of dollars on the deal.   Renters Win, Home Owners Lose: Revealing the Biggest Scam in America will inspire readers to rethink the way they viewhome ownership vs. renting. More importantly, readers will be armed with inside knowledge to take control of their housing options NOW and in the FUTURE and win, big!

Reader's Choice Book Reviews
Renters Win, Home Owners Lose by Tom Graneau flies in the face of conventional wisdom, questioning the long standing belief that the American Dream--home ownership--is the path to success and financial freedom.

Mr. Graneau begins the book with a detailed examination of how Americans are obsessed with home ownership and how the lower risk and often more affordable renting route is believed to be a bad financial choice. Society in general, our parents, and peers have instilled in our brains that renting only makes landlords rich. Now Mr. Graneau asks us to think about whom mortgage payments make wealthy. Bank shareholders win while home owners turn to credit cards when cash flow doesn't equal expenses. Buyers are told to use our equity to take out loans to cover upgrades, remodeling, and repairs and we do it--because it's an investment--or so we believe.

Most of us gauge our lives by our careers and by our homes. Owners want to own bigger homes and renters want to buy no matter how much financial burden it puts on the family. Owning is believed to be better as the sacrifices today will pay off later when the home is sold. Home builders associations, realtor associations, financial institutions, and governments each have done their bit in instilling the belief that home ownership guarantees success.

I believe the author has done a wonderful job making his point with sufficient evidence to back up his claims. His thoughts are presented clearly in plain, understandable language. He doesn't preach or condescend and I quickly began to see how his suggestions could work for my situation. The back cover outlines the meat of this book as it poses the following five questions:

· Is home ownership simply a huge economic scam designed to keep you broke?
· What if this popular, "best investment" choice is nothing more than a dangerous dream?
· Could you be working to pay a mortgage that makes your lender rich while you stay poor?
· What if "home equity" is only an illusion?
· What if people who rent are in a better financial position than those who own?

Soon after reading Renters Win, Home Owners Lose I was talking to my wife about selling our apartment and renting a larger home. The savings from a lower monthly rent compared to mortgage payments, and no longer needing to pay property taxes, repairs, and condo fees could be invested in our family's future. Over the length of a 25 year mortgage, I believe we may be further ahead as Mr. Graneau has effectively shown here.

I highly recommend Renters Win, Home Owners Lose to anyone considering buying a home and to owners tired of experiencing financial hardship.

By William Potter for Reader's Choice Book Reviews