Last week brought the Canadian Real Estate Wealth Expo – learn how to become a millionaire event in Toronto.
All of the usual ridiculous, reckless characters and ideas that were prevalent at Tech investing conferences in 1999 and 2000, as well as commodity and precious metals shows in 2007-08. Today we have real estate investment conferences on how to become a millionaire using “other people’s money” aka lots of DEBT!
For an excellent first hand account from one sober attendee. Read: I attended the top of the Canadian Housing Market so you didn’t have to:
The booths outside of the presentation hall were just as troublesome. Plenty of “high double-digit monthly yields”, retire early with real estate, “everyone needs a place to live – buy apartments” type messages. Almost all of these pitches were second lien lending. Most offered yields in the 8 to 10% range. The presentations all suggested that you can borrow money, if you don’t have it, at 4% and then buy these investments at 10% – easy money.
Always the same outrageous hype near market tops, followed by devastation, loss, lawsuits and forced selling near market bottoms. If only people could learn to do the opposite of what the sales force-led-pack is doing. Well actually, you can, but it requires self-discipline.
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