Build or Go Under?

Your house is going up in value. What if it were making you poorer?

One evening in June, a man shows me his building. Three hundred thousand dollars more than he paid. On paper, he has made it. Seven weeks later, he could be forced to sell everything. He never saw it coming.

We think the danger is not owning. The real danger is elsewhere. You can grow richer on paper and poorer in life at the same time, without noticing. It is the most common path of all. We call it success.

This book does not promise to make you rich. It makes you hard to ruin.

For Canada and Quebec, with the numbers to back it, you will learn to:

see the costs the sticker price hides, before you sign;
measure your distance to ruin in five numbers, at your own kitchen table;
understand why a low rate can trap you, and a renewal can break you;
spot toxic land, a bargain that hides costly problems, a job site going off the rails;
decide in front of people whose living depends on your signature, not on your good judgment.

A brave book, often arguable, never eager to please. It does not try to flatter you. It tries to make you clear-eyed.

The average does not drown. You do.

Do not grow richer on paper and poorer in life.