Monday's edition of The New York Times includes a story by Joanne Kaufman entitled, "A Shift in Real Estate Books." The piece is about how publishers-including some of the ones that publish my titles-are hard at work publishing books that help homeowners and others with the downturn in the housing market and increasing foreclosures.

The article begins by focusing on the fact that even high profile celebrities are experiencing housing-related trouble (a topic I wrote about just last week). As most people already know, recently, Ed McMahon-famous for sitting next to Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show set and for making a relatively small number of people ridiculously happy as spokesperson for American Family Publishing sweepstakes-has run into financial trouble and is facing foreclosure on his home in California. As Kaufman's article mentions, I personally attempted to contact McMahon to offer my help in reviewing his real estate files-to see if he had been mislead or worse by his financial advisors or the real estate industry insiders who worked on his behalf.

The New York Times article serves as a nod toward those of us work so hard to write great books that truly help homeowners navigate their way through troubled waters. The payoff, while certainly not large in terms of royalties or fat advances (far from it in fact) can be found in the hundreds of comments I receive from homeowners who found some level of relief based on the advice and warnings found in my books.

From The New York Times:

A few years ago, when the housing market was white-hot, companies that publish how-to books were tripping over themselves to pump out titles about buying property and making money in the real estate business.

Now that the bottom has fallen out of the housing market, the opposite is true: publishers are updating their backlist titles as well as rushing out newly acquired manuscripts to advise consumers who may have stumbled in the housing game.

For more on the article, read "A Shift in Real Estate Books."

Ralph R. Roberts, CRS, GRI
67775 Van Dyke
Washington Township, MI 48095
Office: (586) 751-0000
Fax: (586) 752-8959
Email: RalphRoberts@RalphRoberts.com
Personal Assistant: Lois Maljak (LoisMaljak@RalphRoberts.com )


Ralph Roberts is the author of many books:
- Flipping Houses For Dummies (Wiley Publishing)
- Foreclosure Self-Defense For Dummies (Wiley Publishing)
- Advanced Selling For Dummies (Wiley Publishing)
- Protect Yourself from Real Estate & Mortgage Fraud (Kaplan Publishing)
- Mortgage Myths: 77 Secrets to Save on Home Financing (Wiley Publishing)
- Foreclosure Investing For Dummies (Wiley Publishing)


Ralph also maintains Websites and Blogs:
- www.RalphRoberts.com  (Ralph's real estate company)
- www.FlippingFrenzy.com  (Ralph's blog about Real Estate & Mortgage Fraud)
- www.AboutRalph.com  (Where anyone can learn more about Ralph)
- www.GetFlipping.com  (A resource for house flippers)
- www.KolleenRoberts.com  (a tribute site to Ralph's daughter)

Ralph R. Roberts founder of Metro Networking Professionals (MNP)