The Millionaire Party Could Be Ending

If you've read one "how to be a millionaire" book you've read them all. And if you haven't read the book maybe you caught some of the infomercial. Nearly everyone who brags about being a millionaire wants to sell you their secret formula for purchasing real estate at ridiculously low prices and reselling for profit.

Meanwhile, the foreclosure rate for the Denver metro area is up 9% over last year's all time high. For some people this misfortune has been a gold mine. Previously it wasn't that easy to find investment properties for less than $100,000. But with foreclosures more ordinary people have been able to add "investor" to their resume for less than half that.

photo by Martin Deutsch

But the new housing relief bill may be closing the window of millionaire opportunity. The measure includes $300 billion in new loan authority for the federal government to back cheaper mortgages for troubled homeowners. The goal of this funding is to help more home owners avoid losing their homes. And that means fewer deals for investors.

Now maybe that also means there will be less books published that try to trick us into buying them with promises of becoming a fast millionaire.