The American Dream is to own your own home, whether it is a log cabin in Oregon, a farmhouse in Iowa, or a penthouse in Manhattan. Our homes are where we eat, sleep, play, love, laugh, and cry. Where we read books, grow tomatoes, and play games. Where we can be alone or with our families. Where we can be ourselves. A home is often the biggest investment that a person will ever make and can be the most profitable one, too. Over the years, millions of ordinary hardworking people have prospered simply by owning the home they live in. They didn’t win a lottery or find gold in their backyard. They didn’t inherit a million dollars from a long-lost relative. They simply made monthly mortgage payments instead of rent payments. You can, too. The key is to think about your Home Dividend. Professor Karl Case, co-creator of the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, said that our concept of the Home Dividend is "absolutely the correct way to think about it.” Your Home Dividend explains why this is so, and shows you how. Praise for the Smith's first book, Houseonomics: "This book couldn't be timelier. With hundreds of thousands of Americans expected to lose their homes because they tookout mortgages beyond their ability to pay, it is clear that home buyersneed assistance--beyond the reassurance of the mortgage broker trying toclose the deal and get his commission. This book, written in an easilyaccessible manner, provides that assistance; it lays out the economicsof buying, owning, and financing a home." -Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University, 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics Praise for Houseonomics "Think everything that could be said about housing had already been said? Think again. The Smiths offer a perspective on home buying that is fresh, sensible, and very much needed these days." Alan Blinder, Princeton University "The purchase of a home is the most significant investment decision confronting nearly all adults. Yet sound advice, untainted by the self-interest of real estate and mortgage brokers, is extremely scarce. In Houseconomics, the Smiths provide simple and understandable answers to the vexing questions surrounding home ownership, making it a valuable resource for anyone serious about their financial future." Bryan White, Managing Director, BlackRock "Houseonomics offers great insights about how to think about home ownership. Its approach is innovative, but the analysis is grounded in common sense. A useful primer for what is the most important investment most people make in their lives." Paul Efron, Advisory Director, Goldman Sachs & Co. "This book is a common sense response to those who question the value of homeownership. The Smiths validate the argument that homeownership is normally a key component of lifelong wealth building. They present a practical guide to basic financial analysis for those planning on owning a home or who currently own a home." Doug Duncan, Chief Economist, Mortgage Bankers Association Dr. Gary Smith is the Fletcher Jones Professor of Economics at Pomona College. He has published eight college-level textbooks, two trade books, and more than eighty research papers. His research has been featured in various media including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Motley Fool, Newsweek, and BusinessWeek, CNBC, and WNYC. Gary was a keynote speaker on real estate at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC and the Mortgage Finance Industry Summit in New York City. His book Standard Deviations, Flawed Assumptions, Tortured Data, and Other Ways to Lie about Statistics, was chosen as a London Times Book of the Week. Gary received his BA in Mathematics with Honors from Harvey Mudd College and his PhD in Economics from Yale University. Dr. Margaret Smith is an author, speaker, coach, trainer, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of HumanSync, a consulting and coaching company. She was a Certified Financial Planner, a Registered Investment Advisor, a member of the Financial Planning Association, and a Certified Integral Coach through New Ventures West. Margaret received a PhD in Business Economics from Harvard and a simultaneous BA/MA, summa cum laude, in Economics from Yale. She has published various articles on real estate and finance and has taught at Claremont McKenna College, the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, and Pomona College.