Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home (book with CD-Rom & Audio) Review

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(More customer reviews)I am just starting to research what's involved in purchasing a first home. I found this book to be very helpful in providing a landscape of what is involved, but you should supplement it with more specific books, particularly around mortgages.
The book starts out by having you evaluate what you want in a home, and prioritizing the features. It tells you how to research neighborhoods, ok this is pretty city-centric but they are trying to reach a wide audience. It explains the various professionals involved in each stage of the process, provides forms for interviewing them, and explains what they should provide. It continues to walk you through the inspections, negotiations and closings.
The book is easy to read, but let's face it, the purchase process is complex, and I found myself re-reading some sections discussing the many forms and insurance options. There are some quirky sidebars that are of questionable value (songs about houses, a cookie recipe) but they do add some levity.
Where the book fell a little short was the mortgage discussion. The first book I read "Mortgage Ripoffs and Money Savers: An Industry Insider Explains How to Save Thousands on Your Mortgage or Re-Finance" covers this in great detail, and I highly recommend it as supplemental reading. It will explain in detail the junk fees that are mentioned in this book.
The forms included in the book have varying degrees of usefulness, but the interview and inspection forms are gold. A number of websites are listed throughout the book, and will save you from having to Google for the information.
Overall I'm happy with this book, and plan to reference it throughout the purchase process.


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Get the right house at the right price with insider tips and advice from the experts!Say goodbye to landlords and laundromats with Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home. This timely title will help you find the right place to live and invest in -- and even have fun doing it.Filled with interesting facts, real-life stories and common pitfalls to avoid, this book provides everything you need to select the right house, the right mortgage, the right agent, the right inspections -- and much more. Get the inside scoop on:
deciding between a house, condo, co-op or townhouse
exploring your local market for the best value
qualifying for and lining up financing
getting the right inspections and insurance
negotiating with sellers or new home builders
successfully closing the deal Read through the real-world experiences of over 20 first-time homebuyers, as well as valuable insights from a team of 13 real estate professionals, including:
brokers
attorneys who specialize in real estate
a home inspector
a neighborhood researcher
a mortgage specialist
and more!Along with this step-by-step handbook, you'll get The Homebuyer's Toolkit, a CD-ROM that includes dozens of forms and MP3s which will help you find the right place, crunch the numbers, interview real estate professionals, and even borrow down payment money from your parents.The brand new 2nd edition of Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home is fully updated to reflect the dramatically changing housing market and includes new information on buying foreclosed and bank-owned properties, including what to look for when you're considering these types of homes. You'll get the most up-to-date information on the increasingly strict mortgage market, plus additional tips on how to "green" your new home. (20080205)

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The Smart Consumer's Guide to Home Buying (Barron's Smart Consumer Guides) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought my first home in 1963. I have bought and sold homes four times since, so I have gone through the exercise five times. I thought I had a pretty good comprehension of the process, but reading this book tells me that I was probably aware of less than 50% of important details that are not apparent to the average consumer. This book is crammed with ideas, scenarios, guidance, and caveats, some of them expressed in extreme detail. The financial guidance and calculation worksheets alone are worth the price of the book. This book should be in the hands of every homebuyer, including first timers and experienced ones such as I. My next move will likely be to a downsized residence. I will definitely use some of the planning techniques to allow my wife and me to prioritize our true needs.

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Buying a home is, in the authors' words, both a romantic journey and a business venture. For most families, it's the largest single investment they will ever make. The purpose of this book is to transform home buyers--especially first-time buyers--into smart consumers who can evaluate a property objectively as step number one in deciding whether or not to buy. The authors take their readers by the hand through the maze of mortgage shopping, dealing with real estate agents, and hunting down that perfect dream house. Some of the many questions they help prospective buyers answer are: Consideration of family needs: how many rooms, what kind of neighborhood, access to schools, shopping, and the like Is the home affordable? Considerations include the size of the down payment, the size and type of mortgage, projecting monthly payments, and allowing for unforeseen expenses Making an offer and negotiating with sellers and real estate agents The close, settlement, and escrow Remodeling: adding to a home and making improvements Investment Property: understanding market values Selling a home . . . and much, much more Because this book addresses a national audience, it is necessarily general when making reference to local situations. However, the authors offer practical advice on how readers can find reliable local professional assistance in their quest to purchase a home.

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Eyes Wide Open - Home Buying Without Surprises Review

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(More customer reviews)The most critical error a person can make when buying a home is not truly looking at the home. Sure, we peer into the cupboards and measure the closet space and admire that beautiful, wonderful bay window. But what about storm drainage? Do we know where the next heavy rain is going to pool? What could have caused that little crack along the chimney and what is it going to do from here? How big a problem is that bulge in the retaining wall near the driveway? It is not the beautiful things in our homes that give us the most trouble and cost us the most money, but the mundane ones. Quite often the they are the hardest to see because we don't know what we're looking for.
Eyes Wide Open shows you what to look for. In detail. It not only explains in layman's language floor structures and fireplaces, but illustrates every structural part of the house, both what it ought to look like and the tell-tale signs that can signal bigger problems. It explains the (literal) tools that you should always bring with you on a home tour and how and where to use them. It explains building codes, why they change, and how to insure your new house is compliant with them. It features checklists so you don't have to remember everything yourself. It also contains a full glossary of housing, finance, and structural terms so you not only know the right questions to ask, but can understand the answers and their implications.
This is an indispensable reference for those who are buying homes in the current market, where repossessions are common and the owners are not always available to answer questions. Written by a home inspector, Eyes Wide Open will teach the prospective buyer how to look at a home the way a structural engineer does: with an eye toward what problems can be expected and how they can be avoided before they occur. And just think how much more you'll enjoy that beautiful bay window when it doesn't overlook a flooded, washed out back yard.

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Just exactly how well built is that house for sale? In Eyes Wide Open, professional home inspector and author, Larry Wood, and his wife, Lisa, will help you answer that question and prepare you to take the lead in finding the right home and negotiating the best deal. The authors takes you, step by step, through every part of the house showing you how to identify potential problems and repairs; obtain financing, work with Realtors and much more. Loaded with photographs and illustrations, the authors explain, in layman terms, the many components and potential problems of a home. If you are purchasing or selling a home, give it a fresh look with Eyes Wide Open.

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