Boomtown Nanaimo is situated in British Columbia. In the recent time it is the hottest housing market in the world. There are various reasons behind buying home in Nanaimo. First of all, Nanaimo has mild climate. Here you will find snow for some weeks in a year; it is covered with snow form the beginning of December to April. There is plenty of rain that keeps the garden, parks and city lush or green.
Nanaimo Real Estate and the house in Nanaimo are affordable. Buying a house is a big deal. It is universally acknowledge that most of people invest a huge bulk of money in buying home. Online Real Estate Council describes in detail all the process how you can manage to pay all the closing costs. In you are failing to obtain documents, online you can get the copy of the documents.
In the recent year, the prices of houses have increased fifty percent. Don’t worry; you can buy your dream house.
Nanaimo is a very beautiful city .You should know the process of buying home, you can get all information and documents form Real State Council. The buyers should know what the dealing is going of the cost, above & beyond advertising of the home. The seller generally gives Realtor’s expenses. The commission of broker is given by lending institution; in this way you can save your few dollars. You need an agent for buying a house. You will be demanded to pay asset transfer tax.
If you want to purchase a new- constructed house, you will have to give services and goods tax. It is depend on you what type of house do you want for your family. A good lawyer and notary public must finish the legal act on your purchasing. Notaries complete nearly all tasks of residential purchases. Usually, your notary and lawyer can quote fee on the demand work.
First of all, you will have to give registration fees, courier charges, and title searches, transfer fees etc. Other costs contain those related with finance, such as appraisal fees, mortgage fees, registration fees & survey costs. Mortgage brokers and banks can give mortgage.
The process of purchasing is pretty and straightforward for non- resident purchaser. You can plan your visit in your new home for 6 month in a year. You will have to pay 35% of purchase price& this sum must be given from your own capital. You cannot take loan and second mortgage for buying this home. If you want to live more than six months in the year, you must submit an application for colonization status.
You can talk to an immigration attorney. Nanaimo is a very hot market, you will not to wait for many days to get property. If you want to buy assets for investment, there are some different rules and regulations are applied. For instance, higher payment is very necessary. You should know the responsibility and rights of both tenants and landlords. Different rules are applied to the buyers who come from another country.
tips-buying-homes.com Get tip buying home tips and advice here for free. Offers a single source on tip buying home related issues, homes for sale, topics and guide. The home buying process can seem complicated, but if you take things step-by-step, you will soon be holding the keys to your own home! But before going into the buying process you should first ask yourself if your are already ready for home buying.Do you prefer or even enjoy moving into different places. Do you prefer using your savings for things like vacations, appliances, retirement or having your own business? Do you like to enjoy not having so much trouble with regular maintenance and repairs? If your answers to these queries are yes, then you may not be ready to delve into the home buying experience. You may have a lot of good reasons for buying a home but you should also have to consider your reasons for not wanting to. Remember than buying home is not just the biggest financial decision you will ever make but also the strongest emotional choice in your life, so be prepared to make wise decisions when you are in this process.Buying home always seems to be a great idea, but it is important that ownership of a certain property comes with a great deal of responsibilities too. Of course, being a homeowner is something to be proud of but it also means having to invest money, time and energy and take on added responsibilities. So, before you decide to buy a home, make sure you’re ready.The first things that …
Written in an entertaining style with a touch of humour, Buying a Home in France covers everything a prospective buyer could wish to know including buying for investment or pleasure, the best places to live, finding your dream home, money matters, the purchase procedure, moving house, taxation, insurance, letting and much, much more. It is packed with vital information and insider tips to help readers avoid disasters that can turn their dream home into a nightmare. Buying a Home in France is essential reading for anyone planning to buy a home in France, designed to guide readers through the property maze and save them time, trouble and money! Now printed in full color.
Home Buying Made Easy is the most comprehensive, informative, and useful book of its kind! First, the easy-to-understand text contains detailed information on choosing a realtor, selecting a neighborhood, determining a home's value, selecting and negotiating with realtors, home inspection, understanding the market, moving, and much more. This guide is loaded with worksheets to help homebuyers make the best decisions, create a budget and to-do lists, make crucial calculations, keep track of contact information, and more. It also features graph paper and furniture templates to help the user visualize how furniture and appliances will fit in the rooms of his or her new house. It is an invaluable resource that will undoubtedly save the buyer time, money, and stress.
The classic guide to getting the best deal when buying a home--from America’s #1 real estate expert
Featuring fully revised facts and figures that reflect the most recent changes in the real estate market, Tips & Traps When Buying a Home, Fourth Edition is helpful whether you're a first-time or experienced home buyer. It gives you practical, step-by-step information on a broad range of proven home buying strategies, along with indispensable advice and guidance on buying in an "up" market, flipping, buying with options, bidding wars, and other important facets of real estate deals.
List Price: $ 18.95
Price: $ 10.87
Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Page per page this book probably has more useful information in it then any other real estate book I've read to date.Useful, practical and applicable, the information contained inside can be used for a myriad of areas that you will be involved in when buying your home. The section on "How to Buy a Home" and "How to Make a Low Offer the Seller Will Accept" is worth the price of the book. It is a VERY quick read. Mr Irwin's style is such that you can pick up the meat of what he wants to say in a few sentences or a quick paragraph or two. I bought it a few days ago and I am 80% finished. It'll be done by the time you allread this review.
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Rather than focusing on the mechanical details of buying a house that you can get anywhere, this book gives you practical knowledge you need. Information about how agents may try to trick you, loan fees that are bogus, how to get sellers excited about your offer, etc.
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I disagree with the people here who criticize this book for being about "buy low, sell high" and investment purposes. I have a feeling that these people are referring to some of Robert Irwin's other books aimed at real estate moguls in training; however, I took this book as being aimed at people who want to buy the house to actually live in it and to have a home of their own.
I used this book prior to buying my home and took much of the advice to heart. I interviewed several buyer's agents until I found one I liked and trusted, something that is spoken about in the book clearly. I also got some great advice from the finance sections that kept me from paying PMI and helped deal with the mortgage broker.
I bought this book for some friends who were looking at buying a house and it helped them when one deal went sour. I also loaned my copy to two friends shortly before they bought their houses... of course they didn't read it and got screwed on several points (mainly during inspection and negotiation). Oh well... you can lead a horse to water...
Buy and read this book if you're interested in looking for a house. It's well worth it.
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Since the publication of the first edition of A Survival Guide for Buying a Home, much has changed in the real estate market. The inventory of homes-for-sale is ballooning and prospective buyers will need new techniques to narrow their choices effectively. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the average buyer to qualify for a loan. This newly revised edition is tailored to help. It includes updated information on credit requirements, loan qualifying ratios, lease options, buying condos and co-ops, new mortgage and loan rules, buying foreclosure and short sale properties, and much more. Readers will learn the ins and outs of: hiring the right agent * determining financial limits * working with a mortgage lender * evaluating neighborhoods * getting the best deal * arranging appraisals and inspections * avoiding common deal killers * and more There is also a checklist of the 15 costliest mistakes homebuyers make and how to avoid them. With this helpful guide in hand, readers will be ready to find the home of their dreams at a price they can afford.
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Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
When my wife and I decided a few months ago that we were going to buy our first home, I went to our library and took out two books on home buying. One of them was your "Survival Guide". I toted that book around for the past two months and finally turned it back in today after we closed on our house.
My wife and I are the type who want to know as much as we can about everything that we are involved in, and your book really helped us to navigate the very involved and complex road to home-buying. We left the closing this morning feeling like we had done everything right, from shopping mortgages to negotiating after the home inspection. I believe that your book has helped us to save thousands of dollars!
Thank you for writing such a fine resource!
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As a real estate consultant, I bought this book to see if it could serve as a reference and handbook for clients, and it certainly will. The topics are relevant, current, and accurate and expand on important issues involved in purchasing a home - your credit, mortgage options, taxes, what to look for when visiting properties, services of a realtor, and resale. Several helpful checklists are also provided.
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This guide is one of the better ones out there -- it is up-to-date and practical, with lots of examples and checklists to follow. It has especially helpful advice for finding mortgages, dealing with agents, and preparing an offer. The author provides several links to websites that are reputable and extremely useful when preparing to by a house. Read this, if you read anything.
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The top-selling, most complete buyer’s and seller’s guide available.
The top-selling book on the subject, this latest edition of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buying and Selling a Home focuses on everything to do with the sale and purchase of a house. With updated information on finding good schools and neighborhoods, expanded coverage on home auction sales, and the changing options buyers and sellers have with brokers, this is the best home buyer’s and seller’s guide on the market.
List Price: $ 19.95
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Customer Reviews
98 of 106 people found the following review helpful
No better than what you can get for free., June 30, 2006
This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying and Selling a Home, 5E (Mass Market Paperback)
I got this book because my wife and I are getting ready to buy our first home and I wanted a book to guide me, and thus prevent me from making any major mistakes and to ensure I knew what was going on each step of the way. I read the entire section on buying a house (5/6 of the book) and even half of the section on selling a house just to see the other side of things (the remaining 1/6 of the book). I personally found the book gave just enough details to be frustrating.
The book will go over all the available options, but won't explore them in depth enough to help you make the right decision. For example, the book will tell you to contact multiple lenders and evaluate all the costs involved (the loan fees and if there are pre-pay penalties, not just the interest rate), but won't tell you how to really decide which loan to pick. The book will tell you that you can negotiate for some of the fees you have to pay with a mortgage to be waived by the lender or for some of the fees to be paid by the seller, but won't tell you how to spot these fees from the true, non-negotiable fees. There's a discussion of choosing the different types of homes (e.g. condo, townhouse or traditional home), but no discussion of the economic advantages of one over the other. I've heard townhouses appreciate faster, but I don't know if this is just an old-wives tale of if there is some truth to it. I still don't. Furthermore, the authors do nothing to predict future market trends, which is partly understandable since this is so difficult, but they don't even take a stab at it and the book is very current (2006).
Basically, the authors do a great job reviewing all of your options, but they don't advise you about what the *best* option would be for you. Maybe that is impossible because everyone's situation is totally different, but I'd like to see some situation specific direct advice, even if it resulted in some of the book being useless to me because it wasn't detailing my situation. Everyone's situation may be different but there aren't THAT many different situations (just starting out/family in apt moving to first house/family upgrading house/family downsizing house at retirement or because of unfortunate financial circumstances - that covers 95% of people). This would take more pages but there are pages to spare and that's my biggest gripe.
The book is organized by the steps in home buying (i.e. looking for a home/making an offer/obtaining financing/closing) but if you actually sit down and read it straight through like I did, you'll end up reading the same things over and over again. This makes the book better if you just want to read the chapter you're interested in because the chapters stand up on their own, but make it more frustrating if you read it front to back (you'll constantly be saying "yeah, I know, you told me that already, almost verbatim"). Not rehashing things would also free up pages to explore the nitty gritty in greater detail. I even found situations where full page tables were in the book twice in two seperate chapters! Completely unchanged, just printed twice when the authors were once again rehashing things they'd already covered!
In conclusion, I would have rather had concrete advice rather then the overview given here (although I think a better edited book could have had both in the same amount of space). The only other book I read that was even close to this was Suze Orman for the Young, Fabulous and Broke. That book gave very concrete advice and told you exactly what was the best things you could be doing and gave you a priority order to do them (401K then credit card debt then house down payment then Roth IRA). No concrete advice here. The book often passes off giving advice with the disclaimer "talk to your agent." That's good advice, but then why'd I get this book in the first place? Furthermore, I think to give concrete advice you have to really know your topic and I'm not sure the author's understand housing the way Orman understands personal finance.
I've been harsh so far, because that's what stands out to me, but I should say this book isn't a total waste of time, and this review has disproportinately focussed on the negatives. Bottom line, I just don't think there's much info here that you can't get for free somewhere else, like Yahoo Real Estate guides. In addition, online you can plug all your own numbers (like salary and debt burden) right into the online calculators (to tell you the maximum mortgage payment you can afford). So unless you really want the info packaged in book form I wouldn't buy this.
Other minor nit-picks:
1. The first part of the book is useless fluff. It covers stuff like "do you want 3 bedrooms or more" and "do you want a fireplace." I suppose it should be expected, but for me it wasn't necessary. That parts easy. Tell me how to get the best mortgage! Tell me how to get...
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This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying and Selling a Home, 5E (Mass Market Paperback)
This one is really for the first time buyer. Easy to read and understand. I checked out the home buying for dummies from the library and was a little overwhelmed. The idiot's guide has a better lay out and is a good primer.
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This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying and Selling a Home, 5E (Mass Market Paperback)
I am in the process of buying my first house. This book gives an overview of the process from A-Z. If you are starting out from "Level 0" as I was, an excellent place to start.
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The right book at the right timeinterest in buying real estate is still high (with interest rates reasonable and the stock market’s safety questionable), yet home prices are at a high, and people need increasing help in figuring out whether buying a second home is doable.
I found this book to be extremely helpful. The author did a great job at breaking down complex information into easy-to-understand, everyday language. In particular, I found the budget worksheet (which also appears on the CD-ROM in the back of the book) to be great! It walked me through step-by-step how to create a realistic, affordable budget. This book is a must have for anyone thinking about buying a second home.
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Easy book to understand the tax advantages (esp. depreciation) of buying a second home. Recommended. Couple with "How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment" for strategies in buying up.
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Though fun and exciting, buying a home can also be complicated and confusing—and most people learn the hard way that a wrong move can cost dearly. In order to find the perfect home at the best price, you must have skill, foresight, and a little guidance from experienced professionals.
Home Buying for Dummies, Third Edition provides just that! Packed with invaluable advice in an objective, down-to-earth style that will have you sitting in your dream home in no time, this friendly guide contains everything you need to know to play the home buying game. It has the tools you need to:
Improve your credit score and select a mortgage
Choose a time and place to buy
Determine the price you want to pay
Assemble an all-star real estate team
Make use of the wonderful world of the Internet
Negotiate your best deal
Inspect and protect your home
Handle and become responsible for the title
Cope with buyer’s remorse
Featured in this guide are tips and tricks on things you should do after you seal the deal, as well as things you ought to know about real estate investing. Also included is advice on how to sell your house, as well as a sample real estate purchase contract and a good inspection report. Don’t get chewed up by the real estate market—Home Buying for Dummies, Third Edition will lead you to the home you want!This may be the best comprehensive guide for home buyers. Home Buying for Dummies is coauthored by Eric Tyson, author of several other books in the For Dummies series, and Ray Brown, a long-time real estate professional. Like other books in the series, this one is an easy and even entertaining read. But it does not gloss over details in pursuit of simplicity. Home Buying for Dummies covers all the bases, providing clear explanations and reasonable judgments on how to select a mortgage, hire a real estate agent, find the right house, and negotiate a good deal. The book goes further than most in providing helpful, specific information. For example, in discussing ways to save money for a future down payment, Home Buying for Dummies even includes the phone numbers for various mutual funds appropriate to different investment time frames. --Barry Mitzman
List Price: $ 21.99
Price: $ 3.77
Customer Reviews
222 of 225 people found the following review helpful
This is the book I used most often, March 22, 2002
I just successfully bought my first house. I shopped Amazon.com and bought half-a-dozen "how to" books for buying a house before I started my search. I was buying this house on my own, and had no one to rely on for hand-holding or expert advice. I also had a lot of qualms about the whole process. Out of all the books I bought, this was the one I kept going back to. It's typical of a "Dummies" book in that it doesn't give you too much unusable knowledge, but--coversely--it also doesn't drill down to the nth degree on any one topic. This is okay, though. With the usual high-quality editing that goes into most "Dummies" books, this one is very easy to read. It talks about who to hire (e.g., real estate agent, mortgage broker, etc.), how to go about hiring them, how to go about getting a mortgage, what are the ins-and-outs of mortgages, how to get a down-payment together, and--I thought--most importantly; how to budget yourself in preparation for homeownership. This part on figuring out what you spend as a renter and what you think you'll spend as a homeowner helps you decide how much of a house you can afford, and, in my experience, this is one of the big mysteries of buying your first house. Overall, the book is comforting, reliable [now that I'm in a house, I can see that the advice was good], and well organized. If you don't know much about how to buy a house, this is a fine start and a trustworthy source of information.
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This book is amazing. I never considered buying a "for Dummies" series book because I thought they would be overly simplisitic, but this book proved me wrong. The authors do an awesome job of presenting just enough detail on every aspect of buying a home- I kept catching myself having a questions, then reading on to the net chapter and finding the answer. You may be tempted to skip around from chapter to chapter, but I've found that reading this book from the beginning is almost necessary since things like understanding which mortgage to get and how much of a house you want are all dependant on answers you arrive at in early chapters. I've just finished the book and feel well prepared and educated to tackle the house-hunting task now. A definite read.
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I had purchased this book as well as The Idiots Guide for Buying a Home and was pretty impressed with Home Buying for Dummies. It was well organized, very readable and had very useful information that my parents wouldn't have told me. Some notworthy examples of how practical this book was include:
1. consider a tax free money market account to invest your down payment while you save depending on your tax bracket. Names of possible accounts were included.
2. Roth IRAs allow you to borrow against them tax free for the down payment as a first time home buyer.
3. What to consider for watching a housing market....
To name a few.
The Idiots Guide was an absolute waste of money. One of the reviewers here posted that Dummies was patronizing -- the Idiots guide was truely insulting. It actually seemed like a bad rippoff of the Dummies book, not to mention the font was twice as big and double spaced. I would have returned it if my spouse hadn't written in it. If you want it, look in the used books section...
I have to agree with another reviewer that some of the content is covered in other Dummies books like Personal Finances for Dummies -- but having the salient points repeated in the context of home buying was helpful. I dont have the other Dummies books mentioned so for me, the redundency between books was minimal.
Go with the Dummies book. Its an excellent intro to buying a home!
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Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Home ownership is a cornerstone of the American dream, but it's a complex process that, without the right guidance, can seem like a nightmare. This Missing Manual takes you through the process of buying a home, from start to finish. Along the way, you'll use the book's expert advice and fill-in forms to identify the house you want, figure out what kind of neighborhood you want to live in, determine what a target home is really worth, make an offer, and close the deal. Throughout the process, this book helps you:
Realistically determine how much house you can afford
Assemble a real estate team that's looking after your interests and not the seller's
Understand the different ways to finance your house, and which is best for you
Create an attractive offer with the best chance of acceptance
Learn what lenders look for so you can get your mortgage approved
Inspect your new home to uncover potential problems
Prepare all the right paperwork for a smooth closing
Ten Tips for Buying a Home in a Buyer’s Market By Nancy Conner
1. Know what you can afford--and stick to your budget. This is true of any market, of course. But when there are lots of houses on the market, it can be easy to slip into the mindset that any home is yours for the taking: “Another bedroom might be nice, or a family room and a great room….”
Don’t treat your local housing market like an all-you-can-eat buffet. Before you shop for a home, know your needs and your budget, and focus on homes that fit those. To track your spending, try the free budget planner spreadsheet from Spreadsheets123.
2. Get preapproved. This is a good idea whenever you shop for a home, buyer’s market or not. Preapproval means that a lender has given you the green light to borrow a certain amount of money before you start shopping. It helps you know how much home you can afford, and it also streamlines the mortgage application process. And it signals to sellers that you can follow through on your offer—a big bonus at a time when mortgages are tough to get.
3. Work with a buyer’s agent. A buyer’s agent represents you and your interests exclusively in a real estate transaction. If you don’t have an explicit buyer’s agency agreement, your agent may actually be working for the seller. If you’re not sure that your agent is a buyer’s agent, ask. You need to be sure that your agent works for you, 100 percent.
4. Negotiate your agent’s commission. Real estate agents earn their money by commission, and that means they get paid only when they sell a home. In a buyer’s market, when sales are sluggish, your agent may be willing to return a portion of her commission to you as a rebate at closing. Why? Agents waste a lot of time working with window-shoppers who never make an offer. A rebate may induce you to follow through and buy a home.
5. Do your research. Before you make an offer, spend some time looking at similar properties that have sold in your area recently (the last six months), called comparables or comps. (Your real estate agent can get you the most recent data.) If selling prices are consistently lower than list prices, you’ve got a good chance of having a lower-than-list-price offer accepted.
6. Use online resources. Thanks to the Internet, it’s easier than ever before to get information about your local housing market—and you can do so in your pajamas and bunny slippers. Use sites like Trulia.com to find homes, check a particular home’s price history, and compare it to recent sales in the area. Zillow gives you a computer-generated estimate, called a “Zestimate,” of a home’s value.
7. Don’t assume all sellers are desperate. Some buyers lose out on homes they want to buy because they think that a buyer’s market means the buyer calls all the shots. They make an insultingly low-ball offer and are surprised when the seller turns them down. As a buyer, you’re in a good negotiating position, sure. But a seller isn’t obliged to sell his home at any price. There are other pressures on the seller, like having to pay off his current mortgage. When you make an offer, be reasonable.
8. Consider short sales and REOs. In a short sale, the current mortgage-holder agrees to a sale price that’s less than the seller owes on the home. An REO is a property that’s gone through foreclosure and is now owned by the lender.
You can find bargains among short sales and REOs, but you need to look at these properties in context. Are prices still falling, meaning the home will continue to lose value? Is the house in acceptable condition? Many short sales and REOs are sold “as is,” which means the seller won’t help pay for repairs. If you’re looking at short sales and REOs, be sure to work with a buyer’s agent who’s familiar with the ins and outs of the distressed housing market.
9. Negotiate for the best price. In a buyer’s market, some sellers try to get buyers’ attention by throwing a new flat-screen TV or a cruise into the deal as an enticement. Instead of going for a $1,000 gimmick, ask the seller for $1,000 off the price. You’ll save money in the long run by reducing the size of your mortgage and the interest you pay on it.
10. If you want something, ask for it. If you think the seller’s furniture looks better in the living room than yours would, ask the seller to include it in the sale. If you’re buying in a new development, ask the developer for free custom touches or appliance upgrades. The seller can always say no, but she might agree for the sake of the deal. In a buyer’s market, it never hurts to ask.
This review is from: Buying a Home: The Missing Manual (Paperback)
Caveat Emptor: Let the buyer beware. For no one is this adage more true than for those of us in the market for a new home! And for anyone new to the game, or maybe who landed in a money pit in their previous purchase, this book deserves a prominent place on your reading list ASAP. Nancy Connor covers every step of the often daunting real estate purchase, beginning with the often overlooked question, "Is home ownership right for you now?"
Like many in the Missing Manual series, this book is written in clear, concise prose that is easy for the real estate novice to understand, while never speaking down to the reader. We have the e-book version which in the Stanza reader can be annotated, as well as shared via email. Perhaps the one thing that may be missing in this Missing Manual is mention of the one website that provides most of the information (past sales, taxes, assessments, time on the market, whether it has been delisted, relisted, price changes, etc.) Ms. Connor recommends buyers have in hand when evaluating their home options: Redfin.com. We hope it will be included in future editions.
We happened upon "Buying A Home: The Missing Manual" when we were already half way through the process -- we had budgeted our closing costs, interviewed buyers' agents, gotten pre-approved by our lender, and were 2 months into home tours. After reading this Manual, we are far better armed with checklists and questions for the most crucial steps to come: making and negotiating offers, home inspections, dealing with contingencies, and closing. While we wish we had had this Manual before we began our odyssey on the the stormy sea of real estate negotiations, we are grateful now to have a another guide to see us past the sirens and reefs ahead.
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This review is from: Buying a Home: The Missing Manual (Paperback)
The list above authored by Nancy Conner covers the essentials of the book. But if you want the thinking behind the advice, you need to buy the book.
Other reviewers have noted the contents in sufficient detail, I'll just make a couple comments.
As is true of most "missing manuals," the writing is clear and to the point, the inevitable "gotchas" are well covered. For most of us, the process of buying a home is frightening and intimidating, this book will help reduce the anxiety level created by the process.
It is particularly helpful in detailing the closing costs associated with a home purchase.
This is an excellent resource to obtain before you begin to look for a home, and it will help guide you through the process of making the biggest financial investment of your life.
Highly Recommended.
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This review is from: Buying a Home: The Missing Manual (Paperback)
"Buying a Home: The Missing Manual" is a good starting point for many first-time home buyers's due diligence. The book is divided into four parts:
*PREPARING FOR HOME OWNERSHIP discusses the pros and cons of owning a home and the financial groundwork that needs to be in place before purchasing a home.
*FINDING YOUR HOME looks at creating a 'wish list' for your home, the people you'll need to hire along the way (real estate agents, home inspector, etc.), and the different avenues available for finding a home.
*FINANCING YOUR HOME could be called 'The Mortgage Section,' and discusses this aspect in detail. There's also a thorough chapter on closing costs.
*NEGOTIATING AND CLOSING THE DEAL addresses issues such as how and what to offer for a home, the ins and outs of a home inspection, and the nitty-gritty of closing.
The best thing about this book is its practical approach to home buying, which includes the encouragement to "do the math" on home buying. I found the chapters on Closing Costs and Home Inspections particularly useful.
The writing uses a straightforward, no-nonsense tone that is appropriate for the material. On a few occasions, the author repeats a piece of information over and over within a short span, which I found irksome. But overall, I think this is a good book for a first-time home buyer who needs a clear, accessible guide on the home-buying process.
(A heads-up for those outside the USA: "Buying a Home: The Missing Manual" is written for those buying property in the United States; being from Canada, there were sections of the book that simply didn't apply to me.)
Pros: Thorough, clear, practical.
Cons: Repetitive on occasion; may not be suitable for non-US home buyers.
[FULL DISCLOSURE: Based on a review copy of the ebook.]
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The start to finish guide that puts the fun back into the challenge of buying a first home, with comprehensive, timely information from a team of experts. Get valuable tips on: deciding between a house, condo, co-op or townhouse; exploring your local market for the best value; creating and managing a realistic homebuying budget; qualifying for and securing financing; getting the right inspections and insurance; negotiating with sellers or new home builders; successfully closing the deal and includes all the legal forms you need.
List Price: $ 24.99
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Customer Reviews
66 of 68 people found the following review helpful
Quirky and useful, but needs to be supplemented, October 30, 2008
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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I started looking at buying my first house many months ago and realized that the conflicting and often spotty advise I would get from friends and family wasn't enough. I needed a book to guide me and fill in the gaps (of which there were many).
I figured a "Home Buying for Dummies" type book was what I needed, but I didn't stop there and thumbed through almost a dozen home buying books at the local store before finding this gem by Nolo.
This was the ONLY book that guides you through the process, taking logical, simple steps while interjecting real-world experiences from different people.
It's written in a manner that appeals to just about everyone, explaining how to find a good agent (or save yourself on closing costs by using an online broker), what you should REALLY look for when finding the house that's right for you, all the way through closing, and even what's involved afterwards!
Buying a home can be stressful and overwhelming, but this book really made things quite easy. I can't think of a single home buying related subject that it doesn't cover. If you are buying your first house, this book is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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For me, because this is the only first-time buyer's guide that discusses in detail issues around getting a personal gift or personal loan towards purchasing a home, it already deserves 5 stars.
But it's more than just that. This is a very comprehensive guide with a helpful accompanying CD-ROM. The materials are organized clearly and presented in an easy-to-understand manner. I had read other guides such as the Dummies one which tended to be really verbose and confusing. This book stands out as a highly useable companion as you search and purchase your first home (and as you deal with real estate agents and lawyers).
Very highly recommended.
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Now updated — America's #1 bestselling home-buying book!
Want to buy a house, but concerned about the market? Have no fear — this trusted guide arms you with Eric Tyson and Ray Brown's time-tested advice and updated strategies for buying a home in current market conditions. You'll discover how to find the right property, make smart financial decisions, and understand the latest lending requirements and tax implications.
New to this edition — new and expanded coverage to help homebuyers take advantage of low home prices, understand the subprime mortgage crisis, obtain a mortgage, and improve credit scores
To buy or not to buy? — weigh the advantages of owning versus renting, get your finances in order, and know how much house you can safely afford
Handle financing — understand your credit rating, navigate the different types of mortgages, and complete all paperwork
Play the real estate game — find the right location and property, assemble an all-star real estate team, and make the most of the Internet's real estate resources
Let's make a deal — negotiate with finesse, make successful offers, inspect and protect your new home, and cover all your bases in escrow
"Invaluable information, especially for the first-time home buyer." —Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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Open the book and find:
Reasons why home prices rise and fall
Hands-on instruction for buying a home in up or down markets
How to pay the price you want
The best mortgage options
A sample home-buying contract
Pros and cons of comparable market analysis
Tips for overcoming mortgage and appraisal problems
How to cope with buyer's remorse
The best real estate Web sites
List Price: $ 21.99
Price: $ 9.61
Customer Reviews
71 of 75 people found the following review helpful
Good basic reference.... but very CA biased., July 2, 2009
This review is from: Home Buying For Dummies, 4th Edition (Paperback)
A friend recommended this book, and it is a helpful reference that covers all the basics. Confused by inspection and what to expect? There are helpful hints and good definitions to help you figure that stuff out. This book helped "calm me down" by explaining all the processes of home buying in a simple way so there were no surprises.
My only real gripe is that the book is VERY California biased. While it is impossible to clarify all the nuances of buying a home in different states, counties, and towns... the homebuying process differs significantly in California than most of the northeast. Well, the process may be the same - but escrow agents? Huh? We got lawyers for that. Some terminology was a bit confusing. And there was plenty of coverage about earthquakes... but what about snow? Or what to look for with different types of heat? These are HUGE concerns when buying a house in the northeast and these issues aren't even discussed. I felt the book could be more comprehensive in addressing homebuying across the USA... not just in Cali.
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This review is from: Home Buying For Dummies, 4th Edition (Paperback)
New home buyers might be tempted by the 2009 combination of low home prices, low interest rates, and federal incentives to start searching for a home. If you do, and especially if you live in a heavily regulated state like California, books like this one are extremely valuable. Much of the advice might seem "obvious" when you think about it (why do you "need" title insurance anyway?) but no one thinks about all aspects of purchasing a home when they first enter the market. This book spells out all the steps you need to take from deciding whether you really need to buy a home at all (if you are planning to move soon, don't) to saving for a down payment all the way through escrow. Mortgage options (15 v. 30 year, adjustable or fixed) are also covered in some detail so potential homebuyers can make sound choices. It is, on the whole, a very useful book.
This For Dummies guide also includes quite a bit of valuable information most people would not think of when buying a home. Sandbagging by mortgage companies is moderately more common than you might expect in a down market and this guide tells you how to recognize it. The authors also explain why sellers, in general, are not very realistic about what their property is worth and how to effectively use the internet when searching for a home. Hint, mortgage calculators are not nearly as useful as they are convenient. You should know from your own budget (including contributions for retirement savings) what you can afford, and not be pushed into a house beyond your means by a calculator that only considers your income and debt ratios. Finally, the book covers the psychology of home purchases, including buyers remorse and negotiations.
There is simply too much in this book to cover it all. Suffice to say, this is not a guide to getting rich in real estate. The authors (wrongly, in my opinion) do view real estate as an investment but first time home buyers, the target audience for this book, should not. Homes can in fact be something of a liability. But the 4th edition of 'Home Buying for Dummies' can help you limit the costs associated with buying your home and for this reason alone the book is invaluable. And if, in the future, you should actually make money on your purchase, more power to you. Besides, the authors have another title for you on how to sell your home. If it is even close to as comprehensive as this book, you should buy it too when the time comes.
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This review is from: Home Buying For Dummies, 4th Edition (Paperback)
I was hoping the 4th Edition of this book brings more relevant items pertained to the 2008 crash and what's happening in the last 12 mos. But I should had known, paper books take awhile to edit, publish, stock, so I feel I kinda wasted my money and could had borrowed a 3rd Ed from the library instead. But if u are not paying full retail like I did go4rit. Overall excellent info for the first-time buyer. I personally wish it has gone into more details of some of the items. To complement this book, you most likely have to get another one on FORECLOSURE unless u absolutely shunt going this route. A separate book on MORTGAGE is also recommended for completeness.
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