The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home Second Edition (Unofficial Guides)

By Alan Perlis and Beth Bradley

The inside scoop . . .for when you want more than the official line No matter what your budget and taste, finding the perfect home is a daunting task. How do you even know where to start? Here you'll find the inside scoop on every step of the homebuying process-from calculating your budget to negotiating the deal and handling the closing. The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home, Second Edition gives savvy consumers like you a foolproof appraisal of which homebuying strategies work and which don't. This updated edition is perfect for first-time homebuyers and includes new information on using the Internet to find your home, buying condos, and utilizing government funding programs. It walks you through the entire homebuying process: from searching for a home, to making an offer, through the inspection, and on to the closing, you can be confident that your investment is sound. The guide also offers expanded coverage of the monetary issues involved in purchasing a home, including new means of determining creditworthiness and new types of available loans, as well as helping you decide how much home you can-and should-purchase. Vital Information that other sources can't or won't reveal-from what really motivates sellers, brokers, loan officers, and other key players in the homebuying game, to how to work most effectively with your agent. Insider Secrets on how to make real estate law work in your favor. Money-Saving Techniques that show you how to take advantage of tax breaks and how to time your search to exploit seasonal variations in the market. Time-Saving Tips on streamlining the homebuying process so you find the home you want as quickly as possible. The Latest Trends in homebuying, including up-to-date tips on using the Internet to find your home, a realtor, or a mortgage. Handy Checklists and Charts to help you determine your budget and stick to it.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0764542486
• ISBN13: 9780764542480
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 482 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.1" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Well done...

The best of the four home-buying books I read or skimmed. The key is that it is unbiased and written from the buyer's perspective, usually with humor. Most other books are not. Exposes a lot of the unseen motives from the various players in the process, particularly real estate agents. Has lots of useful tips and is more comprehensive than most similar books.It looks like the home real estate industry is changing rapidly with the MLS/Internet and discount realtors popping up. It seems I've seen more "for sale by owner" signs and/or discount realtor signs than standard realtor signs during my recent home search. It is clear that it no longer costs a realtor 5-7% of home price to market a house with Internet (especially expensive ones), so something has to give somewhere. They ought to update this book every few years.

Easing the fears to confidence

When my fiancee and found out that our rental house is going to be demolished (2 weeks before our wedding), we decided to "Try" to buy a house. The first thing I did was buy this book. It has helped us realize that yes, we can afford it, how it may even be financially good for us! All of my fears about being uprooted were calmed, and as we read each chapter together each night I feel more and more confident about the process and pitfalls of finding and buying our very first home! This book has answered EVERY question we have had, and pointed out situations to watch for that would have otherwise been unknown to us. We're going to prove to all of our friends and family that we CAN do it, and that we did it ourselves (with the help of a little book).

It explains everything from shopping till moving in

The unoffical guide is definetly unoffical. It is the only book I have found that explains the home buying as a professional friend would. It contains a copy of the actual documents the banks and mortgage brokers use. The process takes you through the steps of getting prepared physically and mentally, financial aspects,what to shop for, closing, then moving in and fixing it up. It's the only book I've read that gives specific details of how to fix or work with credit problems. If you are a first time or any time buyer I strongly suggest the unoffical guide to buying a home.

Do yourself a favor and read this book before buying a home.

I'm in the process of buying my first home, and I felt prepared and ready to ask all the right questions of my agent after pouring through the tons of tips provided in this book. Most valuable to me was learning how to get the right agent to work for ME--one who will really assist the buyer in his/her pursuit of an attainable home. Buying a home is a huge, anxiety-provoking experience, but I'm relaxed aand confident because I followed the advise and facts compiled in this book.