Home Buying For Dummies, 3rd edition
by Eric Tyson
from Wiley
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
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!
Investing in Duplexes, Triplexes, and Quads: The Fastest and Safest Way to Real Estate Wealth
by Larry B. Loftis
from Kaplan Business
Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home (book with CD-Rom & Audio)
by Ilona Bray
from NOLO
Insider tips and advice to help you get the right place at the right price!
If you're ready to say goodbye to landlords and laundromats, Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home will help you find the right place to invest in -- and have fun doing it.
Filled with interesting facts and real-life stories, 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:
Read the real-life stories of over 20 first-time homebuyers, as well as the insights from a team of 13 real estate professionals, including:
Mortgages For Dummies, 2nd Edition
by Eric Tyson
from For Dummies
For many of us, the single biggest financial transaction is buying a house. Even more significant than the hefty down payment we fork over is the 15- to 30-year mortgage that needs feeding every month. If you have this much at stake, a little knowledge can go a long way, which is where Eric Tyson and Ray Brown come in. In Mortgages for Dummies, Tyson and Brown (who also wrote Home Buying for Dummies and House Selling for Dummies) provide a comprehensive introduction for anyone who is contemplating a mortgage. The book tells you how to evaluate your creditworthiness, determine your borrowing power, and shop for a lender, as well as covering the various types of loans. The authors also devote a section to refinancing and discuss what you should consider when prepaying a loan. They include amortization and remaining-balance tables, and a useful glossary. Whether you're a first-time home buyer or are just looking to refinance, you'll find this a valuable, easy-to-use guide. --Harry C. Edwards
For typical homeowners, the monthly mortgage payment is either their largest or, after income taxes, second-largest expense item. When you’re shopping for a mortgage without the proper knowledge, you could easily waste many hours of your time in addition to the financial losses suffered by not getting the best loan you can. Choosing the right mortgage can help you save money for more important financial goals such as higher education and retirement.
Mortgages For Dummies, Second Edition is for anyone who needs a loan to buy their first home, wants to refinance their existing mortgage, or would like to tap into the equity they’ve built up. Updated to include the very latest on every kind of loan, this friendly, easy-to-understand guide will help you:
- Shop for the best home-purchase mortgage
- Overcome loan qualification obstacles
- Negotiate lower loan fees and closing costs
- Save by refinancing the house
- Increase retirement income with a reverse mortgage
Once you select the right mortgage for your situation, you can explore, step-by-step, how to get the best possible deal. Mortgages For Dummies, Second Edition also covers the following topics and more:
- Determining your borrowing power
- Qualifying for a mortgage
- Locating and selecting a loan
- Finding the best lender and options
- Tackling loan paperwork
- Refinancing and other money makers
For most of us, the mortgage field is jammed with jargon and fraught with fiscal pitfalls. It’s up to you to seek the knowledge necessary to make your mortgage process more rewarding. This handy guide shows you everything you need to know to find your way through the home financing jungle and make the best decisions possible.
The Pre-Foreclosure Real Estate Handbook: Insider Secrets to Locating and Purchasing Pre-Foreclosed Properties in Any Market
by Frankie Orlando
from Atlantic Publishing Company (FL)
The Pre-Foreclosure Real Estate Handbook explains everything you need to know to locate and purchase real estate bargains from banks, public auctions, and other sources. Whether you are a first-time homeowner or an experienced property investor, The Pre-Foreclosure Real Estate Handbook is a tremendous guide for buying pre-foreclosed homes in any market. You will learn the simple formula (developed from real-life experience) that can build massive wealth through real estate foreclosures.
The Federal Reserve Bank indicates"....that foreclosed properties average 22% less than typical properties."
Home foreclosures are at their highest peak in years; you can be one of the thousands earning six-figure incomes in this lucrative segment of the real estate marketplace. You can do this part-time or full-time. Learn how to buy directly from property owners whose mortgage loans are in default and stay away from courthouse-bidding feuds. With the help of this new book, property investing can be a very lucrative line of work. You will learn how to identify the most valuable properties and control every step of the procedure.
We spent thousands of hours interviewing, e-mailing, and communicating with hundreds of today's most successful real estate investors. If you are interested in learning hundreds of hints, tricks, and secrets on how to make money (or more money) investing in real estate foreclosures, then this book is for you!
The Pre-Foreclosure Real Estate Handbook is the resource for novices and pros alike; it will guide you through every step of the process including finding properties, negotiating, and closing on your first deal. This new exhaustively researched book will arm you with hundreds of innovative ideas that you can put to use right away. This book gives you the proven strategies, innovative ideas, and case studies from experts to help you get more with less time and effort.
How to Succeed in Commercial Real Estate
by John L. Bowman
from Mesa House Publishing
How to Succeed in Commercial Real Estate is a comprehensive, practical book for those considering entering the field of commercial real estate, those just beginning in the business, as well as experienced brokers and sales managers who want to evaluate and strengthen their current strategies—especially those related to listings, negotiations, contracts, and sales.
The author provides a straightforward overview of the business of selling commercial property, including coverage of the four main specialty areas -retail, office, industrial, and investment—as well as crossovers and emerging specialties. Rather than pumping a "get rich quick" approach to selling, the author shows brokers that they don't have to sacrifice integrity and ethics to remain competitive and deal oriented. The book includes detailed coverage of
• Choosing a company and a specialty that's a good fit for you.
• Sales strategies and sales points specific to commercial real estate, including practical suggestions for countering other brokers.
• The importance of focusing on exclusive listings, how to find and get the best prospects, and the most effective strategies for marketing the property.
• Standard parts and points of negotiation for contracts and forms, including earnest money agreements, leases, options, listings, counter offers, and fee schedules.
• Rent and how it is calculated and quoted, including triple net, modified net, gross, and full service leases.
• Technical knowledge including agency, law, appraisal, taxation, zoning, surveys, environmental investigations, investment analysis, risk comparison, exchanges, financing, and property management.
•The pros and cons of going independent and how to decide if it's the right move for you.
Written in an engaging, straight-talk style, the author shares a wealth of other practical knowledge reaped from 30 years in the business.
How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner Second Edition
by Christine Hrib-Karpinski
from Kinney Pollack Press
How to Sell Your Home in 5 Days: Third Edition
by Bill G. Effros
from Workman Publishing Company
The proof is in the testimonials that have arrived by the thousands: "This is a really great book. It's simple. It's straightforward. We read it. We ran our ad. We got over 100 telephone calls. We sold our home."—John Henke, Boise, ID. "Our real estate broker was green with envy. In 5 days we got 24 bids higher than the highest bid she got us in 11 1/2 years. You're our hero!"—Elizabeth & Tim Hunter, South Berwick, ME. "I had a business opportunity I couldn't take advantage of unless I sold my home immediately. I saw your book in a bookstore and sold my home the next weekend. Thanks!"—Doug Walker, Salt Lake City, UT. "Thanks to your system I sold my home in 5 days at $1.26 million. You saved me $78,000 in real estate commission!"—V., Potomac, MD.
Now in its third edition and timed perfectly to address a challenging real estate market, How to Sell Your Home in 5 Days turns the conventional on its head to present an innovative, practical, and foolproof alternative that makes the market work for you, the seller. Based on the one basic truth of free enterprise—that your home is worth exactly what the highest bidder will pay for it— this step-by-step plan shows exactly how to price your home attractively; make a timetable; write an effective ad; use buyer psychology, price points, and magic numbers to get the best price; and conduct round-robin bidding. It includes new information on the Internet—including a supporting website, www.5-day.com—the most recent testimonials, and updates to every phase of the process, from whether or not to renovate a kitchen before selling to the ins and outs of transferring ownership. Homes sold through the five-day plan sell for an average of 5% more than through conventional sales, plus, the seller doesn't have to pay a broker's fee—making this book among the best deals of the century.
The First-Time Homeowner's Handbook: A Complete Guide and Workbook for the First-Time Home Buyer (Book & CD-ROM)
by Atlantic Publishing Company
from Atlantic Publishing Company
The procedure of buying a home can be a scary experience. There are a lot of people to deal with, from realtors to attorneys to bankers. There's tons of paperwork with terms and vocabulary that read like a foreign language. In this new book you will find vital information and great strategies that will allow you to find your dream home faster and feel confident about the purchase. You will learn to avoid some of the most prevalent—and potentially dangerous and expensive—mistakes made by first-time home buyers.
According to Money Magazine, "Over the past five years, home values nationally have risen 65 percent while the stock market has fallen." Now is the time to get into the real estate marketplace. With the help of this comprehensive new guide, you will learn how to find the best opportunities, negotiating, financing, budgets, needs and wants, credit reports, home-buying timeline, the process of building a house, manufactured homes, real estate and mortgage glossaries, setting values, home warranties, homeowners insurance, creative financing, buying with little or no money down, closing, moving plans, walk-throughs, closing and settlement inspections, legal contracts, mortgages, what you can afford, deciding which neighborhood to choose, hiring a realtor, which government agencies can help, considerations for veterans, IRA use, hiring an attorney, the offer, calculating monthly payments, and escrow.
This comprehensive resource contains a wealth of modern tips and strategies for financing and closing on a property. The author shows readers how to find out how much they're really worth, how to uncover unknown assets, and how to enhance credit ratings within six months, provides information and suggestions on everything from no-down-payment mortgages to finding the right agent. It leads you down the path to home ownership, one step at a time. Though you may be relatively cash-poor or have a less-than-perfect credit rating, you can acquire a mortgage and find the house you've always wanted.
301 Simple Things You Can Do to Sell Your Home Now and for More Money Than You Thought: How to Inexpensively Reorganize, Stage, and Prepare Your Home for Sale
by Teri B. Clark
from Atlantic Publishing Company (FL)
Numerous studies show that a house that is well polished on the surface and staged properly will appeal to more buyers, sell faster, and most importantly for more money. You may not be able to improve the market value of your house, but you can improve its marketability. Remember: first impressions count the most. Home Staging is the art of decorating a home to sell fast and for the highest amount. Home stage experts and consultants get thousands of dollars to do what you can easily do inexpensively, with little or no money. Keep in mind this important fact: the way you live in your home and the way you market it for sale are two very different things. In this groundbreaking new book you will learn how small color changes will increase your home s value, minor repairs and de-cluttering tricks, how to rearrange your furniture and art work, decorating tips and ideas, how to look at your house from the buyer's viewpoint, how to add minor accessories, which items stay and what must go, which minor changes will bring you the greatest return, how to bring out a home's best features, table settings, candles, what photos must go and which ones stay, how to minimize problem areas, how to position your house for the marketplace, what music to play, what scents to spray, how to use design psychology techniques, lighting techniques, landscaping secrets, what to do with garages, basements and attics, what color you should never use, how to ensure a positive traffic flow through rooms, how to use mirrors and natural light, and much more. This brand new exhaustively researched book is the ultimate resource for novices and pros alike; it will guide you through every step of the process with hundreds of innovative ideas that you can put to use right away. This book gives you the proven strategies and innovative ideas used by the expert s everyday that you can easily do your self. The book also includes a full-color insert packed with photos of before and after shots!
+++
