What is a prospective homebuyer to do in 2010 following the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression? The aftershocks of the housing crisis still find the economy reeling. Real estate professionals and consumers posture for millions more foreclosures, increasingly complicated short sales negotiations, and stricter lending standards.
"There has never been a better time to shop for financing," declares author Ilyce Glink, if you can pass the muster of credit and run the gauntlet of new lending benchmarks.
"BUY, CLOSE, MOVE IN!" (Harper Paperbacks 2010) holds a prism to the 2010 real estate market and casts a wide-ranging, holistic spectrum of the home buying process, for both primary homes and investment properties. Author Ilyce Glink is a best-selling real estate writer with almost a million books in print. Her new book unravels the mystery of the cabal that brought housing to its knees. Her explanation is simple and elegant, and she ties it to readers' expectations and specific, ordered action plans.
It's time to clear the shelves of outdated get-rich-quick real estate books and dusty infomercial CDs. Glink's book promises to show readers "How to Navigate the New World of Real Estate - Safety and Profitably - and End Up with the Home of Your Dreams." The book delivers on her promise from one chapter ("Ten Things That Have Changed in Real Estate, Ten Things That Haven't") to the next ("What Buyers Need to Know Now") ... and the next ("The New World of Mortgage Finance") ... and the next.
"It isn't that a few things have changed; the whole industry seems to have been upended by the collapse of the housing bubble. One thing that hasn't changed is that in order to play the real estate game well - including buying, financing, and closing on your new home - you must know the rules." ~ (Excerpt)
My favorite chapter is "Identifying Amazing Opportunities: Short Sales, Foreclosures, Fix-And-Flips, and Buy-And-Holds." Glink talks candidly about the emotional aspects of buying foreclosures and short sales, offers keen insight into the auction process, calculating the cost of improvements, and why there are different strokes for different folks.
Glink lays out the rules of the new financial order, and she shares recent anecdotes attesting to the soundness of her plan. Novice investors see opportunities in short sales and foreclosures. Using safe, legal, and common sense reasoning, one young couple builds a portfolio of several million dollars of real estate equity in 18 months. There is no sleight of hand, no rules bending, no secret formulas. This is not the chicanery of adrenaline-pumping, late-night TV real estate gurus.
Glink does not subscribe to popular blame games. Other members of the working press point accusing fingers at real estate agents and lenders for their high crimes and misdemeanors in the financial crisis. Real estate agents and brokers indict the press as chief evildoers, and lenders are quick to point to buyers' greed. The author presents historical facts in a measured tone leading to homebuyer action plans.
"BUY, CLOSE, MOVE IN!" fills a void on book store reading shelves in a market where extreme changes in lending culture render most real estate "how-to" books uselessly dated. Glink brilliantly mixes the right measure of longstanding good real estate sense with sound advice about dealing with new demands on the buying public.
Glink's advice for new age investors mirrors sage real estate advice of the last 20 years. Consumers will appreciate comprehensive discussion of the home buying process - setting a bar for expectation, negotiation strategies with sellers and with banks, choosing a real estate professional with savvy in niche markets, shopping for mortgage financing. At each juncture, Glink offers a range of choices for custom tailoring a real estate team and plan, honoring the notion that real estate is not a one-size-fits-all financial solution.
Real estate agents and brokers and mortgage lenders will appreciate the way Glink frames the decision making process. If they are smart, realty pros will order this book by the box, keep one copy for personal use, and share the rest with their clients and customers. "BUY, CLOSE, MOVE IN!" makes a strong case to consumers finding a good real estate agent partner to share their journey and help them navigate the changing currents in a fluid market.
It's about time consumers can reach for a real estate book that is complete, easy to read, up to date, and fosters smart choices!
