Buying Solo: The Single Woman's Guide to Buying a First Home [Paperback]

Vanessa Summers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2005

Buying a home is an excellent investment, and more and more women are taking the plunge--with or without Mr. Right. Financial expert Vanessa Summers tells women how to do it-even if they have less-than-perfect credit or no extra cash for a down payment.

Readers will get the inside scoop on:

- Why a home is the best investment a single woman can make
- How even the credit-challenged can buy
- How much monthly mortgage they can afford on their salary
- How to find a great real estate agent and the best deals
- The art of "Trump-like" negotiation and closing the deal

Packed with practical, savvy advice, Buying Solo is the must-have guide for any woman who realizes that building equity and investing in herself isn't just smart, it's essential.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Vanessa Summers is a former stockbroker, a Registered Investment Advisor, a money coach, and the author of Get in the Game!: The Girl's Guide to Money & Investing. CNBC calls her the "Financial Guru" of the MTV generation and Glamour magazine named her their very own "Money Model." She is also the founder of the nonprofit Sutra Foundation, dedicated to providing financial education to young women.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Perigee Trade (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399530762
• ISBN-13: 978-0399530760
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,472,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally -- a real estate book for me., March 22, 2005

By 

shelz123 "shelz123" (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buying Solo: The Single Woman's Guide to Buying a First Home (Paperback)

I've tried going in the real estate section of the bookstore before, but every book I picked up was either for married couples, or for people who make a whole lot more money than I do. That's why this book is so different -- it really made me believe that as a single woman I can buy a house on my own. Really fun to read, and really great information.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informational, but title does not suit content..., August 27, 2006

By 

Rita Thakur "First Time Home Buyer" (Northern VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buying Solo: The Single Woman's Guide to Buying a First Home (Paperback)

Buying Solo was the first book I read on home-buying. There were helpful tables given to calculate morgtage payments and affordability factors, but nothing that you couldn't find online or in other books. I'm not sure how many books regarding this topic the other reviewers read, but I was surprised to see so many gave this book five stars.

I read this book from cover to cover and only recall one page that suggested this was a book for women to buy solo. I can sum it up for you in one sentence: Be confident, don't let the realtors break your spirit just because they have more faith in couples with twice the income.

Otherwise it's all the same material as all other home-buying books.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good information, June 19, 2006

By 

Elizabeth Casebeer "Lizzz" (Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Buying Solo : The Single Woman's Guide to Buying a First Home (Paperback)

As a single woman buying my first home, I jumped at this book and was not disappointed. Upon reading it, however, I realized I am not as clueless about real estate as I had previously assumed. I gave Ms. Summers the benefit of the doubt, however, and figured she included information I believe the general population is already aware of, to ensure EVERY person who reads it is (no pun intended), "On the same page."

I DID learn, however, just how much money during your first year of mortgage rates actually goes towards the principal (you might be surprised!) I also loved how she explained what kind of house you can buy without belitting the readers (presumably nearly all single women, of course.) After spending a week with a male chauvinist realtor, whom I subsequently fired, thanks, I felt a nice breath of fresh air with this book, as I felt all my "dumb" questions were answered thoroughly.

This lady knows what she is talking about, and it's worth a buy. The small size of the book demonstrates Ms. Summers is not about "padding" in order to make herself appear smarter or to overwhelm people.