Customer Reviews

The 106 Common Mistakes Homebuyers Make (and How to Avoid Them)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Having spent several hours in B&N reading through the many different books on homebuying, we bought this one and Dummies. 106 Mistakes turned out to be the best by far. It gave us far more concrete examples concerning everything from mortgages to inspection to homeowner associations. In addition, it really helped us understand how to evaluate the appraisal as wellas the investment potential of the homes and neighborhoods we were considering. Eldred's experience and expertise seems to stand head and shoulders above the others. Plus, this book is the most entertaining to read. Don't look for a home without it.

Having read a pile of homebuying books, I would rate this one tops for six reasons:(1) The author clearly knows what he is talking about from experience--unlike too many authors who are primarily journalist or biased real estate agents.(2) It's easy and fun to read. (3) It gives dozens of ways to buy with little or even nothing down. (4) It reveals scams and tricks that real estate and mortgage "profesionals" use to fleece the unknowing. (5)The author knows real estate across the country--not just in California or other specific locales(i.e., too many HB books are written by writers who don't seem to know that Chicago or San Francisco aren't the areas where most people are buying). (6)Unbelivebly, the author lists his telephone number and email in the book so as to invite comments and questions. I queried and he called and talked 20 minutes to adress my concerns. And no, he didn't charge me or try to sell me any more books and tapes.

Great book, fun to read. Really gives you the inside info to make sure your realtor, mortgage lender, and lawyer aren't taking you for a ride. I read four books on homebuying (Dummies, 100 Questions, Tips and Traps) and got more down-to-earth practical advice from 106 Mistakes than all the others combined. If you like real life examples instead of vague generalities, you'll find that this book delivers the advice you need. At least it did for us!

Last October(2001), we had locked in a rate at rock bottom (6.25%) for 30 days. Rates started to climb and our mortgage broker began dragging her feet. Almost each day, we got a new request for more documents, verifications, or explanations. But when we got almost ready to close on the 28th day, the broker told us the sellers (or we) would have to make a $117 plumbing repair before we could settle. Of course, that delay would cost us our lock and we would be forced to take a new rate of around 7.0%. Fortunately, because we had read this book, we strongly suspected what was really happening. We were about to become victims of a false rate lock. But we knew what to do. We raised holy heck. We threatened complaints with every regulatory agency that even remotely was concerned with mortgages. We got our 6.25%. But if we hadn't been warned ahead of time by 106 Mistakes, we would probably have just capitulated. We wouldn't have known any better. So, this book saved us big bucks.

I read this book in conjunction with "Home Buying for Dummies" and while it gave the better examples of what could go wrong - it did not give enough information on how to avoid and/or solve the errors.

I really enjoyed reading the true life experiences other home buyers had. The book tells you what to look out for but it just did not give enough information on how to fix the problem. Maybe the next edition can expand more on the "fix it" portion.

Want to make sure your Realtor doesn't steer you wrong-either through dishonesty or ignorance? READ THIS BOOK. As a Realtor myself, I see the dark side of our business all too often. "Make the sale, pocket the commission" rules the mindset of most agents. Why do I want homebuyers to read 106 Mistakes? Because it means more business for straightshooting sales professionals(like myself) and less business for the mindless many with whom I have to compete.

Even though we're experienced homebuyers(4 homes in 22 years), on the advice of a friend we bought this book and one of Eldred's other books. Both were full of information and tips that caused us to investigate our home purchase with far more detail. Having been burned twice in the past, we figured " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." We were not disappointed. We reccomend this book not only for first-time buyers, but also to "pros" like us who have realized that even serial homebuyers need to pay attention to potential mistakes that are all to easy to make.

Gary Eldred, The 106 Common Mistakes Home Buyers Make (Wiley, 2002)

Reading this on the heels of Ilyce Glink's book may not have been a good idea, or it may have been a great one. I'm not sure yet. The two mostly cover the same ground, though Eldred never even brings up the possibility of buying a home without a realtor (Glink glosses over it), and Eldred does get into a little more detail about a few things. He also has a more cynical attitude towards the subject than Glink, but then looking at the books' titles alone should convey that well enough.

A good adjunct, but not sure it would be as good a stand-alone tome; Eldred misses a few beats in telling you the options you have while he's too busy shutting the door on the options you should avoid. Best read in tandem with Glink. *** ½

I was totally new at buying a home. We rented for 14 years, one of the worse mistakes in my life. This book helped me tremendously to understand what buying a house entailed, how to go about it and what to look for. I fully agree with Eldred's position of the biggest mistake anyone can make is not buying any house and continue to pay rent. I followed alot of the ideas he shares in my home search and I found a great buy in a solid neighborhood and I was able to do it with very little money down. This book does not give you all the ins and outs of financing a home but this along with a couple of other books on financing will be a great resource to buying a first home. There are alot of things you need to know. I know many homeowners that did not understand what was going on and why, since their agent did not feel it important enough to inform them. Reading this book helped me find the right agent so that did not happen to me and gave me a clear understanding of the entire process and what to look for.

We have lived in our home for over a year now, our escrow went up but i knew that would happen because I learned to ask the right questions but buying a home has been one of the best thing our family has ever done and we do not regret it one bit. This book, a good agent and mortgage broker that I could trust helped us tremendously.

If you need motivational material, this is for you. This is written for someone who is dragging their feet and does not want to buy a home. The 'for Dummies' series if far better if you want to learn something about buying.

About 12 "mistakes" deal with how renting is a waste of money. If you are shopping for a book about buying - you probably don't need 50 pages of 'you're throwing your money away by renting'.

Mistake #20 states the stock market is over valued, so real estate is a better investment.
1) "outsized returns during several decades of times must be offset by low returns over the decades to follow."
2) US GDP grows at just 3% a year - therefore, the stock market has to follow this trend. Anything over it (like the last 50 years of precedent) must be an economic bubble.
3) "When you invest in a home, you gain the magic and wealth-building power of leverage"
seriously, that's what it says. So cash out your retirement! 50 years of stock market growth is nonsense. That's what this book tells you.

The book promotes interest only loans. Page 265 is about a "strategy to qualify" for a loan. Praising a mortgage broker who says, "If you don't qualify, then I'm going to see what I can do to make you qualify." Same broker states, if she turned people down for not meeting Fannie Mae's guidline ratio's, she "wouldn't earn enough to make my own mortgage payments" This book recommends finding a broker like this.
Google "subprime lending" if you don't see the err here.

It just continues to babble as the pages read on. Not Married? Buy with a friend! Take in housemates. Work overtime or take on a second job. Find a higher paying job. And my favorite, "Put your spouse or kids to work"

I bought this book because I intend to buy. I already read and learned a from 'homebuying for dummies' which is a fact driven, educational read. I feel ripped off that I paid for this book and it's telling me to get a better job, put my wife to work, so I can buy a house, so I can be rich. I already WANT to buy, which makes 95% of this book B.S. for me.

there were only two "mistakes" in this book that I've heard of. First, smaller homes appreciate in value faster than larger homes (so, over time, a small house would cost more than a large home?). Second, it makes an argument for a condo as an invesment where I've always heard single family residential homes make better investments.

Sorry for the spoiler.