Customer Reviews

The Complete Kit to Selling Your Own Home: Smart, Fast and for Top Dollar

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When we decided to sell our own home, we thought it would be wise to get advice from an attorney. Well, we found it where we least expected: from a book written by Joseph DiBlasi, Attorney at Law. This book taught us to determine the value of our home, when to advertise, how to negotiate, and - last but not least - how to prepare the right contract. DiBlasi must be a very experienced real estate attorney. Go by his advice! It helped us tremendously.

From start to finish, this book takes the reader by the hand and methodically explains each and every step that a person needs to know and do in order to sell a home without a broker. Jam-packed with practical, useful information and well-researched advice. Experienced brokers should even read this book!

I bought this book in part because its "attorney" author made it stand out from the pack. I hoped it would deal with potential legal pitfalls and issues related to FSBO. Instead, it's a very, very basic mishmash of tips crying out for a good developmental edit. The text is disorganized, annoyingly phrased, and light on content (it takes a large typeface and a lot of subheads to stretch it to 170 pp). If you've bought real estate, or read a major metropolitan newspaper, you don't need this book.

Sample sentence (p.45): "A well-done _For Sale_ sign will hopefully grab the attention of the passers-by."

Buy it, and here's what you'll learn: That "Balc" in a newspaper ad means "Balcony" (p.47). That (under the heading "The Right Sunday Newspaper") "there typically is one newspaper in your area that is considered _the_ place to advertise a home for sale" (p.61). That if a buyer presents you with an offer, you should say "I need to discuss this with my wife" (p.77). That the following are good words to use when writing an ad: "pristine, spacious, tree-studded, bright, flawless, and most-desirable" (p.41).

It's particularly annoying that all the "vocabulary words" throughout the text re in italics, even when they're words like "contact information," "realtor," or "stuff" (as in, "most people accumulate more _stuff_ than they will ever use," p.157). Often words are italicized for no reason, as in this mangled marketing tip: "...many people send _photo postcards_ of their family or children. These photo postcards tell a _thousand words_ updating friends and family visually with the picture."

this book is awesome!!! it goes through every detail big and small, and the reasoning behind each and every one. this allows for each individual to make an informed decision on whether or not selling their own home is the right decision for them. it provides a realistic picture of what the process entails and of what lays ahead. this book is the equivalent of a honest and trusted friend which we all know is rare in the world of real estate....