Home Buying for Dummies [Paperback]

Eric Tyson (Author), Ray Brown (Author)

Book Description

Series: For Dummies (Computer/Tech) | Publication Date: February 2, 2001

This new edition of America's # 1 best-selling real estate book takes the pain out of choosing, negotiating for, and buying a home. Helping home buyers save time and money, personal finance guru Eric Tyson and real estate maven Ray Brown deliver the up-to-date information people need, showing them how to:
* Research neighborhoods and home values
* Select the best mortgage-including the latest developments
* Understand the pros and cons of buying different types of housing
* Assemble the right team for putting the deal together
* Negotiate the best price and terms

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

"If you are considering buying a home, don't fail to read this excellent new book." Robert J. Bruss, Syndicated Real Estate Columnist "This is a reference you'll turn to time after time." St. Petersburg Times Praise for Home Buying For Dummies^® "Invaluable information, especially for the first time home buyer." — Fort Worth Star-Telegram "A favorite…. Fun reading and informative." — Minneapolis Star Tribune "Objective, down-to-earth…. A book I wish I'd read before purchasing my first lemon-of-a-home." — Wilmington News Journal

America's bestselling real estate book!

Packed with tips on how to negotiate a great deal

Bewildered by real estate mumbo jumbo? Relax! From getting your finances in order to bidding on a property and closing the deal, bestselling real estate authors Eric Tyson and Ray Brown walk you through the entire home-buying process — and show you step-by-step how to come out on top.

Discover how to: Determine how much home you can afford Select the right type of mortgage Work with agents, brokers, lenders, and lawyers Research neighborhoods and home values Negotiate the best price and terms

Get smart! www.dummies.com Register to win cool prizes Browse exclusive articles and excerpts Get a free Dummies Daily^™ e-mail newsletter Chat with authors and preview other books Talk to us, ask questions, get answers --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 2 edition (February 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764553313
• ISBN-13: 978-0764553318
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #241,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > Business & Investing > Real Estate > Mortgages

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

222 of 225 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the book I used most often, March 22, 2002

By 

BookGuy (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home Buying for Dummies (Paperback)

I just successfully bought my first house. I shopped Amazon.com and bought half-a-dozen "how to" books for buying a house before I started my search. I was buying this house on my own, and had no one to rely on for hand-holding or expert advice. I also had a lot of qualms about the whole process. Out of all the books I bought, this was the one I kept going back to. It's typical of a "Dummies" book in that it doesn't give you too much unusable knowledge, but--coversely--it also doesn't drill down to the nth degree on any one topic. This is okay, though. With the usual high-quality editing that goes into most "Dummies" books, this one is very easy to read. It talks about who to hire (e.g., real estate agent, mortgage broker, etc.), how to go about hiring them, how to go about getting a mortgage, what are the ins-and-outs of mortgages, how to get a down-payment together, and--I thought--most importantly; how to budget yourself in preparation for homeownership. This part on figuring out what you spend as a renter and what you think you'll spend as a homeowner helps you decide how much of a house you can afford, and, in my experience, this is one of the big mysteries of buying your first house. Overall, the book is comforting, reliable [now that I'm in a house, I can see that the advice was good], and well organized. If you don't know much about how to buy a house, this is a fine start and a trustworthy source of information.

83 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for new buyers, February 16, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Home Buying for Dummies (Paperback)

This book is amazing. I never considered buying a "for Dummies" series book because I thought they would be overly simplisitic, but this book proved me wrong. The authors do an awesome job of presenting just enough detail on every aspect of buying a home- I kept catching myself having a questions, then reading on to the net chapter and finding the answer. You may be tempted to skip around from chapter to chapter, but I've found that reading this book from the beginning is almost necessary since things like understanding which mortgage to get and how much of a house you want are all dependant on answers you arrive at in early chapters. I've just finished the book and feel well prepared and educated to tackle the house-hunting task now. A definite read.

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly Suprised, June 13, 2005

By 

Home Buyer "Ron" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Home Buying for Dummies (Paperback)

I had purchased this book as well as The Idiots Guide for Buying a Home and was pretty impressed with Home Buying for Dummies. It was well organized, very readable and had very useful information that my parents wouldn't have told me. Some notworthy examples of how practical this book was include:
1. consider a tax free money market account to invest your down payment while you save depending on your tax bracket. Names of possible accounts were included.
2. Roth IRAs allow you to borrow against them tax free for the down payment as a first time home buyer.
3. What to consider for watching a housing market....
To name a few.

The Idiots Guide was an absolute waste of money. One of the reviewers here posted that Dummies was patronizing -- the Idiots guide was truely insulting. It actually seemed like a bad rippoff of the Dummies book, not to mention the font was twice as big and double spaced. I would have returned it if my spouse hadn't written in it. If you want it, look in the used books section...

I have to agree with another reviewer that some of the content is covered in other Dummies books like Personal Finances for Dummies -- but having the salient points repeated in the context of home buying was helpful. I dont have the other Dummies books mentioned so for me, the redundency between books was minimal.

Go with the Dummies book. Its an excellent intro to buying a home!