How to Buy a House with No (or Little) Money Down, 3rd Edition [Paperback]

Martin M. Shenkman (Author), Warren Boroson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2001

The Ultimate guide to finding and financing a home

Almost everyone aspires to owning a home, but the reality of coming up with a large enough down payment often stands in the way of making that dream come true. No longer! How to Buy a House with No (or Little) Money Down has helped tens of thousands become homeowners, and now it's your turn!

Financing your dream home can be possible even if you never thought you could. This completely updated and expanded Third Edition shows you how. Even if you are relatively cash-poor or have a less-than-perfect credit rating, real estate and financial experts Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, JD, and Warren Boroson can help you obtain a mortgage and find the house you've always wanted--with expert guidance through all the confusing legal and tax issues involved. Featuring new sections on choosing an agent, using the Internet to search for an agent and a house, and how to win the bidding war, this clear, nontechnical guide tells you how to:
* Make seller financing the ticket to your dream home
* Take advantage of equity sharing, equity kicker mortgages, and other esoteric techniques
* Use lease options to build equity while renting
* Apply for and obtain fha, va, family, and other loans you may qualify for
* Inspect a house from top to bottom, inside and out
* Bargain with a seller and save a bundle
* And much, much more


You can obtain a down payment and get the most house for your buck--simply read How to Buy a House with No (or Little) Money Down and start making your dream a reality!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Ultimate guide to finding and financing a home

Almost everyone aspires to owning a home, but the reality of coming up with a large enough down payment often stands in the way of making that dream come true. No longer! How to Buy a House with No (or Little) Money Down has helped tens of thousands become homeowners, and now it's your turn!

Financing your dream home can be possible even if you never thought you could. This completely updated and expanded Third Edition shows you how. Even if you are relatively cash-poor or have a less-than-perfect credit rating, real estate and financial experts Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, JD, and Warren Boroson can help you obtain a mortgage and find the house you've always wanted—with expert guidance through all the confusing legal and tax issues involved. Featuring new sections on choosing an agent, using the Internet to search for an agent and a house, and how to win the bidding war, this clear, nontechnical guide tells you how to:

• Make seller financing the ticket to your dream home
• Take advantage of equity sharing, equity kicker mortgages, and other esoteric techniques
• Use lease options to build equity while renting
• Apply for and obtain fha, va, family, and other loans you may qualify for
• Inspect a house from top to bottom, inside and out
• Bargain with a seller and save a bundle
• And much, much more

You can obtain a down payment and get the most house for your buck—simply read How to Buy a House with No (or Little) Money Down and start making your dream a reality!

About the Author

MARTIN M. SHENKMAN, CPA, MBA, JD, is a well-known attorney with extensive knowledge of tax law and investments. He is the author of twenty-six books, including How to Sell Your House in a Buyer's Market, Real Estate After Tax Reform, and the previous editions of How to Buy a House with No (or Little) Money Down, all from Wiley.

WARREN BOROSON is an award-winning real estate columnist formerly with the Bergen Record. He has written several bestselling books on mutual funds.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 3 edition (March 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471397318
• ISBN-13: 978-0471397311
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,680,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Martin M. Shenkman, Esq.
Martin M. Shenkman, P.C.
P.O. Box 1300
Tenafly, New Jersey 07670
201-845-8400
[e-mail]


BIOGRAPHY

Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, JD, is an attorney in Paramus, New Jersey and New York City. His practice concentrates on estate planning and administration, tax planning, and corporate law.

Mr. Shenkman was included in Worth Magazines top 100 attorneys in 2007, CPA Magazines Top 50 IRS practitioners in 2008, Top 40 Tax Accountants in 2009, and was the recipient of the New Jersey Bar Association's Alfred C. Clapp Award in 2008.

He is a source for numerous financial publications including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Money, and The New York Times. He has appeared on numerous television shows including The Today Show, CNN, NBC Evening News, CNBC, MSNBC, and CNN-FN .

He has published 36 books and 700+ articles. His recent books include Estate Planning for People with Chronic Illness and Disabilities (Demos); Estate and Related Planning During Economic Turmoil (AICPA) and Life Cycle Planning for the CPA Practice (AICPA), The Complete Book of Trusts (Wiley), and others.

Mr. Shenkman was named by Worth Magazine as one of the Top 100 attorneys in 2007, by CPA Magazine as one of the top 40 accountants in 2008 and 2009.

He earned a BS in economics - Wharton, MBA - University of Michigan, law degree - Fordham University, and is admitted to the bar in New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. He is a CPA in New Jersey, Michigan, and New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great information, but don't be fooled by the title!, February 8, 2004

By 

J. Sosnowski "Shirey Family" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Buy a House with No (or Little) Money Down, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

As no one had written a review of this book when I purchased it, I bought it based on the title alone; but don't let it fool you. It's not 300 pages on buying a home with little or no money down alone, as I would have thought, and primarily what I bought it for. Most of the chapters are simply about buying a house.

There is helpful and thorough information about figuring out how much house you can afford, credit, tax savings, home owners insurance, mortages, what to look for if inspecting the house yourself, etc. There are also many helpful sample and example forms such as House Closing/Refinance Data and Gift Letters. Also provided are tables that calculate credit ratings, mortages, etc. There are sample lists of what to look for at each viewing and sample tables of how to compare all of the properties. The book is riddled with "Example", "Note", "Caution", and "Tip" asides that help to explain, warn, and advize. Also, at the end of each chapter is a chapter summary, which is nice, because if you're not sure if you need to read the entire chapter or not, you can read the chapter summary first and decide then if you need more information. Each chapter is not set up like a novel either, which is also nice. It's broken down into smaller sections with informative headings so you really don't need to read the entire book to pinpoint the information you want.

One of the most helpful parts of this book is the glossary in the back of the book. We are first time home buyers, and I am not familiar with much of the terminology of home buying, so I found the glossary helpful in understanding what I was reading.

Now to the point of the book, buying a house with little or no money down. There is no "true" way to buy a house with no money down. You still need several thousand dollars in closing fees. There are two chapters in this book about "no" money down. Chapter 7 is called "Mom and Dad (Or a Good Friend) Give the Down Payment" and discusses taxes, shows sample forms to use, and gives tips and examples to help. Chapter 8 is called "Borrow the Downpayment from Family or Friends". This chapter discusses types of loans, interest rates, collateral, security, etc and provides an example of a form you would use if you chose to borrow the money from family or friends.

Chapter 10, "FHA Insured Mortgages", is what I was hoping this book would be all about, because of the title. If you are buying this book soley for information on buying a house with little money down, you will find that this is the most helpful chapter. (In addition to the FHA mortages, the author provides names, numbers, and websites for other agencies to go to that offer 3% or less down payments.) The author discusses how FHA morgages work, how much of a down payment you will need (1.25-2.85% depending on the area), benefits and drawbacks, how to qualify, and probably most importantly, how to obtain one. Just like the rest of the book there are "Tip"s and "Caution"s and tables to help explain.

Although I was disappointed that this book is not ALL about buying a house with little or no money down, as the title implies, there is lots of very useful, helpful, informative information in this book. However, no one book has everything. I would recomend, "100 Questions Every First-TIme Home Buyer Should Ask" by Ilyce R. Glink in addition to this book to any first-time home buyer out there.

Happy House Hunting! :-)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is great to help you think about buying a home, August 7, 2004

By 

R. Neary "Pastor Gadget" (Beaumont, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Buy a House with No (or Little) Money Down, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

As noted by other reviewers, you can not buy a house with absolutely no money down. I did find out that it does not take as much as you think it will take. This book helps you really think about your options and what resources you have and how you can get that down payment. Nothing is absolute in financing for a home there are alot of variables for each state and city. So read this book to help you think differently and then ask questions of friends, family and of course those who are work in the housing market you are looking to buy in.

For me this book really helped me to think differently about how to get my down payment and closing cost. I used some ideas and created my own based upon what I learned.

I have owned my own home now for over a year and it has been one of the best things I have ever done. We did an FHA loan and used other sources to secure the downpayment. We did not use our credit cards, which I disagree with the authors about. I bought a great home in a solid neighborhood and the value of the home has already gone up. I am expecting to refinance my home in 2-4 years and see my mortgage go down. This is such a better deal than paying rent :)