The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home (The Unofficial Guide Series) [Paperback]

Alan Perlis (Author), Beth Bradley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Unofficial Guides | Publication Date: December 9, 1998

It's typically the biggest expense you will encounter in a lifetime. The right choice can make you ecstatic, and the wrong one can leave you burdened beyond belief. Buying a home requires extensive information; the more you know increases the chances that you'll live there happily ever after. The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home presents readers with unbiased, street-smart advice that helps them assess their options. How much home can you afford? How do you find a realtor? Where should you buy? What type of mortgage should you apply for? How do you make sense of all those fees? And how do you make certain that you're really purchasing your home sweet home? This is the first guide to truly address the anxiety that goes along with the purchase of a lifetime.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Buying a home is typically the biggest expense one will encounter in a lifetime. The right choice can make you ecstatic, and the wrong one can leave you burdened beyond belief. Buying a home requires extensive information; the more you know increases the chanes that you'll live there happily ever.

From the Back Cover

The inside scoop…for when you want more than the official line! No matter what your dream home looks like—from a quaint bungalow to a sprawling mansion—turning your dream into a reality is a daunting task. You have to figure out what you want and know what you can afford—and that's before you even start looking for a home to buy! How do you find a home that will make your whole family happy? You need to be informed every step of the way—from calculating your budget to negotiating the deal and handling the closing. You want the inside scoop. The Unofficial Guide^™ to Buying a Home gives savvy consumers like you a foolproof appraisal of which homebuying techniques work and which don't—with unbiased recommendations that are not influenced by any company, product, or organization. This book, like every Unofficial Guide^™, is intensively inspected by the Unofficial Panel of Experts, a team of highly respected realestate experts. They ensure that you are armed with the most up-to-date insider information on buying a home and are told exactly what the Official establishment doesn't want you to know. Vital Information that other sources can't or won't reveal—from what really motivates sellers, brokers, loan officers, and other key players in the homebuying game, to how to work most effectively with your agent. Insider Secrets on how to make real estate law work in your favor. Money-Saving Techniques that show you how to take advantage of tax deductions, and how to time your search to exploit seasonal variations in the market. Time-Saving Tips on streamlining the homebuying process so you get the most done in the least amount of time. The Latest Trends in homebuying, including how to use the Internet for your home search. Handy Checklists and Charts to help you determine and stick to your budget.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (December 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028624610
• ISBN-13: 978-0028624617
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,883,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It explains everything from shopping till moving in, September 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home (The Unofficial Guide Series) (Paperback)

The unoffical guide is definetly unoffical. It is the only book I have found that explains the home buying as a professional friend would. It contains a copy of the actual documents the banks and mortgage brokers use. The process takes you through the steps of getting prepared physically and mentally, financial aspects,what to shop for, closing, then moving in and fixing it up. It's the only book I've read that gives specific details of how to fix or work with credit problems. If you are a first time or any time buyer I strongly suggest the unoffical guide to buying a home.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done..., February 22, 2002

By 

Doug J (Solon, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home (The Unofficial Guide Series) (Paperback)

The best of the four home-buying books I read or skimmed. The key is that it is unbiased and written from the buyer's perspective, usually with humor. Most other books are not. Exposes a lot of the unseen motives from the various players in the process, particularly real estate agents. Has lots of useful tips and is more comprehensive than most similar books.

It looks like the home real estate industry is changing rapidly with the MLS/Internet and discount realtors popping up. It seems I've seen more "for sale by owner" signs and/or discount realtor signs than standard realtor signs during my recent home search. It is clear that it no longer costs a realtor 5-7% of home price to market a house with Internet (especially expensive ones), so something has to give somewhere. They ought to update this book every few years.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to make the very most of your home purchase!, January 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home (The Unofficial Guide Series) (Paperback)

Read "The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home" before you go house-hunting and you'll save time and money and avoid a lot of headaches. The author provides a crystal-clear, enjoyably readable, step-by-step, logical approach to home buying. His menu of financing options is astonishingly comprehensive, and he even explains how the reader can determine the amount of mortgage he/she can afford. You won't get bamboozled by all the hype you might hear from loan officers (as I did the last time the last time I bought a home). The insider information I got from this book was fantastic -- and easy to understand!

Even though I've now bought my dream home with the aid of this book, Perlis's suggestions keep coming to the forefront. I'm following the book's advice on how to maintain an older home, how to make space more functional, and how to maximize my home's value with a minimum of cash. As with everything else in this book, the author is right on target.

(By the way, the correct title is "The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home," not "Your First Home," as Amazon advertises. In fact, any homebuyer, however experienced, will find this a most helpful and valuable book.)