Customer Reviews

Your New House: The Alert Consumer's Guide to Buying and Building a Quality Home

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am an architect and a former building inspector. Over the past few years I have given copies of this book to friends and relatives as they embark on their homebuilding adventure. This book says it like it is and it does not gloss over or romanticize the home building process.

(Yes, its the American Dream, your castle - but is it built on a swamp or will it blow down in the first wind storm? It is also probably your most valuable asset. So how do you keep the dream from becoming a nightmare? Read this book!)

You will learn who all the key parties are, their interests and biases. You learn how to keep control of the project (hey, its your money!)

The humor keeps you reading (and functions as comic relief on those subjects that would drive an uniformed consumer to tears or suicide). The authors have lived the nightmare and allow the reader to learn from their mistakes.

This book is a minor investment realtive to the cost of a new house - you owe it to yourself to buy it and read it before you ever visit a model home, hire an architect, or sit down with a home builder!

This book contains a lot of worthwhile detailed information for anyone who is thinking of building a custom, semi-custom or production home. I do feel that the authors are somewhat biased toward homes in the $200,000. and up price range. The book will initally open your eyes to EVERYTHING that might go wrong. It is important to realize that many of these things may not occur. If you take everything in this book at face value, you probably would never build a home!

I am a researcher by nature and looked high and low for what ending up being this book. It is, by far, the best to be found anywhere. Armed with the hints and checklists this book provides gives you confidence in a very intimidating process. You'll read things that point out areas you never would have considered...but are extremly important.

I am a young architect in the Southwest (Phoenix) where homebuilding is booming. I also just bought my first home. Part of my job as an architect is to perform construction inspection. I have seen some amazing things done to buildings / and homes that never would have been caught if myself or another keen eyed inspector had noticed. This book perfectly defines the roles of all parties involved in home buying & construction. And this book removed some of my fears of being a first-time home buyer.

I purchased this book about 5 days ago; I read about 60% of it to date. While the book is (arguably) weak in some areas and, though surely well meaning, some of the advice simply will not work insofar as trying to control the monies (handling draws!) when dealng with a new home builder, overall the book is an absolute "must" for the new home buyer.
I feel it should be made clear that a builder who absconds with a customer's monies will likely be prosecuted for fraud under a criminal statute or under one legal theory or another. Still, this book is a Gold Mine for anyone contemplating running the new home construction gauntlet. The authors should be commended for what they brought to the public vis a vis this really great book.
Hoping not to sound "dogmatic" or sound like a "pitch man" for this book--I am a TECHNICIAN, not a politician!!--if you are contemplating having a new home built, or, for that matter, if you are contemplating buying a "spec house", this book (along with "Build it Right") is a MUST. The cost is totally, I mean totally insignificant (means it costs you nothing--for all for all practical purposes) in relationship to the cost of a new home and in relationship to the benefit that you should be able to derive from this book. Even assuming that you cannot save any money in dealing within the new home industry at least you will understand better how you have been screwed (if indeed you have been "screwed"!) or indeed it will help you better understand how you have been sized-up and lined-up to get screwed!
We had a new home built here in Michigan and overall I am happy to say that we had a good builder, one who is ethical and who indeed builds a great home (particularly so in view of his prices!). Yet, overall this is not your typical experience.
Buy the book; period! If you cannot "afford" this book then you cannot afford a new house. Trusting this makes Sense!
John A. Tirone
Attorney at law

As other reviews mention, plenty of scary scenarios are recounted -- but with advice on how *you* can avoid them. If you are weighing your options, i.e. considering whether to buy an existing house or build new, this book will be a helpful eye-opener. But I don't think it is a complete, step by step guide for the home builder; you will probably want to use other resources as well.

As a real estate attorney and owner of an exclusive buyer brokerage firm, I recommend this book to clients without reservation. Although the tone may be a bit cynical at times (which is justified at times), you'll know more and be better prepared without a doubt.

Any book that starts out with the following test question is worthy of anyones permanent library:

<Are you ready to buy a new home?>
1. Take this book in your right hand.
2. Postition the spine of the book so that it faces you.
3. Whack yourself in the head three times.

This book is a brutally honest look at real estate agents, the common misconceptions of the home-buying process, and all the other pitfalls first-time buyers might fall into. Alan and Denise walk you through the entire process of buying or building a home with clear and pointed questions for anyone you may bump into during your investment (buyers agent, real estate agent, architects, builders, etc) - the pull-out cheatsheet in the back is a great tool to have around.

The only complaint I have about the book is that there are numerous spelling errors and mistakes in the book that make the reading somewhat difficult - I'd expect this to be better for a 3rd edition. Overall - a top notch read.

Respectfully, the reviewer who purchased several homes and now works w/an architect and builder is to be commended. This area, this business is a learning process: nobody, "not nobody" knows it all; we learn and grow with each Real Estate project we become involved with. For some, hopefully a small few, this book may be "useless", but I can tell you that for most, if not the Lion's Share, the book will add at least one (or more) great points to your knowledge. No, there are no "hidden" gems of wisdom or inside knowledge or instant revelations, and please dont look for them in this book. In that respect I am sorry one reader/ purchaser was disappointed, but you cannot win them all. You need to put this whole process into perspective: for the money, a 1st or maybe even 2nd time home buyer should get his/her/their money out of this book many times over. Frankly, I wish I had written this book (assuming I had the vast experience of these fine authors!) BUT my end of this biz seems to be more so number-crunching. I applaud the authors for a really neat book; thank you and keep them coming: I'll buy the next one (through amazon!).
John A. Tirone

If you're building or buying get this book. It has handy chapters which can help you prevent a lot of the pitfalls in both processes. Not too kind (understatement) to real estate agents in portraying them as leech-like. The editions seem pretty up-to-date with regard to web sites and other resources. This book also explains that Bob Vila is not building your house and it's not a good idea to kill your builder (though they don't rule out killing realty agents). I appreciate most the checklists of do's and don'ts in each process. And, the authors drive home the pluses of having key people on your side from the get-go (your own home inspector, your own realty agent--land purchases, your own attorney, your own etc.) representing your own interests. The contract discussions alone are well worth the small price of this handy and enjoyable book.