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|  | |  | | | Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home (book with CD-Rom & Audio) | | | | | SKU:
VIB1413306284 | | In Stock | | Availability:
Usually ships in 1-2 business days | | Only 1 left in stock, order soon! | | | | | | Insider tips and advice to help you get the right place at the right price! If you're ready to say goodbye to landlords and laundromats, Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home will help you find the right place to invest in -- and have fun doing it. Filled with interesting facts and real-life stories, this book provides everything you need to select the right house, the right mortgage, the right agent, the right inspections -- and much more. Get the inside scoop on: deciding between a house, condo, co-op or townhouse, exploring the market for the best value, lining up financing, getting inspections and insurance, negotiating with sellers or new home builders and successfully closing the deal. Read the real-life stories of over 20 first-time homebuyers, as well as the insights from a team of 13 real estate professionals, including brokers, attorneys who specialize in real estate, a home inspector, a neighborhood researcher, a mortgage specialist and more. PLUS: You'll get the The Homebuyer's Toolkit, a CD-ROM that includes dozens of forms and MP3s which will help you find the right place, crunch the numbers, interview real estate professionals, borrow down payment money from your parents -- and more. (20090102) | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Ilona Bray | | Paperback: | 380 pages | | Publisher: | NOLO | | Publication Date: | June 04, 2007 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 1413306284 | | Package Length: | 8.9 inches | | Package Width: | 6.5 inches | | Package Height: | 1.0 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.4 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 56 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 56 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
67 of 69 found the following review helpful:
 Quirky and useful, but needs to be supplemented Oct 30, 2008
By P. Novak
I am just starting to research what's involved in purchasing a first home. I found this book to be very helpful in providing a landscape of what is involved, but you should supplement it with more specific books, particularly around mortgages.
The book starts out by having you evaluate what you want in a home, and prioritizing the features. It tells you how to research neighborhoods, ok this is pretty city-centric but they are trying to reach a wide audience. It explains the various professionals involved in each stage of the process, provides forms for interviewing them, and explains what they should provide. It continues to walk you through the inspections, negotiations and closings.
The book is easy to read, but let's face it, the purchase process is complex, and I found myself re-reading some sections discussing the many forms and insurance options. There are some quirky sidebars that are of questionable value (songs about houses, a cookie recipe) but they do add some levity.
Where the book fell a little short was the mortgage discussion. The first book I read "Mortgage Ripoffs and Money Savers: An Industry Insider Explains How to Save Thousands on Your Mortgage or Re-Finance" covers this in great detail, and I highly recommend it as supplemental reading. It will explain in detail the junk fees that are mentioned in this book.
The forms included in the book have varying degrees of usefulness, but the interview and inspection forms are gold. A number of websites are listed throughout the book, and will save you from having to Google for the information.
Overall I'm happy with this book, and plan to reference it throughout the purchase process.
35 of 37 found the following review helpful:
 Worth Its Weight in Gold! Apr 20, 2008
By Michael Olshansky
I started looking at buying my first house many months ago and realized that the conflicting and often spotty advise I would get from friends and family wasn't enough. I needed a book to guide me and fill in the gaps (of which there were many).
I figured a "Home Buying for Dummies" type book was what I needed, but I didn't stop there and thumbed through almost a dozen home buying books at the local store before finding this gem by Nolo.
This was the ONLY book that guides you through the process, taking logical, simple steps while interjecting real-world experiences from different people.
It's written in a manner that appeals to just about everyone, explaining how to find a good agent (or save yourself on closing costs by using an online broker), what you should REALLY look for when finding the house that's right for you, all the way through closing, and even what's involved afterwards!
Buying a home can be stressful and overwhelming, but this book really made things quite easy. I can't think of a single home buying related subject that it doesn't cover. If you are buying your first house, this book is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
23 of 26 found the following review helpful:
Excellent comprehensive guide, yet easy to understand Mar 18, 2008
By Gadgester
"No Time, No Money"
For me, because this is the only first-time buyer's guide that discusses in detail issues around getting a personal gift or personal loan towards purchasing a home, it already deserves 5 stars.
But it's more than just that. This is a very comprehensive guide with a helpful accompanying CD-ROM. The materials are organized clearly and presented in an easy-to-understand manner. I had read other guides such as the Dummies one which tended to be really verbose and confusing. This book stands out as a highly useable companion as you search and purchase your first home (and as you deal with real estate agents and lawyers).
Very highly recommended.
12 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 Good general book, CD is weak Nov 28, 2009
By amarkist
This is a great read for a first time homebuyer because it explains things clearly and thoroughly without making many assumptions about what you know. I liked the section on alternative forms of financing, especially useful in this day of ever more restrictive bank lending.
However, it basically assumes you are going to be using a real estate agent/broker/realtor, so I was disappointed because I want to work without one and I hoped this book would make me independent.
The forms are weak; I was hoping for some sample Offers or Contracts, but instead it has a dream house worksheet and some random other forms which are so small and basic that they could easily be offered for free as a download instead of necessitating the enclosed CD.
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
This team approach sets the Nolo guide far above most authored by real estate agents alone. Sep 01, 2007
By Midwest Book Review
Ilona Bray, Alayna Schroeder and Marcia Stewart's NOLO'S ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO BUYING YOUR FIRST HOME is also a standard reference which combines the savvy of buying a first home with legal tips designed to clarify common obstacles to the process. From deciding between a house, condo or coop to getting inspections, insurance, and negotiating with sellers, this is a top pick blending the real-world stories of over twenty first-time home buyer with insights from a team of real estate pros including attorneys, a home inspector, a neighborhood researcher, a mortgage specialist and more. This team approach sets the Nolo guide far above most authored by real estate agents alone.
See all 56 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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