When it comes to buying or selling a home, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of information available via your agent, family members, friends and even your neighbors. While taking everything in may seem like an uphill battle, a trip to your local library may be worthwhile.
Here are five best-selling books that you might want to pick up to help get a better handle on what you’re going through.
“House Selling for Dummies”/ “Home Buying for Dummies”: These popular books are both on their fourth editions and touch on some basic tips that everyone should know, but don’t always do. Eric Tyson and Ray Brown offer a ton of time-tested advice and updated strategies for buying or selling a home within the current market conditions. Additionally, “The For Dummy” books are available in a wide range of topics, covering everything from getting a mortgage, home-buying kits and even short sales.
“100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask”: Things are changing fast in residential real estate, and this book will bring you up-to-date. Whether you’re a first-time buyer, first-time seller, or haven’t bought a home in at least five years, real estate expert Ilyce R. Glink has complied answers from top brokers around the country addressing all of the current trends homebuyers need to stay on top of to find the home of their dreams. Not only does the book include great reference sections on contracts, resources, and real estate terms, it also has mortgage payment tables in the back.
“Holmes Inspection: The Essential Guide for Every Homeowner, Buyer and Seller”: Mike Holmes, star of the popular Canadian home improvement show, “Make it Right,” explains how to spot problems and gives you the information you need to judge a house wisely during an inspection. From the mechanicals (furnace, electrical and plumbing) to the “envelope” (floors, walls, doors and windows) to issues of location, this book includes real case studies, red flag sidebars and hundreds of photographs regarding what to look out for.
“Nolo’s Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home”: Written by legal experts Ilona Bray, Alayna Schroeder and Marcia Stewart, this book is filled with interesting facts, real-life stories and insights, and common pitfalls to avoid when buying a home in today’s market. It’s essentially a guide from A-Z on securing the right mortgage, selecting the right agent, and ultimately finding your dream home.
“The 106 Common Mistakes Homebuyers Make (and How to Avoid Them)”: Author Gary Eldred has compiled the experience of hundreds of homebuyers, real estate agents, home builders, and mortgage lenders to create a guide to keep people from making errors in the home-buying process. Topics addressed in this book include underestimating utilities and other costs, researching selling prices and not trusting your agent.
For more information about real estate related reading material, contact your Calcagni agent today.
Reprinted with permission from RISMedia. ©2013. All rights reserved.
