personal finance

My perspective on buying a home has changed 180 degrees after buying this book. Not only that, but now I finally know why there are so many dummie books sold each year. The writing is easy to flow through. The content is tight, essential and highly informative. I was inches away from buying a home before I read this book and now not only did I decide otherwise, but I'm trained to recognize when will be the right time to buy and the right home to own. Here are a few highlights...Buy a home only if you have at least a 20% down payment and another 5% for closing costs. This formula will usually yield you the best bargain. But you also have to determine how long you plan on staying in the home. How long you stay in the home will determine what type of loan will give you the best return. Knowing these details will save you thousands already. Then the book goes on to talk about the pros and cons of the different types of homes, ie condominiums, attached homes, etc. locations, new vs old homes, etc. What's also interesting is that through a bit of cross promotion, they include home buying guidance with financial management tips. OK, basically they imply that you should go on to read their other books about financial planning, taxes and mortgages, but if you think about it, its very sensible. Buying a home changes your entire financial standing. Not only is it critical to see how your mortgage will affect your other financial goals, its essential.

My wife and I purchased this book to help us in our hunt for our first home. We were total novices about the entire home buying process since we had always been apartment dwellers. I read through the book several times over the course of a month. The book armed me with good questions to ask my realtor and the seller's agent as well. It was particularly invaluable when addressing mortgage loans and funding alternatives.

48 hours from now my wife and I will close on our first home. This book gave us confidence in our decision making by helping us evaluate a wide variety of criteria we would not have otherwise thought of. The peace of mind this book gave is worth many times more than we spent for it.

If you are buying a home as a novice, you simply MUST purchase this book. Even if you are a veteran home buyer, I really believe this book will have value for you as well.

This is the first "for dummies" book I've ever bought. It's also going to be the last. They're not kidding with the title. Instead of stating their point simply and clearly, the authors patronize the readers with silly stories. For example, instead of saying something like "do not buy a house that's too far from your work," the authors spend a paragraph telling a story of some poor dummy who did buy a house too far from his work and ended up hating everything. Oh, and BTW, if you need a book to tell you that you shouldn't buy a house that's far from your work, then this book is for you. The information presented is oversimplified, incomplete, and sometimes just incorrect. Moreover, this book will not help you at all if you're dealing with an unusual market, such as SF Bay Area, NYC, LA, etc.

I'm not in the real estate business, nor do I have any vested interest in anybody buying or not buying this book.