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| Home Buying For Dummies, 3rd edition | 
 enlarge | Authors: Eric Tyson, Ray Brown
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $21.99
Buy Used: $6.50
You Save: $15.49 (70%)
New (43) Used (29) from $6.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  95 reviews
Sales Rank: 5940
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 408
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 7.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 0471768472
Dewey Decimal Number: 643.120973
EAN: 9780471768470
ASIN: 0471768472
Publication Date: February 6, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Border line very good. Binding is tight, text is clean. Cover wear includes edges, creases and scuff marks. We mail out orders quickly w/delivery confirmation in bubble mailers.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Very Complete Book April 6, 2000
46 out of 48 found this review helpful
I never bought real estate in my life. I never shopped for a mortgage in my life. But after reading this book I am extremely well versed in both. I have been interviewing both buyer's brokers and mortgage lenders and I am extremely well prepared when I call them and when they walk thru the door to meet with me. Buying a home is probably the most money any of us will ever spend at one time. Why not be totally prepared to do it. We spend countless hours reading thru Consumer Reports just to buy a micorowave or a VCR. Don't you think you should be spend hours upon hours studying real estate, mortgages, taxes, etc.? I certainly do. That's why I picked up this book. In total I've read about 6-7 books on the subject. This is definitely one of the better ones. It is comprehensive, informative and detailed. I found myself underlining and using the language and suggestions in the book when talking to the brokers and the lenders. Many of them were impressed with the amount of information I knew about THEIR business. I am in the process now of negotiating my mortgage and so far I've gotten the lenders to decrease the points by .50 PLUS they agreed to pick up some of the closing costs as well. This could mean a sunstantial savings to the bottom line, maybe $2000-3000. We're not talking clipping coupons here anymore! Buy the book. Save some money. Learn about your subject. Knowledge is Power. If you know what they know, they can't screw you.
 Only buy this book if you really are a dummy March 9, 2004
43 out of 93 found this review helpful
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.
 Pleasantly Suprised June 14, 2005
40 out of 41 found this review helpful
I had purchased this book as well as The Idiots Guide for Buying a Home and was pretty impressed with Home Buying for Dummies. It was well organized, very readable and had very useful information that my parents wouldn't have told me. Some notworthy examples of how practical this book was include:
1. consider a tax free money market account to invest your down payment while you save depending on your tax bracket. Names of possible accounts were included.
2. Roth IRAs allow you to borrow against them tax free for the down payment as a first time home buyer.
3. What to consider for watching a housing market....
To name a few.
The Idiots Guide was an absolute waste of money. One of the reviewers here posted that Dummies was patronizing -- the Idiots guide was truely insulting. It actually seemed like a bad rippoff of the Dummies book, not to mention the font was twice as big and double spaced. I would have returned it if my spouse hadn't written in it. If you want it, look in the used books section...
I have to agree with another reviewer that some of the content is covered in other Dummies books like Personal Finances for Dummies -- but having the salient points repeated in the context of home buying was helpful. I dont have the other Dummies books mentioned so for me, the redundency between books was minimal.
Go with the Dummies book. Its an excellent intro to buying a home!
Buying a House? Buy this book 1st (it will pay for itself) March 12, 2001
37 out of 38 found this review helpful
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.
Now I'm ready to handle the chaotic property market! March 24, 2001
35 out of 38 found this review helpful
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.
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