[.ca] Tips and Traps When Buying a Condo, co-op, or Townhouse (ISBN 0071467955)

not for city buyers:
The title may talk about "condo, co-op, or townhouse" but it is clear the author has nothing in mind but those awful suburban townhouse or condo developments. There are numerous references to density being bad and to things like counting the number of parking places. Not of use to someone who is interested in purchasing actual city housing.

Somewhat helpful, lots of filler:
Like all the books I've read on this subject, you'll get some useful advice, but you'll have to wade through a lot of filler.

Read this book before you leap into a shared ownership:
This book showed me the "red flags" to look for when evaluating a shared ownership developement and helped me to avoid buying into a nightmare. Ohhh, I'm so glad I read this book. I read 4 other books on buying a condo and this book was by far the most practical and answered my questions. The format is easy to read and quickly search. The tips and traps opens your eyes to what you're getting yourself into. Learn from the experiences of others and make the right choice for your lifestyle. Don't buy into a dysfunctional developement. It can be a legal, financial and emotional nightmare. Thanks to Robert Irwin's advice, I passed on several developements and kept searching until I found the right condo developement for me. It has been a great choice. The book was a helpful resource during the buying process. Highly recommend.

Quick, straight forward helpful advice:
If you are even thinking of even buying a condo, townhouse or condo, this book is a definite buy. It's definitely worth the price to educate yourself about some things to look out for when looking to buy. It is in a question/answer/tip/trap quick and to the point format. I bought the book because it was recommended as one of the top ten real estate books to buy in the real estate section in the Washington Post for 2000. Highly recommend.

A good primer.:
As a prospective first-time property purchaser, I found this book to contain some good information on the particulars of condos and townhouses. I did not read the section on Co-ops however. Parts of the book seemed to contain redundant information, not necessarily for emphasis. Perhaps the chapters were intended to be somewhat self-contained. "Buying a home for Dummies" has been my first resource. I'd recommend reading something like it first in order to fully appreciate the differences w/condos and townhouses described in this book.