[.ca] Home Buying For Dummies, 2nd Edition (ISBN 0764553313)

From Amazon.com:
This may be the best comprehensive guide for home buyers. Home Buying for Dummies is coauthored by Eric Tyson, author of several other books in the For Dummies series, and Ray Brown, a long-time real estate professional. Like other books in the series, this one is an easy and even entertaining read. But it does not gloss over details in pursuit of simplicity. Home Buying for Dummies covers all the bases, providing clear explanations and reasonable judgments on how to select a mortgage, hire a real estate agent, find the right house, and negotiate a good deal. The book goes further than most in providing helpful, specific information. For example, in discussing ways to save money for a future down payment, Home Buying for Dummies even includes the phone numbers for various mutual funds appropriate to different investment time frames. --Barry Mitzman

This book will save you a lot more $$$ than its sell price:
This is a great book and gets you thinking about topics and asking questions that your realtor or mortgage lender / broker probably wouldn't otherwise bring up for you. While it does not go into real depth on any single subject, it highlights enough to really help you become an educated buyer. It addresses everything from getting financially positioned to buy a house in the first place (e.g. pay off your bills, save some cash), to finding a good mortgage that works for you (e.g. fixed-rates versus ARMs), understanding where and what are good buys (e.g. principles of progression and regression), forming a team (e.g. realtor, mortgage lender, etc), and the offer / counter/ and escrow processes. With all the info you'll learn, you will easily save yourself the cost of this book (probably many times over). The only drawback is that this book provides general information for all of America as a whole - it does not address specific real estate hot-spots such as Southern California.

Only buy this book if you really are a dummy:
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.

I bought my townhouse since i read this book - Period:
I got an idea of buying a townhouse, since one day found out that paying rent = mortgage payment(considering tax cuts). So I decided to read a book. I was a really dummy about buying a house. I read this book cover to cover. And my only comment -- "I bought my townhouse since i read this book - Period". If I meet Eric Tyson. I want to thank him personnaly. Now I am reading Investing for dummies by Eric, I find that book excellent. No questions asked.

Good information:
This book had some very good information when I wanted to buy a house. Had good tips and was written in an easy to understand language. However, I didn't have good enough credit to get a big loan, so I found did a rent to own instead. Good site: www.nkinvestments.com Nick

Good but there's a better one:
Having read both this volume and the Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying and Selling a Home, I recommend the idiot's guide over this one. The main reason is because the latter is better written and easier to understand. Home Buying for Dummies is very comprehensive but reminds me of my own Ph.D. dissertation: heavy on theory but little on practicalities. The idiot's guide presents information in a way that make it easier to digest and follow. In short, this is a good advice primer for first-time home buyers, but I think you get a better book and also a better value if you buy the complete idiot's guide version. (I'm not affiliated with any authors or publishers, nor do I even know or have met them in any manner.)