Topics covered include: choosing the right agent to represent you; handling short sales; why buying and selling strategies are important; referrals, contracts and negotiations; and how to avoid common mistakes when buying or selling real estate.
First time home buying is a special occasion in everyone's life. But because of the complexities around it, most people approach it with a mix of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. This book was written with the sole purpose of making the process easier and more predictable. The book has tried to demystify the entire process by avoiding the jargon as much as possible. The book first helps you in deciding whether you are ready to buy or not and then gives a step by step instruction on what you can expect along the process should you decide to buy. The book takes it a step further and even advises you on steps you can take to remain a happy home owner. The book has been designed with a lot of thought, keeping you the reader in mind. It's broken down into 5 sections. Section 1 is titled "Getting Ready." It helps with the preliminary work you need to do to even consider home buying. Section 2 provides all the information you need to find your first home and get your offer accepted. Section 3 teaches you about different financing and down payment options. Section 4 details the loan process and the blunders to avoid. Section 5 is all about life after home ownership. From decorating ideas to how to pay off your mortgage faster, you will find invaluable tips in this section to stay a happy homeowner for years to come. Authored by Shashank Shekhar, a mortgage industry veteran and one of the top Loan Officers in the country, the tips and tricks come directly from the trenches.
Your Map for a Brave New Real-Estate World The days of real-estate mania—when you really couldn’t go wrong with buying a home, then selling it in a few years for a lot more than you paid for it—are over. Inflated prices and the “subprime” mortgage crisis have finally burst the bubble. Now, more than ever, it’s important for current and prospective home buyers to understand just what they’re getting into when they take that plunge—and to think smarter when it comes to making the most of their biggest asset. The Wall Street Journal. Complete Home Owner’s Guidebook shows readers how to become savvy home buyers—and eventually owners—not only in this new, uncertain era but in any market: • Understand the benefits and pitfalls of owning versus renting • Make sense of the housing market—ask the important questions, factor in the unforeseen costs, and explode the big myths of home ownership • Take advantage of current opportunities if you’re a first-time home buyer • Overcome the challenges if you’re looking to trade up or cash out on your home for retirement • Make the best profit on your home in any market • Understand why your home—your number one asset—really isn’t such a great investment From the Trade Paperback edition.
· Ultimate DIY resource shows readers everything they need to know about plumbing and electrical repairs, heating and cooling, roofing and siding, remodeling, and so much more · Offers plenty of direct DIY wisdom on how to make the most of a home · Includes more than 2,300 how-to photos and 800 drawings · New edition of this best-selling home improvement manual includes recent code updates and changes, plus information on USB outlets, AFCI/GFCI breakers, and tankless water heaters
Learn how to identify, locate, and effectively use alternative building materials, including cob, adobe, rammed earth, bamboo, cork, wool carpeting, and more. You will also learn about the structure, climate control, siting, foundations, and flooring options you gain when using these materials. Ultimately, you will come to understand that these materials are cheaper, easier to build with, stronger, more durable, and more fire resistant.
For 75 years, the VA loan program has helped U.S. service members and their families achieve the dream of homeownership. Today, in the wake of the subprime mortgage meltdown and ensuing foreclosure crisis, this no-down payment loan is more important than ever. VA loans have emerged as a lifeline for veterans and active duty personnel who understand their unmatched safety and buying power. The Book on VA Loans takes service members and their families on an insider's journey into VA loans, from credit scores and interest rates to the unique opportunities and challenges of this long-cherished program. Readers get insider tips and expert advice from the country's largest dedicated VA lender, Veterans United Home Loans. They also receive a buyer-friendly education in a sometimes complicated world that can trip up even seasoned real estate veterans.Featuring simple, straightforward language and voices of previous VA borrowers, this resource helps ensure service members are in the best position possible to maximize the benefits earned by their service.
This handbook details the steps the shopper must follow when buying a manufactured home. It offers advice on choosing a dealership, negotiating with sales people, understanding mortgage options, avoiding common trouble spots in setup and delivery, and customizing the new home. Included as an appendix are the addresses of the state agencies dealing with consumer concerns about manufactured housing.
The updated and highly illustrated guide to understanding how just about everything in your house works! The revised and updated third edition of How Your House Works is a hands-on guide that gives you the low-down on why your faucet is leaking, your dishwasher is overflowing, or your furnace is on the fritz. This comprehensive book is your reference to virtually everything in your house with richly illustrated explanations of electrical systems, heating and air conditioning, plumbing, major household appliances, foundation, framing, doors, and windows. This must-have book answers most questions homeowners face when repairs are needed or when a new house or addition is in your future. How Your House Works is filled with easy-to-understand illustrations that show how things should be put together and how they function. The book also highlights issues outside the house as well as clock thermostats, ventless gas heaters, moisture and mold, and passive solar heating. Using the illustrations and the author’s clear explanations might save you the expense of calling a professional. This invaluable guide: Offers a colorful resource to home electrical systems, HVAC, plumbing, major household appliances, foundation, framing, doors and windows, sustainability, and much more Includes easy-to-follow information for troubleshooting problems Contains dozens of new full-color illustrations Presents new chapters on solar power and smart home technologies Helps homeowners save money on many common household repairs Written for homeowners with little or no knowledge of home maintenance or repair, How Your House Works is your illustrated and updated guide to understanding how appliances, electrical, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and more work!
This is NOT your father's home repair book! And it's not your husband's, your brother's, your boyfriend's, or the guy's next door. Dare to Repair is a do-it-herself book for every woman who would rather be self-reliant than rely on a super or contractor. No matter the depth of your pockets or the size of your home, a toilet will get clogged, a circuit breaker will trip, and a smoke detector will stop working. It's up to you how you'll deal with them -- live in denial, pay the piper, or get real and do it yourself. Dare to Repair demystifies these home repairs by providing information that other books leave out. In Dare to Repair, you'll learn how to: Take the plunge -- from fixing a leaky faucet to cleaning the gutters. Lighten up -- from removing a broken light bulb to installing a dimmer switch. Keep your cool -- from maintaining a refrigerator's gasket to changing the rotation of a ceiling fan. Get a handle on it -- from replacing a doorknob to repairing a broken window. Play it safe -- from planning a fire escape route to installing a smoke detector. Filled with detailed illustrations, Dare to Repair provides even the most repair-challenged woman with the ability to successfully fix things around the home. Once you start, you won't want to stop.