Product Description

Everything first-timers need to know to avoid the most common mistakes homebuyers make

Written especially for first-timers, this eye-opening guide turns you into an educated consumer, ensuring that the home or condo you buy is both a comfortable place to live and a great investment for the future. Compiled from the experience of hundreds of homebuyers, real estate agents, home builders, and mortgage lenders, it shows you the most common mistakes buyers make and illustrates them in practice so you don't fall into the same traps.

Now revised and updated for today's hot real estate market, this invaluable resource covers everything from negotiating with sellers and making the down payment to shopping for the best mortgage and handling the closing. The new Fourth Edition also includes totally up-to-date guidance on using the Internet to find properties, secure financing, and collect important data. If you're thinking about buying a home in this overheated market, don't make these mistakes:

• Researching selling prices and still overpaying
• Believing everything your agent tells you
• Buying into an upscale neighborhood that's moving downscale
• Underestimating utilities and other costs
• Allowing your agent to negotiate for you
• Letting fear get the better of you and not buying at all

Written by one of the nation's leading real estate experts and packed with hundreds of valuable tips and suggestions, The 106 Common Mistakes Homebuyers Make, Fourth Edition will give you the confidence—and the wisdom—to buy the right home at the right price.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #116925 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-06
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Download Description
A new edition of the successful guide to common real estate mistakes Skyrocketing home prices. Persistent talk of housing bubbles. Multiple bid offers. Hidden defects. Creative financing ploys. Today's homebuyers face unprecedented risks as they seek their cherished goal of homeownership. In response to these and many other current home buying challenges, bestselling author and real estate expert, Gary Eldred has updated his ever-popular guide. This unique book draws its contents from the experiences of hundreds of actual homebuyers, investors, and real estate agents. In addition to the common pitfalls, this new Fourth Edition focuses on the skills necessary to avoid mistakes in hot markets such as overbidding, buying more house than one can afford, and the failure to understand the risks involved in the many new, easy-finance programs. Eldred also shows readers how to improve their odds of a successful purchase by intelligent use of the Internet to collect property data, pricing information, and neighborhood pros and cons. A highly profitable read for both new and experienced homebuyers.

Book Info
Eye-opening guide turns you into an educated consumer, ensuring that the home or condo you buy is both a comfortable place to live and an investment that appreciates in value. Covers everything from negotiating with sellers and making the down payment to shopping for the best mortgage and handling the closing. Softcover.

The publisher, John Wiley & Sons
Based upon scores of interviews with real estate agents, home builders, mortgage lenders and recent homebuyers, this user-friendly book guarantees a smooth and successful home purchasing experience by demonstrating the mistakes made by others. Each mistake is self-contained and includes a lesson, illustration and, when appropriate, a preventative technique.

Customer Reviews

Seriously Out-of-date
This is one of those people who should have to eat every copy of their book sold. Most of the first few reasons detail why buying is better than renting (not always true; us California renters are laughing now at the people who bought 2-3 years ago) and how you can finance a home with zero down and bad credit (and get the taxpayers to insure your bad debt.) The latest edition was published in 2006, at the very precipice of the housing price spiral we're all riding down, down, down with no bottom in sight. It's the irresponsibility of advisors like this that got us into this mess; do yourself -- and the economy -- a favor and skip this one.

Some good tips
This was great for tips. The book was not 100% applicable to our situation and at times was a bit repetetive. But overall it was a good buy and was informative.

Be careful about "expert" advice.
I haven't finished the book, yet, but I quickly noticed how this author, along with other real estate "experts", sees himself as an advocate of an active real estate market. He wants people to buy. I don't really think rent versus own is what this book is suposed to be about. But, it's like the author couldn't help but get on his soapbox. Some of his suggestions are to eat less, use all cash reserves and even buy a home with a partner.

The author questioned whether historical stock valuations would continue to rise on past performance, but automatically assumed that the same limitations didn't apply to home purchase. Not everyone belongs in their own home. Interesting how this book was written before the whole real estate bubble popped, so I think he's always been proved completely wrong on that point.