In the third edition of their Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and USA Today bestseller, Eric Tyson and Ray Brown cover everything you need to know about buying a home-from mortgages to moving day!
We’ve all gotten pretty good at impulse purchases. Our rapidly globalizing, technology-obsessed society has seen to that. Indeed, our economy thrives on the principle of providing consumers with any product at any time-just click a mouse, swipe a credit card, instantly transfer funds from one bank account to another. So in a frantic, fast-access, it’s-all-disposable world, how does one even begin to make the decision to purchase something of great and lasting value . . . like, for instance, a home?
If you’re a first-time home shopper, you’re probably feeling a bit out of your element. But don’t worry. While buying that Tudor, ranch, or brownstone is a bit more complex than buying say, a latte, it is doable. Just gather your thoughts, turn on your reading lamp, and take some advice from real estate and financial gurus Eric Tyson and Ray Brown.
Co-authors of Home Buying for Dummies, 3rd Edition (Wiley, January 2006, ISBN: 0471768472)-the newest version of America’s number-one best-selling home buying book-Tyson and Brown insist that although the idea of purchasing a home for inexperienced buyers can appear daunting, it can be done painlessly if you follow the Boy Scout mott Be prepared.
“When people have bad experiences buying a home it usually isn’t due to lack of intelligence or good intentions,” asserts Tyson, who has decades of experience in dealing with real estate. “Rather it is a result of not knowing the right questions to ask and the proper steps to take. That’s why we have provided the essential tools for anyone ready to leave leases and landlords behind or trade up.”
Clearly, America agrees. Countless consumers have already found Tyson’s and Brown’s wisdom an integral component of their home buying experiences. Holistic, objective, and in plain English, their latest book covers everything from financing to credit scores to closing the deal. If you’re undecided, it will even help you determine whether you’re really ready to move out of Renterville.
Among other surprises, there is a brand new chapter devoted to the Internet’s new role in real estate. Home Buying for Dummies walks you through the entire purchasing process, from browsing to buying, and outlines any possible scenario likely to occur. Read on to sample a few insights directly from the book.
- Pay your credit card bills and other monthly payments on time.
- Don’t open multiple credit accounts in a short period of time in an attempt to improve your score. Rapid account buildup looks risky to loan officers.
- Know that closing an existing account doesn’t erase the account completely. It all remains in your history.
- Do your rate shopping for a specific loan within a focused period of time. FICO scores distinguish between a search for a single loan and a search for many new credit lines, in part by the length of time over which inquiries occur.
- Do your research and have a good idea of the fair market value for the home you’re interested in and determine your own personal upper limit of cost. This way you won’t get involved in a bidding war and end up knee-deep in debt.
- Especially with well-priced homes in popular areas, put yourself in the seller’s position and remember that they have probably had several inquiries regarding their home already and will eventually choose the candidate with the best combination of price and terms of sale. Getting pre-approved for a mortgage offers the seller tremendous peace of mind that you’re serious about buying a home and financially qualified to do so.
When you decide the time has come to buy a home, rest assured that after some well-spent research and exploration, sooner or later you will find your dream home. Applying the formula outlined in Home Buying for Dummies delivers guaranteed results. Tyson and Brown insist that being patient and educating yourself are the best steps you can take to prepare yourself for this exhilarating rite of passage.
“You don’t need to be terrified of real estate jargon and seemingly complex processes just because you’re the new kid on the block,” they say. “Invest the time you need to make a confident decision and you won’t regret it; make a hasty decision and you probably will. In some ways buying a home is like hailing a taxicab. If you miss out on one, be patient and keep your eyes open. Another one is just around the corner.”
Eric Tyson, MBA, is an accomplished financial counselor and freelance personal finance writer. He is the author of numerous other For Dummies national bestsellers on personal finance, investing, and home buying. Eric’s Personal Finance for Dummies won the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Business Book of the Year. He is a syndicated columnist and the author of Mind over Money: Your Path to Wealth and Happiness (CDS Books). His work has been critically acclaimed in hundreds of publications and programs, including Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Bottom Line Personal, as well as NBC’s The Today Show, CNBC, PBS’s Nightly Business Report, CNN, FOX-TV, CBS national radio, Bloomberg Business Radio, and national public radio’s Marketplace Money program. Eric is a former management consultant and holds an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Ray Brown is a veteran of the real estate profession with more than two decades of hands-on experience. A former manager for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Company and McGuire Real Estate and founder of his own real estate firm, the Raymond Brown Company, Ray is currently a writer, consultant, and public speaker on residential real estate topics. On his way to becoming a real estate guru, Ray worked as the real estate analyst for KGO-TV (ABC’s affiliate in San Francisco), a syndicated real estate columnist for The San Francisco Examiner, and he still hosts a weekly radio program, Ray Brown on Real Estate, for KNBR. In addition to his work for ABC, Ray has appeared as a real estate expert on CNN, NBC, CBS, and in The Wall Street Journal and Time.
With near universal name recognition, more than 150 million books in print, and over 900+ topics, For Dummies is the world’s best-selling reference series. With loyal customers around the globe, For Dummies enriches people’s lives by making knowledge accessible in a fun and easy way. Described by The New York Times as “more than a publishing phenomenon, but a sign of the times,”
For Dummies spans every section of the bookstore, covering everything from health to history, music to math, sports to self-help, technology to travel, and more. The Dummies brand has expanded into new products and categories with an extensive licensed product line, including fitness and hobby DVDs, grilling kits, business software, cleaning products, automotive kits, craft kits, and apparel. For more information, visit Dummies.com. For Dummies is a branded imprint of Wiley.
Source: Rocks-DeHart Public Relations 306 Marberry Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15215, (828) 459-9637 dehartdottie@aol.com