Unknown Title

Title:

Home buying kit for dummies® / by Eric Tyson and Ray Brown.

Author:

Tyson, Eric (Eric Kevin) author.

Brown, Ray (Raymond) author.

ISBN:

9781119191704

Personal Author:

Tyson, Eric (Eric Kevin) author.

Edition:

6th edition.

Physical Description:

xvii, 410 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Content Type:

text

Media Type (RDA):

unmediated

Carrier Type:

volume

Series:

--For dummies.

General Note:

Includes index.

Contents:

Getting started with buying a home. Deciding whether to buy ; Getting your financial house in order ; What can you afford to buy? ; Why home prices rise and fall -- Financing 101. Understanding and improving your credit score ; Selecting a mortgage ; Mortgage quandaries, conundrums, and forms -- Property, players, and prices. Where and what to buy ; Assembling an all-star real estate team ; What's it worth? ; Tapping the Internet's best resources -- Making the deal. Negotiating your best deal ; Inspecting and protecting your home ; It's ain't over till the weight-challenged escrow officer sings -- The part of tens. Ten financial "to do's" after you buy ; Ten things to know when investing in real estate ; Ten things to consider when selling your house -- Appendices. Appendix A, Sample real estate purchase contract ; Appendix B, Sample short-sale addendum plus short-sale information and advisory ; Appendix C, Example of a good inspection report.

Abstract:

Getting ready to navigate the ever-changing housing market? Tyson and Brown have packed this guide with tips for getting the best deal on your new home. They show you how to find the right property, make smart financial decisions, and understand the late lending requirements and tax implications.

Subject Term:

House buying -- United States.

Residential real estate -- Purchasing.

Mortgage loans -- United States.

Added Author:

Brown, Ray (Raymond)

Format:

Books

Available:*

Library	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... North Tonawanda Public Library	34120006407098	643.12 TYSO 6TH ED.	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

America's #1 bestselling home buying guide

Are you looking to buy a house, but don't quite know where to begin? Have no fear! This new edition of Home Buying Kit For Dummies arms you with Eric Tyson and Ray Brown's time-tested advice and strategies for buying a home in current market conditions. Packed with valuable tips for getting the best deal on your new home and navigating an ever-changing housing market, it shows you how to find the right property, make smart financial decisions, and understand the latest lending requirements and tax implications.

Thanks to looser lending standards, lower down payment mortgages, and a wider selection of homes to choose from, first-time homebuyers are making a comeback in the housing market. But if you don't know a Colonial from a counter offer, the process of buying a home can be daunting. Luckily, this bestselling guide is here to take the confusion out of the process! In plain English, it provides step-by-step guidance for buying the home of your dreams, from inspecting a property to evaluating a location to making sense of loan applications, tax documents, and counter offer forms.

Negotiate your best deal and obtain a lower down payment mortgage Improve your credit score Make sense of changing lending standards Take the confusion out of lending laws, mortgage rates, and marketplace conditions

Whether you're a renter, investor, or current homeowner, everything you need to plant roots in a new home sweet home is just a page away .

Author Notes

Erick Tyson, MBA, is a financial counselor and the author of bestselling For Dummies books on personal finance, investing, and small business.
Ray Brown, a real estate professional for more than 40 years, is a consultant and public speaker on residential real estate topics.

Introduction	p. 1
About This Book: The Eric Tyson/Ray Brown Difference	p. 1
Icons Used in This Book	p. 2
Beyond the Book	p. 3
Where to Go from Here	p. 4
Part I Getting Started with Buying a Home	p. 5
Chapter 1 Deciding Whether to Buy	p. 7
Weighing the Advantages of Owning versus Renting	p. 8
Ownership advantages	p. 9
Renting advantages	p. 14
The Pitfalls of the Rent-versus-Buy Decision	p. 16
Renting because it seems cheaper	p. 16
Fretting too much over job security	p. 16
Buying when you expect to move soon	p. 17
Succumbing to pushy salespeople	p. 17
Ignoring logistics	p. 17
Overbuying	p. 18
Underbuying	p. 18
Buying because it's a grown-up thing to do	p. 19
Buying because you're afraid that escalating prices will lock you out	p. 20
Misunderstanding what you can afford	p. 20
Chapter 2 Getting Your Financial House in Order	p. 21
Surveying Your Spending	p. 22
Gathering the data	p. 22
Analyzing your spending numbers	p. 27
Reckoning Your Savings Requirements	p. 28
Setting some goals	p. 29
Retirement savings accounts and a dilemma	p. 29
Other reasons to save	p. 30
Protecting Yourself, Your Dependents, and Your Assets	p. 32
Insuring yourself	p. 33
Insuring your assets	p. 34
Invest in Yourself	p. 36
Chapter 3 What Can You Afford to Buy?	p. 37
Lenders Can't Tell You What You Can Afford	p. 38
The Cost of Buying and Owning a Home	p. 39
Mortgage payments	p. 39
Property taxes	p. 46
Insurance	p. 48
Maintenance and other costs	p. 49
The tax benefits of homeownership	p. 50
Closing Costs	p. 53
Accumulating the Down Payment	p. 55
The 20 percent solution	p. 56
Ways to buy with less money down	p. 57
Where to invest the down payment	p. 59
Chapter 4 Why Home Prices Rise and Fall	p. 65
What Drives Real Estate Markets and Prices?	p. 65
Jobs, glorious jobs	p. 68
Available housing	p. 69
Inventory of homes for sale and actual sales	p. 70
The rental market	p. 71
How to Get a Good Buy in Any Market	p. 73
Seek hidden opportunities to add value	p. 74
Buy when others are scared to buy	p. 74
Find a motivated seller	p. 75
Buy during slow periods	p. 76
Become a great negotiator	p. 76
Buy in a good neighborhood	p. 77
Part II Financing 101	p. 79
Chapter 5 Understanding and Improving Your Credit Score	p. 81
The Record You Can't Ignore: Your Credit Report	p. 82
What your credit history comprises	p. 82
What goes into your credit report	p. 82
Why you should check your credit report	p. 83
The Most Popular Kid on the Block: FICO Scores	p. 83
How scores work - the short version	p. 84
How a FICO score assesses your credit history - the long version	p. 85
What FICO scores ignore	p. 92
Why your score is what it is	p. 93
Getting Hold of Your Report and Score	p. 93
Chapter 6 Selecting a Mortgage	p. 95
Getting a Grasp on Mortgage Basics	p. 95
Fixed or Adjustable? That Is the Interest(ing) Question	p. 96
Distinguishing fixed-rate mortgages from adjustables	p. 98
Looking at hybrid loans	p. 98
Starting out risky: interest-only mortgages	p. 98
Making the fixed/adjustable decision	p. 98
Deciding on your loan's life: 15 years or 30?	p. 104
Finding a Fixed-Rate Mortgage	p. 106
The all-important interest rate	p. 107
The finer points of points	p. 107
Other lender fees	p. 109
Arriving at the Absolute Best Adjustable	p. 110
Where an ARM's interest rate comes from	p. 111
How often does the interest rate adjust?	p. 113
Limits on interest-rate adjustments	p. 113
Locating the Best, Lowest-Cost Lenders	p. 115
Shopping on your own	p. 115
Working with a mortgage broker	p. 117
Chapter 7 Mortgage Quandaries, Conundrums, and Forms	p. 123
Overcoming Common Mortgage Problems	p. 123
Insufficient income	p. 124
Debt and credit problems	p. 124
Dealing with Appraisal Problems	p. 127
You've overpaid	p. 127
The appraiser doesn't know your area	p. 128
The appraiser/lender is sandbagging you	p. 128
Those Darn Mortgage Forms	p. 129
The laundry list of required documents	p. 129
Permissions to inspect your finances	p. 131
The Uniform Residential Loan Application	p. 133
Other typical documents	p. 145
Part III Property, Players, and Prices	p. 147
Chapter 8 Where and What to Buy	p. 149
Location, Location, Value	p. 151
Characteristics of good neighborhoods	p. 151
Selecting your best neighborhood	p. 153
Fundamental Principles for Selecting Your Home	p. 154
The principle of progression: Why to buy one of the cheaper homes on the block	p. 154
The principle of regression: Why not to buy the most expensive house on the block	p. 156
The principle of conformity: Why unusual is usually costly	p. 157
Defining Home Sweet Home	p. 158
Detached residences	p. 159
Attached residences	p. 164
Finding a Great Deal	p. 173
Finding a fixer-upper	p. 174
Taking over a foreclosure	p. 178
Seeking a short sale	p. 180
Pooling Your Resources: Ad Hoc Partnerships	p. 183
Types of residential co-ownership	p. 183
Structuring a successful co-ownership	p. 184
Chapter 9 Assembling an All-Star Real Estate Team	p. 187
The Team Concept	p. 187
Lining up the players	p. 188
Avoiding gratuitous advice	p. 189
Reeling in a Real Estate Agent	p. 190
Types of agent relationships	p. 191
How agents get paid	p. 194
Characteristics of good agents	p. 195
Selecting your agent	p. 197
Getting the most from your agent	p. 203
Bagging a Broker	p. 206
Landing a Lender	p. 207
Procuring Property Inspectors	p. 208
Electing an Escrow Officer	p. 209
Finding (or Forgoing) Financial and Tax Advisors	p. 209
Looking for Lawyers	p. 212
Selecting your lawyer	p. 213
Getting the most out of a lawyer	p. 214
Chapter 10 What's It Worth?	p. 215
Preparing to Tour an Endless Parade of Homes	p. 215
The Three Elusive Components of Worth	p. 216
Value is a moving target	p. 216
Cost is yesterday	p. 217
Price is what it's worth today	p. 219
Fair Market Value	p. 219
When fair market value isn't fair - need-based pricing	p. 220
Median home prices versus fair market value	p. 221
Determining Fair Market Value: Comparable Market Analysis	p. 223
The basics of a helpful CMA	p. 223
The flaws of CMAs	p. 228
Getting a Second Opinion: Appraisals versus CMAs	p. 230
Why Buyers and Sellers Often Start Far Apart	p. 231
Inept agents	p. 232
Unrealistic sellers	p. 234
Chapter 11 Tapping the Internet's Best Resources	p. 235
Finding Useful Information	p. 235
Get your feet wet at Realtor.com	p. 236
Discover more at these sites	p. 236
Doing Some Preliminary Shopping	p. 237
Surveying homes for sale	p. 238
Watching out for sites promoting foreclosures	p. 239
Sifting school information	p. 240
Perusing "best places" to live	p. 240
Familiarizing yourself with financing options	p. 241
The Drawbacks of Searching for Houses in Cyberspace	p. 242
Conflicts of interest	p. 242
Bankruptcies	p. 242
Misleading home-valuation tools	p. 243
Untrustworthy mortgage calculators	p. 243
Part IV Making the Deal	p. 245
Chapter 12 Negotiating Your Best Deal	p. 247
Understanding and Coping with Your Emotions	p. 248
Examining the violent forces at work	p. 248
Controlling yourself	p. 249
The Art of Negotiating	p. 250
Being realistic	p. 251
Examining your negotiating style	p. 253
Negotiating with finesse	p. 255
The Negotiating Process	p. 256
Making an offer to purchase	p. 256
Leaving an escape hatch: Contingencies	p. 258
Getting a counteroffer	p. 260
The Finer Points of Negotiating	p. 262
Negotiating when the playing field isn't level	p. 262
Spotting fake sellers	p. 264
Low-balling	p. 267
Negotiating credits in escrow	p. 270
Chapter 13 Inspecting and Protecting Your Home	p. 273
Conducting Thorough inspections	p. 273
All properties should be inspected	p. 274
The two types of defects: Patent and latent	p. 275
Patent defect red flags	p. 276
Types of property inspections	p. 277
Inspecting inspectors	p. 278
Insuring Your Home	p. 285
Homeowners insurance	p. 285
Title insurance	p. 288
Chapter 14 It Ain't Over till the Weight-Challenged Escrow Officer Sings	p. 293
An Escrow Is a Good Thing	p. 293
Know thy escrow officer	p. 294
Cover all the bases	p. 295
'Tis the season: December escrows	p. 301
Follow through	p. 302
How You Take Title Is Vital	p. 303
Joint tenancy	p. 303
Community property	p. 304
Tenants-in-common	p. 304
Getting help drafting an agreement	p. 305
Getting Possessive	p. 305
Moving day	p. 306
Final verification of condition	p. 307
Coping with Buyer's Remorse	p. 307
Part V The Part of Tens	p. 311
Chapter 15 Ten Financial "To Do's" After You Buy	p. 313
Stay on Top of Your Spending and Saving	p. 314
Consider Electronic Mortgage Payments	p. 314
Rebuild Your Emergency Reserve	p. 315
Ignore Solicitations for Mortgage Insurance	p. 315
Ignore Solicitations for Faster Payoff	p. 316
Consider Protesting Your Tax Assessment	p. 317
Refinance if Interest Rates Fall	p. 317
Keep Receipts for All Improvements	p. 318
Ignore Solicitations to Homestead	p. 319
Take Time to Smell the Roses	p. 319
Chapter 16 Ten Things to Know When Investing in Real Estate	p. 321
Real Estate Is a Solid Long-Term Investment	p. 322
Real Estate Investing Isn't for Everyone	p. 322
REIT's Are Good if You Loathe Being a Landlord	p. 322
Don't Invest in Limited Partnerships	p. 323
Avoid Timeshare Condos and Vacation Homes	p. 323
Residential Properties Are Your Best Investment Option	p. 324
Consider Fixer-Upper Income Property	p. 325
Consider Converting Small Apartment Buildings to Condos	p. 325
Consider the Property's Cash Flow	p. 326
Your Rental Losses Are Limited for Tax Purposes	p. 326
Chapter 17 Ten Things to Consider When Selling Your House	p. 327
Why Are You Selling?	p. 328
Can You Afford to Buy the Next Home?	p. 328
What's It Worth?	p. 329
Have You Done Your Homework to Find a Good Real Estate Agent?	p. 329
Do You Have the Skills to Sell the House Yourself?	p. 330
Have You Properly Prepared the House for Sale?	p. 331
Do You Understand the House's Hot Buttons?	p. 331
What Are the Financial Ramifications of Selling?	p. 332
Do You Know the Rules for Capital Gains Taxes on the Sale of a House?	p. 332
Part VI Appendixes	p. 333
Appendix A Sample Real Estate Purchase Contract	p. 335
Appendix B Sample Short-Sale Addendum plus Short-Sale Information and Advisory	p. 347
Appendix C Example of a Good Inspection Report	p. 355
Appendix D Glossary	p. 375
Index	p. 393

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents