The Unofficial Guide to Buying a Home (The Unofficial Guide Series)

Rating:
Summary: Well done...
Review: The best of the four home-buying books I read or skimmed. The key is that it is unbiased and written from the buyer's perspective, usually with humor. Most other books are not. Exposes a lot of the unseen motives from the various players in the process, particularly real estate agents. Has lots of useful tips and is more comprehensive than most similar books.

It looks like the home real estate industry is changing rapidly with the MLS/Internet and discount realtors popping up. It seems I've seen more "for sale by owner" signs and/or discount realtor signs than standard realtor signs during my recent home search. It is clear that it no longer costs a realtor 5-7% of home price to market a house with Internet (especially expensive ones), so something has to give somewhere. They ought to update this book every few years.

Rating:
Summary: Waste
Review: This book is a waste of time, especially if you have anything complicated in your home-buying transaction (and who doesn't?). It's also sexist - they actually recommend that two people in a couple (because obviously anyone who is buying a house must be in a heterosexual relationship) go and read _men are from mars, women are from venus_. spare me.

Rating:
Summary: Easing the fears to confidence
Review: When my fiancee and found out that our rental house is going to be demolished (2 weeks before our wedding), we decided to "Try" to buy a house. The first thing I did was buy this book. It has helped us realize that yes, we can afford it, how it may even be financially good for us! All of my fears about being uprooted were calmed, and as we read each chapter together each night I feel more and more confident about the process and pitfalls of finding and buying our very first home! This book has answered EVERY question we have had, and pointed out situations to watch for that would have otherwise been unknown to us. We're going to prove to all of our friends and family that we CAN do it, and that we did it ourselves (with the help of a little book).