Rating: 
Summary: Grossly exaggerated!!!
Review: I am not sure if there are 106 COMMON mistakes homebuyers make. I think the number is probably more like 25. The author addresses "common mistakes" which most of us wouldn't care about. For example, #44 "Find out whether you will fit in with your neighbors" (do most of us even care what our neighbor thinks of us?) , #51 "We seldom see the Sun here" (you mean not everywhere is like California????), #76 "The worst they can do is say no" (*yawn*). Having said this, there are SOME good information here which is worth the cheap price of this book. Just don't expect all the 106 "common mistakes" apply to you.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for investors and homebuyers
Review: I bought this book along with Mclean/Eldred's Investing in Real Estate. Although written for first time homebuyers, I know from experience that investors often make many of these same mistakes. In addition, since investors must find tenants for their properties, many of the mistakes cited will help investors evaluate a property from the perspective of the people who will be living there. Properties may look great on paper in your pro forma, but if your desired tenants do not share your enthusiasm, your results could look like Enron's. Trust me, I learned the hard way.
Rating: 
Summary: not bad
Review: I cannot quite give this my strongest recommendation. In my opinion, Eldred exaggerates the value of leverage (being able to buy a large house with a small down payment). Part of my hesitancy may be that I tend to prefer books that take something other than the realtor perspective. Examples of books that I like are Randy Johnson's book on mortgages and Myron Ferguson's book on home construction, each of which delves deeply into a topic and is highly educational.
Rating:
Summary: A little too gung-ho
Review: I didn't get much out of this book because the author seems to think that homebuying is right for everyone at practically anytime. He didn't present the other side of the coin. And he focused primarily, it seemed to me, on low-income home-searchers. If you are such a person, this book may be right for you. I was looking for a book to help me think through the process of finding a broker I could trust, what I should expect from a broker, how to determine what kind of house I really should buy (so I don't buy based on love at first sight), and other planning tools (not planning in terms of saving for a down payment, but planning in terms of the homebuying process). This book really didn't give me any of that. I bought 2 other books for first-time homebuyers at the same time, and I'm just getting into the second one, which I find MUCH more useful and geared towards what I'm looking for. It's called "Questions every first-time homebuyer should ask" by Ilyce Glink. She is a broker, which of course means that her slant may be different from this book, but a lot of what she writes about doesn't involve the brokerage process at all. Like "how do I know what I want", "how do I fiure out where I really want to live", "how do I look for a home", "should I use a buyer's broker", "how do I identify what I need in a home versus what I like in a home", and then more subjects on negotation, determining what I can afford, financing, things to do before you close, and lots of other useful information. Last but not least, the author of the subject book had a very, very annoying writing style. I felt like it was geared toward a third-grader. The Glink book is much more of an enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Ditto,ditto for investors
Review: I just want to chime in with several other reviewers who are investors. By focusing on specific kinds of mistakes with real examples, you will be able to use this book to better avoid problem properties. But, I also think it helped me to see opportunities and potential turnaround situations. Too often, problem properties scare off buyers. This leaves the profits to those investors (or homebuyers) who can not only identify what's wrong, but how to fix it. I gained both types of insights.
Rating:
Summary: Good examples, but not enough follow through
Review: I read this book in conjunction with "Home Buying for Dummies" and while it gave the better examples of what could go wrong - it did not give enough information on how to avoid and/or solve the errors. I really enjoyed reading the true life experiences other home buyers had. The book tells you what to look out for but it just did not give enough information on how to fix the problem. Maybe the next edition can expand more on the "fix it" portion.
Rating:
Summary: Good examples, but not enough follow through
Review: I read this book in conjunction with "Home Buying for Dummies" and while it gave the better examples of what could go wrong - it did not give enough information on how to avoid and/or solve the errors. I really enjoyed reading the true life experiences other home buyers had. The book tells you what to look out for but it just did not give enough information on how to fix the problem. Maybe the next edition can expand more on the "fix it" portion.
Rating:
Summary: Well written
Review: I really enjoyed this book and used it as a resource for my first home. Very indepth look into uncommon things most buyers don't even think about!
Rating:
Summary: Worth every penny!
Review: I was a total newbie regarding homebuying when I bought this book. It was fabulous, and I've never regretted the purchase. It explains everything you need to know, helps you to sidestep pitfalls that you may encounter and is in general, chockfull of useful information. It's easy to read and understand and went a long way toward calming my 'first homebuyer' jitters. I also brought HomeBuying for Dummies at the same time. Whatever I couldn't find in one book, I found in the other. If you're a first time homebuyer, GET THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: If your a first time home buyer this is a must
Review: I was totally new at buying a home. We rented for 14 years, one of the worse mistakes in my life. This book helped me tremendously to understand what buying a house entailed, how to go about it and what to look for. I fully agree with Eldred's position of the biggest mistake anyone can make is not buying any house and continue to pay rent. I followed alot of the ideas he shares in my home search and I found a great buy in a solid neighborhood and I was able to do it with very little money down. This book does not give you all the ins and outs of financing a home but this along with a couple of other books on financing will be a great resource to buying a first home. There are alot of things you need to know. I know many homeowners that did not understand what was going on and why, since their agent did not feel it important enough to inform them. Reading this book helped me find the right agent so that did not happen to me and gave me a clear understanding of the entire process and what to look for.
We have lived in our home for over a year now, our escrow went up but i knew that would happen because I learned to ask the right questions but buying a home has been one of the best thing our family has ever done and we do not regret it one bit. This book, a good agent and mortgage broker that I could trust helped us tremendously.
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