A guide to home buying in the classic "for Dummies" format. This book covers the basics and the not-so-basics of residential home buying and provides a step-by-step guide to purchasing your own house. Among other topics, the book provides valuable advise regarding how to get started, how to select an agent, how to shop for a mortgage and so forth. Better yet, it does so in an understandable, but not oversimplified manner. Starting from absolute scratch, I personally found the book invaluable in purchasing my first home. Home Buying for Dummies is certainly not the final word in real estate, but it provides sufficient and highly usable information for the first-time home buyer. Read it before you meet with a buyer's agent and you can't help but get off to a great start.

Full of interesting things about home buying. I wish that in some parts it would have gone more in depth. But in the end I felt like I learned a lot from this book.

I recently ordered several mortgage books as learning and reference tools as I embark on my new career as a loan officer. I have not read any of the books from cover to cover, but they are serving me well for the purpose intended. The book arrived in a timely manner and in the condition described.

If you've never bought a home before, buy this book. It gives you a good overview of many areas of the homebuying process. If the thought of purchasing your first home is a bit daunting, educate yourself. This doesn't give you every single detail that you need to know, but it will help you ask informed questions and lead you on your way.

it is a must read if you are a first time home buyer. I knew what to ask, what to expect. I am not money savvy, but the morgage section is simple enough that I feel that helped me getting the best deal possible.

This book goes without saying that it covers all the basics and provides additional information through web links. This is my 4th Dummy book and will continue to use it as a reference for many years to come! Easy read, funny at times without being to cheesy. Kudos to the authors again for another quality book!

Read this book in any fashion you like and mark points down to inquire with Realtors, loan officer, appraisers and inspectors... You'll make some mad for being informed and catch others trying to lie or sugar coat it to you!

A friend recommended this because she read the first chapter and decided she had no business buying a house. Yes, it's that good. We have used it to help us select a lender and a Realtor, and it also helps by suggesting some decisions that should be made before you select those people. It is so much clearer now what escrow is. And why it matters who your home inspector is.
Bottom line, when you go shopping for the home of your dreams, it's best to be concentrating on the house, not wondering about all those terms the Realtor just threw at you. Read this first and the home-buying process is much clearer. If your realty agent confuses you, you know enough to ask them to clarify things. And if it still isn't clear, you'll know enough to find another realty agent.
Read this book! Buying a house is stressful enough without it.

It was nice being able to understand what the real state agent and the loan officer talked about. I could ask questions that before I was unable to do. Great easy to understand reading.

One main problem with the book is there is a sense you should trust the realtor. I disagree with this 100%. You should never, never trust a realtor. Good luck finding a "great realtor" let alone an honest one. Be careful with what you tell a realtor. Even the one you believe is working for you as a buyer. Do your own comps, because it is easy, and pay that or less. Very simple.

This book tells the buyer what to expect at each stage of the home buying process. It explains it in a way that makes it easy to understand. I highly recommend buying this book if you are about to start looking for a home.

This is a thorough book that covers many of the finer points that I didn't think it might.

The section entitled "How You Take Title is Vital" was very useful to me because I had always thought that that title through "joint tenancy' was the safest and most useful way for my wife and I to take title. However, I learned that "community property" is a much more advantages way to do it, as it will safe the surviving spouse thousands of dollars in taxes.

I also liked the seldom covered consideration mentioned in the "Seek Hidden Opportunities to Add Value." As a real estate investor and landlord, I've always believed that a house should be more than a home, it should be a source of wealth.

The book wisely mentions looking for a property where you have the option to build a rental unit on your property. That would be a great first step in turning a liability (a 30-year mortgage) into an financial assest (something that generates more income).

Unfortunately, most first time buyers settle for much less in a house than they could get.

This book starts from the very beginning of your home buying journey. It helps you understand what you can afford and breaks downs the costs involved in purchasing a home. It was a huge help!

This text is an excellent primer for those of us who are novices in the terminology and techniques involved in what could possibly be the most important financial decisions of our lives. And aren't afraid to admit it.

Still have not received this product as of today 9/21. Item was needed to give as gift for 9/22.

This book fully explains the process of deciding when and how to buy a home. I plan to purchase a home within the next three years, and feel that I will well-prepared.

We picked this up when we were going to buy our first home. It helped us to make the right decision and not feel stupid by asking questions.

I was hoping that by reading this book I would be able to buy a home on my own without a realtor, however, although truly informative, I doubt that it provided me with enough information to be that independent. Definitely a good book, but needs to be back up with other sources.

I think "Home Buying For Dummies", 3rd edition by Eric Tyson is a great read. I am new to the US and the real estate world in general. I found this book very helpful. It doesnt assume you know much (just like a Dummies book should!) and gives a very clear overview. Very highly recommended for any novice who wants to step into the world of real estate.

I bought this book when I 1st decided to buy a home and gave myself one year to plan my strategy. I took this book along the entire way, sticking post-its everywhere and continuously referring back to it to make sure I was doing everything right. Thanks to the book and my 1st time homebuyer program, I am an official homeowner and I couldn't be happier. Thank you:-)

I read this book before buying my first house. It made quite a difference in my relationship with my real estate agent. I knew what questions to ask and what to look for in an agent, a house and even a mortgage company. A great read for any first-time buyer.

If you've read other "For Dummies" books, you'll be used to the style. Prose padded with dumb jokes and needless words so that "dummies" can digest the helpful information within. However, the information has all been useful and has made our first home buying experience less stressful. I grudgingly give this book 3 stars--even though my wife and I had t bribe ourselves with Mighty O doughnuts to slog through each chapter. Beware, or you may gain a few pounds as well as an education on homebuying.

It came quick. It was new. I love the material. Helpful for buying a home.

It came quick. It was new. I love the material. Helpful for buying a home.

This book is great if you have never bought a home before. It has lots of valuable information in it. I was about to purchase a home in another state and I bought this book. The book helped me find a license inspector in the state where the home was. The book also provided a lot of helpful information regarding what you should look for when purchasing a home. Without this book I could have purchased a virtual money pit. Highly recommended.

This book is great if you have never bought a home before. It has lots of valuable information in it. I was about to purchase a home in another state and I bought this book. The book helped me find a license inspector in the state where the home was. The book also provided a lot of helpful information regarding what you should look for when purchasing a home. Without this book I could have purchased a virtual money pit. Highly recommended.

PERFECT book! i'm actually just finishing the book. my husband and i are going to buy a house in a few weeks! it's packed with information and simplified for someone like me who is totally clueless. twice the author's have talked trash about the type of person who would read their book that i've not appreciated, but otherwise they are to the point and helpful.

Very helpful in teaching the basics of home buying. I'm sure there is a lot more to know but this book gave me the foundation of what I need to know and tells you how and where to do more research. I bought it with Mortgages for Dummies and there is a lot of overlap.

I thought the book was good. I was hoping to get something that would tell me about the different type of loans there are out there. I guess that might be a different book.

The outline of the book sets the stage for an extremely informative home buyer's guide. An "easy reader" which leaves no stone unturned and lays out in "simple" language what the home buyer should expect and do. It is the ultimate companion for the home buying dummy. Nay, any seriously motivated home buyer.

You need to read this book before buying your first home...as I should have before I made my mistakes. Often times a real estate agent won't tell you everything, either because they are busy or they just want to close on the deal. The book covers home inspections, escrow info, title work, etc. Every basic detail on how to safely get you into a house. Now it won't tell you how to buy homes really cheaply like foreclosures and what not, but it will tell you some due diligence information.

Other supplementary titles with this book:

The Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Tax Lien and Tax Deed Auctions (ISBN 0978834607)

I was about to buy my first home and didn't know much about the whole process. This book proved very useful and informative.

When searching for a good teaching tool/reference for first time home buying, the list of publications can be endless and confusing. This one book will lead you step by step through each of the processes involved. Having NO PRIOR HOME BUYING KNOWLEDGE, I eagerly opened this book with highlighter in hand, reading cover to cover on all topics from finding an honest agent to buying fixer-uppers, researching mortgages, neighborhoods, etc., even whether you should consider renting vs. buyng, and all the little details in between. You will learn things you never knew before, and I found myself constantly referring to many chapters throughout our experience in searching for a home. I recommend this book to anyone seeking stratightforward and easy to understand info, no fancy jargon to cut through, just plain language writing on a very in depth subject. The book's lay out is reader-friendly as well, making it very simple to locate exactly the subject you need. Don't pass this one up!

Really got me thinking and was filled with very useful, helpful, informative, but easy and simple to understand tricks. One of my favorites. A+

I am trying to buy my first condo and I bought this to try and help me since I didn't really have anyone to ask questions. The book is very generic since home buying varies quite a bit from state to state and sometimes within states.

I think it was a good way to know what was going to happen, but as I got futher into the process I needed more specific information about how things worked in my state. Also I think home buying has alot of little details that I think are missed in this book. Again, good to get started, but I would like a Home buying for dummies in (insert state here) book.

I bought my first house following this book throughout the searching and buying process. It was so handy, I kept it with all my house paperwork! Years later, I sold the house using 'House Selling for Dummies'. Unfortunately, I should have refreshed my memory and read the book again before purchasing my second home. I made better decisions the first time around! Great reference book or for first-time buyers.

Marina Kushner
Author
The Truth About Caffeine: How Companies That Promote It Deceive Us and What We Can Do about It

I bought this book and "A Complete Idiot's Guide..." If you want in depth details on buying a home, then this is the book for you. The other one was too fluffy and general and didn't really explain anything. I knew NOTHING about buying a home and this book takes you step by step and teaches what you need to know. Should buy or rent? Are your finances in order? What can you afford? They answer all your questions before you even leave chapter 1!

It's a great book. It's very easy to read and understand and when you're done with it, you'll feel like a pro! I just bought my first home, and I own it all to this book.

This book coupled with Ilyce Glink's "100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask" (2005 ed.) should cover all your home buying needs.

This book felt like a great resource as we read through it pre-purchase, but, as the process began to solidify, we were disappointed to find that rules and laws vary so much state to state that our information was either erroneous, not fully explained, or unrealistic. We just bought our first home (in Texas, so you have an idea of what area is completely inapplicable to the book) and could not find one real estate agent who even knew what an activity list was, let alone maintained one. We had a long list of questions for the sellers, but maybe 5 of the 50 were answered at all, let alone to our satisfaction. Granted, the books says "walk away" from things like this, but, when pressed into a homebuying timeline due to job relocation, who has the luxury of waiting? It is a great resource for those that have the time for a few dozen "walk aways," but, for the rest of us, it will be of little use. (Although, I use it now to remind me to kick myself when I find yet another thing that did not go according to plan.) Our first home purchase went surprisingly smooth and we love our new house, but I found little of that can be blamed on good content of this book.

This excellent (and surprisingly quite comprehensive) home buying book guides us through the entire journey of home ownership including the saving of downpayment, clearing existing debt and cleaning up of credit scores, mental prep, the understanding and selection of different mortgage types out there(fixed rate, adjustable, 80-10-10 etc), different types of housing available (condos/lofts, single-family etc), insurance shopping, advice on home inspection and closing the deal, and even advice for preparing your home sale down the road.

It is extremely important that we buy our house at the right budget without overstretching ourselves or under-buying it and this book helps us in making the right financial decisions.

From what I have gathered from various home buying books and articles, we should opt for a 20% down payment (or at least 10%) and go for a fixed-rate mortgage (or hybrid mortgage if intend to keep for only 5-10 years) to avoid potentially disastrous financial risks down the road. Our true monthly payment for our home ownership is usually 40% additional of our monthly mortgage payments (since it includes our home ownership tax, insurance, maintenance etc), so we should be aware of it before taking the plunge. Buying a house with the intention of selling it for quick profits is usually a very risky proposition. Though it is difficult to time the housing market, it looks like it is cooling off recently. So if you happen to buy a house at its peak value, you might encounter a considerable loss if you decided to sell it after a few months or even a couple of years later. A quick word about tax breaks for home ownership. We should only consider our tax breaks as nice bonus and should not factor in the tax returns into how much house that we could afford to avoid biting too much house.

I highly recommend reading Suze Orman home buying guide http://biz.yahoo.com/pfg/e10buyrent/. Very informative read.
With this book, I am confident that we will be a much better informed buyer and make our home ownership experience a true American dream instead of a financial nightmare. Best of luck!

This is a great beginner's guide to home buying. The advice is straightforward and the explanations are easy to understand.

Buying a home is a scary and daunting prospect for me. I kept getting a lot of conflicting advice from relatives, friends, and coworkers on when to buy, what to buy, and how to buy. This is very frustrating as everyone means well, but what worked for them might not apply to me. And don't bother asking a realtor or mortgage company if you should buy--they make their living on our decisions to buy!

So I bought Home Buying for Dummies to learn more, and it has a lot of sound and thoughtful guidance to help decide when and how much to buy... And also how to find a good home, and then negotiate with the realtors, the sellers, the mortgage companies, and everyone else that is sticking their hands in your wallet.

The author's advice is realistic, and he points out the pitfalls of jumping in and what trouble you can get into with the different loan options out there.

This is a great beginner's guide to home buying. The advice is straightforward, the the explanations are easy to understand.

Buying a home is a scary and daunting prospect for any first timer, including myself. As a single woman, I get wanted (and unwanted) advice from relatives, friends, and coworkers on whether to buy, and if so, what to buy. This is very frustrating as these people mean well, but do not understand that my situation and needs may be different from theirs. And don't bother asking a realtor or mortgage company if you should buy-- they make their living on our decisions to buy!

However, Home Buying for Dummies provides sound, level, and thoughtful, advice to help you decide when is the right time to buy... And once you are ready, how to find a good home, and then negotiate with the realtors, the sellers, the mortgage companies, and everyone else that is sticking their hands in your wallet. The author's advice is realistic, and they point out the pitfalls of jumping in and what trouble you can get into with the different loan options out there.

I highly recommend this book for the new homebuyers out there. I never realized how much terminology I didn't know in the real estate world. I was able to skim through the book fairly quickly and flagged the terms that related to my needs which alleviated some of the stress of homebuying. I felt that I was educated enough not to get ripped off. The tips were very useful and the layout was clear and consise. Read this book before you get an agent or a loan officer.

I think that this book gives excellent insight into all the ins and outs that someone should know when purchasing their first home.

I had purchased this book as well as The Idiots Guide for Buying a Home and was pretty impressed with Home Buying for Dummies. It was well organized, very readable and had very useful information that my parents wouldn't have told me. Some notworthy examples of how practical this book was include:
1. consider a tax free money market account to invest your down payment while you save depending on your tax bracket. Names of possible accounts were included.
2. Roth IRAs allow you to borrow against them tax free for the down payment as a first time home buyer.
3. What to consider for watching a housing market....
To name a few.

The Idiots Guide was an absolute waste of money. One of the reviewers here posted that Dummies was patronizing -- the Idiots guide was truely insulting. It actually seemed like a bad rippoff of the Dummies book, not to mention the font was twice as big and double spaced. I would have returned it if my spouse hadn't written in it. If you want it, look in the used books section...

I have to agree with another reviewer that some of the content is covered in other Dummies books like Personal Finances for Dummies -- but having the salient points repeated in the context of home buying was helpful. I dont have the other Dummies books mentioned so for me, the redundency between books was minimal.

Go with the Dummies book. Its an excellent intro to buying a home!

This is a very good comprehensive introduction to the home-buying process for first-time homeowners. It's very easy to read yet guides you in the crucial areas of buying a home. A must read for those who have never bought a home but are considering it.

This is the first book I purchased on home buying or real estate. It gave me a solid introduction on home buying and has taught me all the general things I need to know to purchase a home.

I read this book from cover to cover before buying my first home last year. The information is invaluable, especially the section on how to find a sound realtor (I did, and she was able to negotiate a good price for me) and how not to buy more house than you should. The author also tells you what to look for in a house and alerts you to pitfalls that the first-time home buyer might be completely unaware of, and walks you through how to obtain a mortgage and the various steps involved in bidding on a house and closing the deal.

This is a must-read for someone who has never bought a home (be it a house or a condo) before and is immensely educational and helpful.

Highly recommended!

This is the first "for dummies" book I've ever bought. It's also going to be the last. They're not kidding with the title. Instead of stating their point simply and clearly, the authors patronize the readers with silly stories. For example, instead of saying something like "do not buy a house that's too far from your work," the authors spend a paragraph telling a story of some poor dummy who did buy a house too far from his work and ended up hating everything. Oh, and BTW, if you need a book to tell you that you shouldn't buy a house that's far from your work, then this book is for you. The information presented is oversimplified, incomplete, and sometimes just incorrect. Moreover, this book will not help you at all if you're dealing with an unusual market, such as SF Bay Area, NYC, LA, etc.

I'm not in the real estate business, nor do I have any vested interest in anybody buying or not buying this book.

This is a great book and gets you thinking about topics and asking questions that your realtor or mortgage lender / broker probably wouldn't otherwise bring up for you. While it does not go into real depth on any single subject, it highlights enough to really help you become an educated buyer. It addresses everything from getting financially positioned to buy a house in the first place (e.g. pay off your bills, save some cash), to finding a good mortgage that works for you (e.g. fixed-rates versus ARMs), understanding where and what are good buys (e.g. principles of progression and regression), forming a team (e.g. realtor, mortgage lender, etc), and the offer / counter/ and escrow processes. With all the info you'll learn, you will easily save yourself the cost of this book (probably many times over). The only drawback is that this book provides general information for all of America as a whole - it does not address specific real estate hot-spots such as Southern California.

Having read both this volume and the Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying and Selling a Home, I recommend the idiot's guide over this one. The main reason is because the latter is better written and easier to understand. Home Buying for Dummies is very comprehensive but reminds me of my own Ph.D. dissertation: heavy on theory but little on practicalities. The idiot's guide presents information in a way that make it easier to digest and follow.

In short, this is a good advice primer for first-time home buyers, but I think you get a better book and also a better value if you buy the complete idiot's guide version.

(I'm not affiliated with any authors or publishers, nor do I even know or have met them in any manner.)