Eric Tyson - Home Buying Kit For Dummies

153 153

154 154

155 155

156 156

157 157

158 158

159 159

160 160

161 161

162 162

163 163

164 164

165 165

166 166

167 167

168 168

169 169

170 170

171 171

172 172

173 173

174 174

175 175

176 176

177 177

178 178

179 179

180 180

181 181

182 182

183 183

184 184

185 185

186 186

187 187

188 188

189 189

190 190

191 191

192 192

193 193

194 194

195 195

196 196

197 197

198 198

199 199

200 200

201 201

202 202

203 203

204 204

205 205

206 206

207 207

208 208

209 209

210 210

211 211

212 212

213 213

214 214

215 215

216 216

217 217

218 218

219 219

220 220

221 221

222 222

223 223

224 224

225 225

226 226

227 227

228 228

229 229

230 230

231 231

232 232

233 233

234 234

235 235

236 236

237 237

238 238

239 239

240 240

241 241

242 242

243 243

244 244

245 245

246 246

247 247

248 248

249 249

250 250

251 251

252 252

253 253

254 254

255 255

256 257

257 258

258 259

259 260

260 261

261 262

262 263

263 264

264 265

265 266

266 267

267 268

268 269

269 270

270 271

271 272

272 273

273 274

274 275

275 276

276 277

277 278

278 279

279 280

280 281

281 282

282 283

283 284

284 285

285 287

286 288

287 289

288 290

289 291

290 292

291 293

292 294

293 295

294 296

295 297

296 298

297 299

298 300

299 301

300 302

301 303

302 304

303 305

304 306

305 307

306 309

307 310

308 311

309 312

310 313

311 314

312 315

313 316

314 317

315 318

316 319

317 320

318 321

319 322

320 323

321 324

322 325

323 326

324 327

325 328

326 329

327 330

328 331

329 332

330 333

331 335

332 336

333 337

334 338

335 339

336 340

337 341

338 343

339 344

340 345

341 346

342 347

343 348

344 349

345 351

346 352

347 353

348 354

349 355

350 356

351 357

352 358

353 359

354 360

355 361

356 362

357 363

358 365

359 366

360 367

361 368

362 369

363 370

364 371

365 373

366 374

367 375

368 376

369 377

370 378

371 379

372 380

373 381

374 382

375 383

376 384

377 385

378 386

379 387

380 388

381 389

382 390

383 391

384 393

385 394

386 395

387 396

388 397

389 398

390 399

391 400

392 401

393 402

394 403

395 404

396 405

397 406

398 407

399 408

400 409

401 410

402 411

403 412

404 413

405 414

406 415

407 416

408 417

409 418

410 419

411 420

412 421

413 422

414 423

415 424

416 425

417 426

418 427

419 428

420 429

421 430

422 432

423 433

Welcome to Home Buying Kit For Dummies, 7th Edition!

For about the cost of a couple of movie tickets or your monthly Netflix subscription, you can quickly and easily discover how to save thousands — perhaps even tens of thousands — of dollars the next time you buy a home.

How can we make such a claim? Simple. Each of us has spent decades personally advising thousands of people like you about home purchases and other important financial decisions. We’ve seen how ignorance of basic concepts and practices translates into money-draining mistakes. And we know that many of these mistakes are both needless and avoidable.

No one is born knowing how to buy a home. Everyone who’d like to buy a home must learn how to do it. Unfortunately, too many people get a crash course in the school of hard knocks — and learn by making costly mistakes at their own expense.

We know you’re not a dummy. You’ve already demonstrated an interest in discovering more about home buying by selecting this book, which can help you make smart moves and avoid financial land mines.

In the event that you’re still wondering whether to buy this book, consider that buying a home may well be the largest purchase that you ever make. Buying a home can send shock waves through your personal finances and may even cause a sleepless night or two. Purchasing a home is a major financial step and a life event for most people. It certainly was for us when we bought our first homes. You owe it to yourself to do things right.

We know that many home-buying books are competing for your attention. Here are several other compelling reasons why this is the best book for you:

It’s in plain English. Because we work with real people and answer real questions, our information is current, and we have a great deal of experience in explaining things. This experience can put you firmly in control of the home-buying process (rather than having it control you).

It’s objective. We’re not trying to sell you an expensive newsletter, seminar, or some real estate product you don’t need. Our goal is to make you as knowledgeable as possible before you purchase a home. We even explain why you may not want to buy a home. We’re not here to be real estate cheerleaders.

It’s holistic. When you purchase a home, that purchase affects your ability to save money and accomplish other important financial goals. We help you understand how best to fit your home acquisition into the rest of your personal-finance plan.

It’s a reference. You can read this book from cover to cover if you want. However, we know you’re busy and you likely don’t desire to become a real estate expert, so each portion of the book stands on its own. You can read it piecemeal to address your specific questions and immediate concerns.

Sprinkled throughout this book are cute little icons to help reinforce and draw attention to key points or to flag stuff that you can skip.

This bull’s-eye notes key strategies that can improve your real estate deal and, in some cases, save you lots of moola. Think of these as helpful little paternalistic hints we would whisper in your ear if we were close enough to do so!

Numerous land mines await novice as well as experienced home buyers. This explosive symbol marks those mines, and then we tell you how to sidestep them.

Occasionally, we suggest that you do more research or homework. Don’t worry: We tell you exactly what you need to do.