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Recommended Reading (and software)

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by Arnold Kling

For many people, a home purchase is the most important financial decision of their lives. It makes sense to approach the decision carefully.

I believe that it takes three types of know-how to make a wise decision on a home purchase: financial know-how; legal/negotiation know-how; and home inspection know-how. There is something to be said for consulting a financial advisor, a lawyer and a home inspector any time you purchase a home. The books listed below can help build your own knowledge and enable you to make better use of experts, but they do not substitute for professional advice.

Software

  1. The Homebuyer's Guide

  2. PC-Loan

Books

Beware that there are a lot of truly awful books available in stores. Typically, they are packed with superfluous advice, such as pointing out that an advantage of living in the country is isolation and quiet, while a disadvantage of living in a city can be crime and pollution. Like I need to spend $15 to learn that. The books listed below are books I would recommend to a close friend or dear relative, and I was not paid to endorse them. If you want to know the basis for my judgements, select "criteria."

For some of the books I have provided a brief summary which you can hypertext to.

Books Reviewed

GENERAL

1. 100 Questions Every First-time Home Buyer Should Ask.Ilyce R. Glink. Times Books, a division of Random House, New York, N.Y., 10022. 1994, $14.00

2. The Field Guide to Home Buying in America. Stephen M. Pollan, Mark Levine, and Michael Pollan. Simon and Schuster, Rockefeller Center, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY, 10020. 1988, $10.00

3. J.K. Lasser's Guide to Buying Your First Home. 2nd ed. Joe Catalano. Prentice Hall, 15 Columbus Circle, N.Y., NY, 10023. 1993, $15.00

4. Sylvia Porter's A Home of Your Own,. by Sylvia Porter and others. Avon Books, 105 Madison Avenue, NY, NY 10016. 1989, $7.95

MORTGAGE SHOPPING

The Loan Wolf Mortgage Guide.

HOUSE INSPECTION

5. How to Inspect a House. George Hoffman, with Mark C. Friedman. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Ma. 01867. 1992, $9.95.

LEGAL ISSUES

(see also #2 under GENERAL)

6. The Legal Side to Buying a House, condo, or Co-op: A Step-by-Step Guide. George Milko, in association with HALT (a Washington, D.C. foundation). Random House, New York, 1990, $8.95

7. Legal Aspects of Buying, Owning, and Selling a Home.Daniel L. Johnson. Betterway Books, 1507 Dana Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45027. 1992,$12.95.

SELLING A HOUSE

If you are a home buyer, you know that it might make sense to read a book written for home sellers (and vice-versa). Gain insight into your adversary, so to speak. Also, books written for homesellers seem to be more forthcoming on the subject of closing costs.

8. How to Sell your House in 90 days. Marc Stephen Garrison. Doubleday, 666 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY, 10103. 1991, $13.00

9. How to Sell Your Home Without a Broker. Bill Carey & Suzanne Kiffman. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 605 3rd Ave., NY, NY, 10158-0012. 1990, $14.95

10. How to Sell Your Home in 5 Days. William G. Effros. Workman Publishing, 708 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y. 10003. 1993, $14.95.

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