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100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask, Second Edition : With Answers from Top Brokers from Around the Country by Ilyce R. Glink. Buying a home requires skill in a variety of areas. There's negotiating, financing, inspecting a home, and understanding legal contracts. It's really too much for most people to do by themselves, which, as you know by now, is why most of us pay good money to hire real estate agents, mortgage brokers, home inspectors, and other professionals to help with the process. But that doesn't remove the buyer from the role of project manager, whose job is to understand what each specialist is meant to do and recognize when one of those key players is not doing his or her job right. Books such as 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask help the novice gain a solid understanding of the basics involved in this often complex process. The questions in this second edition of author Ilyce R. Glink's book also make buyers think about their decisions. If you want to buy an older home, for example, do you understand that older windows may need caulking or new sashes, that bathroom tiles may need regrouting, and that an older home may need rewiring, a new hot water heater, or a new furnace right away? Other questions range from the routine (How much can I afford? How do I make an offer?) to some that are hard to anticipate (What if the seller wants to stay in the house after the closing? Who should attend the closing?). Chapters are devoted to key topics, including figuring out what kind of house you want (this effort starts with a "wish list" and improves with a "reality check"), knowing what you can afford, putting together and negotiating a deal, financing your home, closing on the deal, and then doing what it takes to live happily ever after. Of course, living happily ever after requires understanding when it's time to move on to your next home, a process that may find you dusting off this book in the coming years
The new second edition contains many new questions from the first edition, revised many other questions, and completely rewrites every answer. Things are changing fast in residential real estate, and this book will bring you up-to-date. Whether you are a first-time buyer, first-time seller, or haven't bought a home in at least five years, this book will serve your needs very well. The questions are drawn from those that brokers report that first-time buyers most often ask. The answers draw upon the experiences of many brokers. How much training does it take to become a librarian, teacher, lawyer, physician, or rocket scientist? How well would the world work for us if such training were skimped on? When it comes to buying a first home (whether condo, co-op, or fixer-upper), most people act as though you can do brain surgery without the training. Not!
Even if you view this emotionally and financially important investment as one to be approached carefully, most first-time buyers will make important errors. Here are a few of my favorites: (1) Not thinking about how hard it may be to resell the home.
(2) Vastly underestimating how much money will be needed to fix it up.
(3) Overpaying for the home because of not realizing how to negotiate.
(4) Waiting until finding one's soul mate before purchasing.
(5) Spending more than you can afford, and using boxes for furniture.
(6) Purchasing a home that doesn't fit your needs (where will you put 4 children and you in 2 bedrooms?).
Interest rates are down in light of the terrible terrorist tragedy and weak economy. Unemployment is rising. Based on historical patterns, this is a good time to buy. Are you ready? Probably not, even if you think you are.
But I have good news for you. If you read and apply the lessons of this book, you will be more ready than many people who have already bought homes.
The subjects covered include deciding what you needs are, versus your likes; how to look; determining what you can afford; deciding what broker to use; how to work with the broker (especially what not to tell the broker, since most work for the seller); how to decide what to offer; how to negotiate; getting the best financing; checking out the house; handling the closing; and even dealing with problems after the closing. You also get help with which professionals (such as buying agents, lawyers, and home inspectors) to use, how to select them, what they will cost, and how to work with them.
I have bought or helped buy three houses, am an attorney, and am a licensed real estate agent. I found several areas where this excellent book extended my knowledge. I know it will save you thousands of dollars . . . and probably even more in avoided emotional trauma!
The book does this by posing questions, providing worksheets, steering you to Internet resources, and describing case histories.
No book from the buyer's perspective can however hope to dispel the incredible naiveté that we all have when we first purchase a home (all 2 million a year who are like lambs being led to the slaughter). For that purpose, I suggest that you also read another book, How to Sell Your Home Fast, which is an excellent description of what intelligent, prepared sellers will be doing to get you to buy their home and pay too much. Beneath all the friendly chit-chat with the sellers, realize that your are usually being carefully maneuvered to act against your own interest.
By the way, this book does not do enough to warn you about hidden house faults. Home inspectors are not the entire answer. They usually get their referrals from brokers, and will usually not tell you the worst of what can happen lest brokers stop recommending them. Spend some extra money and have people you know well and trust who are expert in electrical, heating, air conditioning, structural, roofing, plumbing, soil, and environmental hazards take a look also. They will find things that you can use to get the price lowered to cover the cost of repairs. My experience is that you will save about [amt.] for every [amt.] you spend in this way.
I also recommend that you find 10 people who are a lot like you who purchased a home similar to what interests you about five years ago. Ask them what they did right and what didn't work out so well.
After you explore all of these choices, you may want to consider what I did once . . . rent with an option to purchase. All of my rent went towards the down payment. I found I loved the house, saved money, and had few problems with repairs. I later sold it for a nice profit.
Also, spend time in the yard of your potential new home at all hours of the day and night. You may be surprised by some of the positive and negative features. In one home, I discovered that a dozen deer came by across a creek at 7:30 a.m. Seeing them every morning became my favorite part of every day.
After preparing by knowing what the right questions are, look for all of the potential problems and opportunities in making large decisions. Then sleep on your decision for three nights. You'll know what to do then!

Boston Then and Now by Elizabeth McNulty. America's oldest major city, Boston has adapted to the modern age while still retaining an old-world charm. With many of her streets tracing original ox-cart paths to historic waterfronts, Boston is "America's Walking City." This volume documents the amazing changes that Boston has undergone during the last 150 years. Seventy modern color photographs are compared side-by-side with seventy archival photographs from the 1850s to the 1950s. While focusing on famous vistas and familiar landmarks, it also explores well-known neighborhoods.

Boston Home Book by Ashley Group. The Boston Home Book is the most comprehensive resource guide for building, remodeling, landscaping, decorating and furnishing a luxury home in the Boston area. At over 700 pages, this beautiful, full-color hardcover volume gives homeowners the information they need to develop their dream home or redo their favorite room. Homeowners will find everything they need in this exquisite collection of luxury professionals showcased to inspire the consumer.
These professionals include: • Custom Home Builders • Interior Designers • Architects • Kitchen & Bath Designers • Landscape Architects and Contractors • Swimming Pool & Spa Designers. The Boston Home Book series is the final destination when searching for home improvement services. These comprehensive, hands-on sourcebooks to building, remodeling, decorating, furnishing, and landscaping a home, are region-specific making them required reading for the local homeowner. These hardcover volumes are the most complete and well-organized reference for the home industry. The Home Book covers all aspects of the process, including listings of hundreds of industry professionals, accompanied by informative and valuable editorial discussing the most recent trends. This handsome, easy-to-use directory is designed in a concise and organized manner, to be both practical and inspirational.
If there's one resource every current and future homeowner should own, it's a copy of his or her local Boston Home Book. This vastly comprehensive sourcebook is the only publication of its kinda compilation of the most recent, best ideas and information to guide readers as they remodel, build, decorate or landscape a luxury home in their local market.

Boston from the Air by Elizabeth McNulty. Boston remains a vibrant city and a major center of commerce and learning, showing no sign of slowing down despite being nearly four hundred years old. While retaining much of its past, the city has certainly outgrown the imagination of its founders. They would indeed be astounded by this remarkable collection of aerial photographs, which provide a picture of the city that few people today have seen. Every famous building, street, park, and neighborhood is documented in full-color photos specially shot for the series. This fresh approach lets the reader see how Boston has shaped and been shaped by the land and sea.

Boston : A Photographic Tour by Ted Landphair, Carol Highsmith. Boston, that historical center of colonial charm, splendid parklands, superior universities, and technological development, is an endlessly fascinating place. It is the cauldron, not just of American freedom, but also, arguably, of modern democracy itself. The great names of Boston?Revere, Hancock, Adams, Kennedy, Lodge, O'Neill?are American legends. The stops along the Freedom and the Black Freedom trails are cornerstones of Early American life. Luckily for visitors, this old port city is compact, easily walkable, and eminently photogenic. Gleaming skyscrapers have asserted their place in the skyline, but Boston seems little changed from the days when Henry David Thoreau dropped in on the Old Corner Bookstore. In this stunning new collection of over one hundred city portraits, renowned photographer Carol M. Highsmith captures the principal historic landmarks from the Old North Church to John F. Kennedy's birthplace in Brookline; neighborhoods from tony Beacon Hill to the eclectic South End; thriving downtown shops and restaurants; the major universities and celebrated museums; and the "Emerald Necklace" of parklands. A lively, information-packed introduction and captions by award-winning writer Ted Landphair offer the perfect complement to Highsmith's outstanding images.
Boston: A Photographic Tour celebrates the enduring elegance of New England's hub city. It is the perfect souvenir of a memorable visit, and the ideal gift for anyone who savors history, unforgettable architecture, cultural vitality, and high-tech innovation? The diversity that is truly Boston. Boston, that historical center of colonial charm, splendid parklands, superior universities, and technological development, is an endlessly fascinating place. It is the cauldron, not just of American freedom, but also, arguably, of modern democracy itself. The great names of BostonRevere, Hancock, Adams, Kennedy, Lodge, O'Neillare American legends. The stops along the Freedom and the Black Freedom trails are cornerstones of Early American life. Luckily for visitors, this old port city is compact, easily walkable, and eminently photogenic.
Gleaming skyscrapers have asserted their place in the skyline, but Boston seems little changed from the days when Henry David Thoreau dropped in on the Old Corner Bookstore. In this stunning new collection of over one hundred city portraits, renowned photographer Carol M. Highsmith captures the principal historic landmarks from the Old North Church to John F. Kennedy's birthplace in Brookline; neighborhoods from tony Beacon Hill to the eclectic South End; thriving downtown shops and restaurants; the major universities and celebrated museums; and the "Emerald Necklace" of parklands. A lively, information-packed introduction and captions by award-winning writer Ted Landphair offer the perfect complement to Highsmith's outstanding images.
Boston: A Photographic Tour celebrates the enduring elegance of New England's hub city. It is the perfect souvenir of a memorable visit, and the ideal gift for anyone who savors history, unforgettable architecture, cultural vitality, and high-tech innovationthe diversity that is truly.

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