Everything first-timers need to know to avoid the most common mistakes homebuyers make
Written especially for first-timers, this eye-opening guide turns you into an educated consumer, ensuring that the home or condo you buy is both a comfortable place to live and a great investment for the future. Compiled from the experience of hundreds of homebuyers, real estate agents, home builders, and mortgage lenders, it shows you the most common mistakes buyers make and illustrates them in practice so you don't fall into the same traps.
Now revised and updated for today's hot real estate market, this invaluable resource covers everything from negotiating with sellers and making the down payment to shopping for the best mortgage and handling the closing. The new Fourth Edition also includes totally up-to-date guidance on using the Internet to find properties, secure financing, and collect important data. If you're thinking about buying a home in this overheated market, don't make these mistakes:
* Researching selling prices and still overpaying
* Believing everything your agent tells you
* Buying into an upscale neighborhood that's moving downscale
* Underestimating utilities and other costs
* Allowing your agent to negotiate for you
* Letting fear get the better of you and not buying at all

Written by one of the nation's leading real estate experts and packed with hundreds of valuable tips and suggestions, The 106 Common Mistakes Homebuyers Make, Fourth Edition will give you the confidence--and the wisdom--to buy the right home at the right price.

In the Make Money series, renowned real estate investor and bestselling author Gary W. Eldred shows you how to profit from the safest, most reliable wealth builder in the world–real estate. With coverage of all the fundamentals–from finding the right properties to financing and managing them–Eldred shows you the ropes so you don’t have to learn important lessons the hard way. Unlike general guides to investing in real estate, each title in the Make Money series gives you the specialized expertise necessary to fully profit from a select investment strategy.

Make Money with Condominiums and Townhouses shows homebuyers and investors how to travel the road to real estate wealth–often with little or nothing down. As an affordable investment vehicle, condominiums and townhouses offer numerous advantages over other types of rental property–they require relatively little day-to-day management, they tend to attract more desirable tenants than other rental properties, and they offer low risk and high returns. Full of time-tested techniques and proven money-making strategies, Make Money with Condominiums and Townhouses will show you how to:

• Relax while you put your money to work
• Find properties with high rates of appreciation
• Evaluate homeowner association finances
• Choose profitable locations
• Understand the changing demographics that may affect your investment
• Finance your properties with little or no money down
• Achieve positive cash flow quickly
• Build up equity
• Understand by-laws, disclosure statements, and management contracts

"Make Money with Affordable Apartment Buildings and Commercial Properties, Second Edition," shows you how to build wealth with affordable multi-unit residential and commercial buildings. Low-priced income properties can yield higher returns than single-family homes?especially if you manage them yourself. This book shows you how to find, assess, buy, and manage apartment buildings, retail offices, self-storage, and other overlooked investment alternatives. In today's tough housing market, these properties offer great returns.

The only guidebook that shows you how to finance any property--with or without bank approval
Would you like to discover all of the many ways that you can finance real estate? Want to learn how to cut your financing costs, avoid pitfalls, and negotiate the best terms? Then let Gary Eldred's 106 Mortgage Secrets All Borrowers Must Learn--But Lenders Don't Tell, Second Edition guide you. Fully updated, this practical guide explains how today's changing mortgage market really works. Unlike other mortgage guides, this book goes beyond traditional bank-originated loans and shows you how to benefit with seller financing, assumables, subject-to, wraparounds, lease options, foreclosures, and other money-saving possibilities.
106 Mortgage Secrets also protects you from the sharp practices of loan reps that have recently sparked Congressional hearings and multiple state investigations. In addition, Eldred shows how and why the right financing decisions can add tens (and sometimes hundreds) of thousands of dollars to your long-term net worth. With these 106 secrets, you'll build the confidence and the knowledge to:
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Increase your borrowing power
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Obtain the lowest interest rate
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Understand the true pros and cons of ARMs
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Cut (or eliminate) the cost of mortgage insurance
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Save big with seller financing, assumptions, foreclosures, and REOs
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Strengthen your credit profile and credit score
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Avoid getting taken... by the fine print and garbage fees
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Steer clear of scams and unprincipled loan reps and lenders
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Accumulate wealth through homeownership and investment properties

Simple, concise, and comprehensive, this book reveals everything property buyers need to know--especially the 106 financing secrets lenders too often omit.