Your New House: The Alert Consumer's Guide to Buying and Building a Quality Home
Author: Alan Fields, Denise Fields
List Price: $15.95
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 1889392111
Publisher: Windsor Peak Press (April, 2002)
Sales Rank: 4,735
Average Customer Rating: 4.17 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Very Utilitarian
If you're building or buying get this book. It has handy chapters which can help you prevent a lot of the pitfalls in both processes. Not too kind (understatement) to real estate agents in portraying them as leech-like. The editions seem pretty up-to-date with regard to web sites and other resources. This book also explains that Bob Vila is not building your house and it's not a good idea to kill your builder (though they don't rule out killing realty agents). I appreciate most the checklists of do's and don'ts in each process. And, the authors drive home the pluses of having key people on your side from the get-go (your own home inspector, your own realty agent--land purchases, your own attorney, your own etc.) representing your own interests. The contract discussions alone are well worth the small price of this handy and enjoyable book.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Glib
I suppose there's some valuable information in here, but it could probably be reduced to a very brief checklist. Much of the book seems to be anecdotes about this "friend" who had this "absolute nightmare" building a home and how that proves that "you should always get it in writing" or something equally prosaic. They will misinform you that anchor bolts--in every house--are only required in earthquake zones and that the concrete compressive strength rating, e.g. 3000 psi, refers to its *weight*. In other words, know little about how houses are actually built, and so have exaggerated fears about what might go wrong. You're better off avoiding freelance writers capitalizing on the research for their own houses; choose a book from an architect, lawyer, realtor or builder with a few decades' experience instead.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Good Book...All questions were not answered
I am a first time buyer and wanted to make sure that I was getting the best deal at every end of the process. I read this book and although many parts of it were good, it did not apply to my situation. This book is excellent for those that are building a custom built home with a builder. If you are looking to buy a production home (centex, KB, pulte) this is not the book you will want. I found some of the examples to be informative, but overall I will need another book to answer my questions. I hope my review helped. Similar Products
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