April 18, 2008
BOOK REVIEW: You've Got Home Buying Questions? Illinois Attorney Has the Answers in Her 'The Home Buyer's Answer
Book'
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
A well informed consumer buying a car or truck will read Consumer Reports to check out the best vehicle for the money. Most people wouldn't buy a vacuum cleaner or coffee maker without a similar investigation.
But millions of people make the biggest purchase of their lifetimes -- buying a house -- without adequate information. It's more than a pity -- it's a crime, considering the large number of useful real estate books on the market.
"The Home Buyer's Answer Book" by Diana Brodman Summers (Sphinx Publishing, an imprint of Sourcebooks, 288 pages, $16.95) will provide all the information any home buyer needs in a logical, readable format, with the jargon of real estate translated into very readable English.
In my four decades of covering real estate, I've read and reviewed many books on buying and selling real estate, but this book is the most up-to-date and comprehensive one I've come across in a long time. Indexed, with a glossary of real estate terms, the quality paperback takes the inquiring reader through the entire process of buying a house. Summers, an attorney and member of the Illinois bar, also provides useful information about selling a house -- an important subject since most people have to sell their existing house to buy another one.
Summers is a woman of strong opinions, inveighing against the process of staging, making a house look better than it is with fancy furniture, drapes -- and even, horrors, on the West Coast -- actors playing homeowners. Good for her! Most home buyers like to see a house without furniture in it, so they can visualize how their own will look in the new place.
She also states -- correctly -- that the run-up in home prices in the early part of this new century was a bubble that increased far faster than stagnant or even declining salaries. This is a sound Midwestern approach to reality that I, as a fellow Midwesterner, heartily approve of.
The question and answer format of the book, plus its comprehensive index, makes this book easy to use. There's enough stress in buying -- and selling -- a home without wading through real estate jargon.
Topics covered include real estate law and taxes, appraisals and home inspections, working with real estate professionals, dealing with owners selling without an agent, hiring an attorney specializing in real estate (something more important than most people think), foreclosures and flipping, improving your credit rating, avoiding predatory lenders and even building a house.
"The Home Buyer's Answer Book" is available on Amazon or at most well stocked book stores. Publisher's web site: www.sourcebooks.com.
About the Author
Diana Brodman Summers received her JD from DePaul University College of Law and her undergraduate degree from Roosevelt University. She is an arbitrator for both the Cook and DuPage County mandatory arbitration programs and was recently appointed to the Liquor Commission for the City of Downers Grove. Summers is an active member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the American Bar Association, the DuPage County Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association.
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BOOK REVIEW: You've Got Home Buying Questions? Illinois Attorney Has the Answers in Her 'The Home Buyer's Answer
Book'
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
A well informed consumer buying a car or truck will read Consumer Reports to check out the best vehicle for the money. Most people wouldn't buy a vacuum cleaner or coffee maker without a similar investigation.
But millions of people make the biggest purchase of their lifetimes -- buying a house -- without adequate information. It's more than a pity -- it's a crime, considering the large number of useful real estate books on the market.
"The Home Buyer's Answer Book" by Diana Brodman Summers (Sphinx Publishing, an imprint of Sourcebooks, 288 pages, $16.95) will provide all the information any home buyer needs in a logical, readable format, with the jargon of real estate translated into very readable English.
In my four decades of covering real estate, I've read and reviewed many books on buying and selling real estate, but this book is the most up-to-date and comprehensive one I've come across in a long time. Indexed, with a glossary of real estate terms, the quality paperback takes the inquiring reader through the entire process of buying a house. Summers, an attorney and member of the Illinois bar, also provides useful information about selling a house -- an important subject since most people have to sell their existing house to buy another one.
Summers is a woman of strong opinions, inveighing against the process of staging, making a house look better than it is with fancy furniture, drapes -- and even, horrors, on the West Coast -- actors playing homeowners. Good for her! Most home buyers like to see a house without furniture in it, so they can visualize how their own will look in the new place.
She also states -- correctly -- that the run-up in home prices in the early part of this new century was a bubble that increased far faster than stagnant or even declining salaries. This is a sound Midwestern approach to reality that I, as a fellow Midwesterner, heartily approve of.
The question and answer format of the book, plus its comprehensive index, makes this book easy to use. There's enough stress in buying -- and selling -- a home without wading through real estate jargon.
Topics covered include real estate law and taxes, appraisals and home inspections, working with real estate professionals, dealing with owners selling without an agent, hiring an attorney specializing in real estate (something more important than most people think), foreclosures and flipping, improving your credit rating, avoiding predatory lenders and even building a house.
"The Home Buyer's Answer Book" is available on Amazon or at most well stocked book stores. Publisher's web site: www.sourcebooks.com.
About the Author
Diana Brodman Summers received her JD from DePaul University College of Law and her undergraduate degree from Roosevelt University. She is an arbitrator for both the Cook and DuPage County mandatory arbitration programs and was recently appointed to the Liquor Commission for the City of Downers Grove. Summers is an active member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the American Bar Association, the DuPage County Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association.
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