On the market: guides to buying property

REVIEWS BY SHARON SECOR

As the weather warms up, a great race begins. From April 1 through October, the real estate season takes off with buyers and sellers making their moves. Unfortunately, not everyone is ready for it, but several excellent new real estate books will help get even the novice home-buyer operating like a seasoned pro in no time.

A woman's home is her castle

Vanessa Summers' Buying Solo: The Single Woman's Guide to Buying a First Home is perfect for women agonizing over the right time to buy. This purse-sized volume encourages women to get into the market, taking charge of their houses and lives instead of waiting for Mr. Right to build the castle. Summers, the author of another great little volume called Get in the Game! The Girl's Guide to Money and Investing, covers the major topics that confuse potential homeowners: credit reports, mortgages and finding the right real estate agent. She also offers good tips on how to determine where to buy and how to negotiate when making a first offer. Buying Solo is for readers who've been toying with the idea of buying but don't know enough to get in the game.


Financing the dream home

Deciding to buy is just part of the process—figuring out how to pay for property is the next step. That's where David Reed's Mortgages 101: Quick Answers to Over 250 Critical Questions About Your Home Loan comes in. It is an indispensable guide to answer any question imaginable when you're buying a home or other property. If you own your own business, have had credit trouble or just want to learn more about the amazing array of current real estate mortgage products, Mortgages 101 can help. The book answers questions like "What is the 1003?" "What are risk elements?" and "How do I calculate my income if it's based solely on commissions?" Reed makes it easy to get answers, to find resources for further study and to become expert in a field that seems intimidating and confusing. And that's the point—to make experts out of all of us when we're buying our next homes.


Big advice for the small investor

If your plan is to dive deeper into real estate, you should pick up The ABCs of Real Estate Investing before you take the plunge. Author Ken McElroy is CEO of his own real estate firm and has 20 years of real estate experience. He has 4,300 units under construction and management and he has directly overseen management of over 20,000 units in eight states. He's not a high-flying Donald Trump; instead McElroy, who also gives lectures as part of the Rich Dad Advisors series, doles out the kind of sound, practical advice that most of us need when trying a new venture. McElroy dispels myths about real estate investing, encourages goal-setting and pulls all the best-practice advice he has gleaned over the years into one easy-to-navigate stockpile of information.

Ready for more? Pick up Trump Strategies for Real Estate: Billionaire Lessons for the Small Investor. Written by George H. Ross, best known as one of Donald Trump's sidekicks on "The Apprentice," this book will help you move into the bigger leagues of real estate investing. Ross gives some tips that seem to come right from the popular television show—Be Distinctive: Add Sizzle to Your Property and Understand Your Buyer's Lifestyle, for example—but he also throws in a tremendous number of funny and fascinating stories culled from years in the business. A lawyer by training and practice, Ross has watched and shared Trump's real estate magic for more than 25 years. Now, with Trump's blessing, he shares the secrets he's learned with all of us. Trump Strategies for Real Estate is a kick of a book because it offers insight into Trump as well as into the true nature of real estate investing. This is definitely a primer for anyone who wants to add sizzle to his or her personal style. It's also a great how-to book from an associate of the glitziest and most interesting personality in the real estate business.


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