Insider’s Secrets to Home Buying

If you are a serious home buyer, read “Home Buying Without the BS.” This unconventional how-to book by real estate broker Todd Thornton shares important insights that usually aren’t addressed by books or buyer’s agents.

In the chapter titled “Those Sneaky Agents,” the author explains tricks a few agents use on buyers. He emphasizes how some, but thankfully not all, realty agents mislead their buyers. This chapter alone is worth the book’s modest price.

One technique, which Thornton calls “using a dog to sell a doll,” involves showing two undesirable houses before showing the best one, the “dollhouse.” By comparing asking prices rather than actual sales prices, the author says some agents get buyers to make high purchase offers. Thornton warns buyers to insist on seeing MLS data on recent sales prices rather than asking prices for comparable homes.

When it comes to financing a home purchase, the author recommends beginning the quest on the Internet. He reasons that is the best way to compare current offerings of many lenders, even if you want to obtain your mortgage from a local lender’s office.

Although this new book is far from perfect, it offers a different approach to home buying. The author’s experience as a real estate agent, broker, auctioneer and instructor provides a broad perspective.

However, the book could have been made more relevant with some personal experiences rather than generalized advice.

A fun feature of the book is Thornton’s “real estate speak” interpretation of real estate terminology.

Examples include “dollhouse,” only enough room for Barbie; “lots of upgrades,” please pay for the previous owner’s mistakes; “secluded,” you’re lucky if your agent can find it; and “close to major roads,” hope you’re not allergic to exhaust fumes.

Perhaps the book’s most valuable topic is how buyers should make a purchase offer. The author recommends obtaining and studying a copy of the purchase offer printed form long before finding a home to buy. That way, he suggests, you’ll understand what you’re signing.

This book will never win a prize for great writing. But it does offer solid advice for buyers, with practical tips such as: “Don’t talk bad about the seller’s property; they need to like you”; “never tell your agent that you will increase your offer”; “move on if the sellers are not realistic; they won’t change”; and “life does not end if you don’t purchase a particular house; there are always other homes to buy.”

A valuable feature is the lists of real estate Web sites scattered throughout the book. Although many of the sites are well known, others are either new or relatively unknown. Internet users will value these sources, which provide profitable additional information, especially for home searches and finding comparable home sales prices.

This is an enjoyable, easy read for first-time home buyers. The book highlights virtually all the considerations buyers need to remember but too often forget.