Review of Build Your Own Home on a Shoestring (Paperback)

I only wish I'd had "Build Your Own Home on a Shoestring" sooner in our home-building project, but since we're still in the midst of it, we'll put it to good use!

This book covers everything you need to know about building your own home, including financing, choosing the perfect location, designing your dream home, dealing with contractors, and much more. It also offers a ton of money-saving tips, tricks and secrets -- things that might be overlooked without the guidance of a book like this.

The chapters are arranged in sequence, providing a handy step-by-step guide through the entire process. Also included is a "running total" so you can keep track of your savings as you work your way through the project. A wonderful glossary explains everything from subfloors to soffits. And best of all, the authors have done a great job of making it readable, easy to follow, and interesting.

Let's face it. There's a LOT of time, money and energy involved in building a home, and it's not something to be taken lightly. If you're doing it yourself, you need the advice of someone who's "been there and done that," and that's just what the authors of "Build Your Own Home on a Shoestring" have done.

If you are building a home or just thinking about it, buy this book. You'll be glad you did.

Product Description
The cost-conscious guide to building your dream house.

Now readers can manage the construction of their dream homes and save big bucks in the process. This book guides prospective homebuilders through each stage of the homebuilding process-from planning and financing to design and construction-and shows them how to reduce, even eliminate, costs along the way. Readers will learn how to:

- Buy the right piece of land at the right price

- Find the best loan and negotiate closing costs

- Get free design advice from professionals

- Buy the floor plan of their dreams for next to nothing

- Negotiate the best prices on materials and supplies

- Save thousands on plumbing, electrical, and heating and cooling systems

- Cut costs on walls, flooring, and interior rooms

- Keep contractors and subcontractors on schedule

- Handle unexpected delays and expenses

About the Author
Henry Nonneberg, Jr., is the owner of Atlantic Coast Executive Appraisers. He's purchased and refurbished four residential properties and is presently overseeing the planning and construction of his family's next residence.

Gwen Moran has been a small business consultant and marketing expert for more than a decade. She's been featured on NBC and CNBC as well as in New York Times, International Herald Tribune, PR Week, and others. A marketing columnist for Entrepreneur magazine and a writer for USA Weekend, Family Circle, Woman's Day, among many other publications, she is the author of Survive and Thrive Marketing.

Chris Bradley is a licensed General Contractor and the owner of A Better Construction Company, a Long Island-based home improvement and general contracting firm.

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Review of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying and Selling a Home, 5th Edition (Paperback)

I got this book because my wife and I are getting ready to buy our first home and I wanted a book to guide me, and thus prevent me from making any major mistakes and to ensure I knew what was going on each step of the way.I read the entire section on buying a house (5/6 of the book) and even half of the section on selling a house just to see the other side of things (the remaining 1/6 of the book).I personally found the book gave just enough details to be frustrating.

The book will go over all the available options, but won't explore them in depth enough to help you make the right decision.For example, the book will tell you to contact multiple lenders and evaluate all the costs involved (the loan fees and if there are pre-pay penalties, not just the interest rate), but won't tell you how to really decide which loan to pick.The book will tell you that you can negotiate for some of the fees you have to pay with a mortgage to be waived by the lender or for some of the fees to be paid by the seller, but won't tell you how to spot these fees from the true, non-negotiable fees.There's a discussion of choosing the different types of homes (e.g. condo, townhouse or traditional home), but no discussion of the economic advantages of one over the other.I've heard townhouses appreciate faster, but I don't know if this is just an old-wives tale of if there is some truth to it.I still don't.Furthermore, the authors do nothing to predict future market trends, which is partly understandable since this is so difficult, but they don't even take a stab at it and the book is very current (2006).

Basically, the authors do a great job reviewing all of your options, but they don't advise you about what the *best* option would be for you.Maybe that is impossible because everyone's situation is totally different, but I'd like to see some situation specific direct advice, even if it resulted in some of the book being useless to me because it wasn't detailing my situation. Everyone's situation may be different but there aren't THAT many different situations (just starting out/family in apt moving to first house/family upgrading house/family downsizing house at retirement or because of unfortunate financial circumstances - that covers 95% of people).This would take more pages but there are pages to spare and that's my biggest gripe.

The book is organized by the steps in home buying (i.e. looking for a home/making an offer/obtaining financing/closing) but if you actually sit down and read it straight through like I did, you'll end up reading the same things over and over again.This makes the book better if you just want to read the chapter you're interested in because the chapters stand up on their own, but make it more frustrating if you read it front to back (you'll constantly be saying "yeah, I know, you told me that already, almost verbatim").Not rehashing things would also free up pages to explore the nitty gritty in greater detail.I even found situations where full page tables were in the book twice in two seperate chapters! Completely unchanged, just printed twice when the authors were once again rehashing things they'd already covered!

In conclusion, I would have rather had concrete advice rather then the overview given here (although I think a better edited book could have had both in the same amount of space).The only other book I read that was even close to this was Suze Orman for the Young, Fabulous and Broke.That book gave very concrete advice and told you exactly what was the best things you could be doing and gave you a priority order to do them (401K then credit card debt then house down payment then Roth IRA).No concrete advice here.The book often passes off giving advice with the disclaimer "talk to your agent."That's good advice, but then why'd I get this book in the first place?Furthermore, I think to give concrete advice you have to really know your topic and I'm not sure the author's understand housing the way Orman understands personal finance.

I've been harsh so far, because that's what stands out to me, but I should say this book isn't a total waste of time, and this review has disproportinately focussed on the negatives.Bottom line, I just don't think there's much info here that you can't get for free somewhere else, like Yahoo Real Estate guides.In addition, online you can plug all your own numbers (like salary and debt burden) right into the online calculators (to tell you the maximum mortgage payment you can afford).So unless you really want the info packaged in book form I wouldn't buy this.

Other minor nit-picks:

1. The first part of the book is useless fluff.It covers stuff like "do you want 3 bedrooms or more" and "do you want a fireplace."I suppose it should be expected, but for me it wasn't necessary.That parts easy.Tell me how to get the best mortgage!Tell me how to get the best price!

2. All of the examples are from Indiana which is where the authors must be from.The authors would often say things like "this is how it's done in Indiana but it might be different in your state so you should check."I brought the book for you to tell me!They should include an appendix for these things telling you how it is for all 50 states instead of saying the sames things 3 times to get the page count up.Furthermore whenever they get into these issues (usually legal issues, such as how much information the seller is required to disclose to potential buyers) they don't even tell you how to find out if you were sufficiently motivated to investigate the matter yourself.

Product Description
The top-selling, most complete buyer's and seller's guide available.

The top-selling book on the subject, this latest edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying and Selling a Home focuses on everything to do with the sale and purchase of a house. With updated information on finding good schools and neighborhoods, expanded coverage on home auction sales, and the changing options buyers and sellers have with brokers, this is the best home buyer's and seller's guide on the market.

About the Author
Shelley O'Hara has written more than 30 books. She works closely with real estate agents and specialists in the real estate market.
Nancy D. Lewis is a freelance editor and author of numerous books on lifestyles topics. She is also a multiple home buyer and seller.

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Review of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Many are confused about feng shui.With more than 300 mass market books to choose from, it is almost impossible to distinguish between those titles written by true masters and scholars and titles written by those lookingfor an easy buck.Unfortunately, the latter and most prominent group ofbooks are based on superstition and myth.Fortunately, the March 2000issue of the London-based monthly magazine, Feng Shui For Modern Living,has compiled a list of the 'top ten feng shui titles.'They are asfollows:

1. Chinese Whispers by Rosalyn Dexter 2. Feng Shui by ErnestEitel 3. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui by Elizabeth Moran and ValBiktashev 4. Feng Shui by Stephen Skinner 5. The Living Earth Manual ofFeng Shui by Stephen Skinner 6. The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shuiby Lillian Too 7. The Illustrated Encyclopedia by Lillian Too 8. Feng ShuiHandbook: A Practical Guide by Derek Walters 9. Feng Shui: Perfect PlacingFor Your Happiness and Prosperity by Derek Walters 10.Feng Shui by EvaWong

If you want to learn about feng shui, begin your study here.Skinner's books deal mostly with terrestrial or Form School feng shui andare truly worthwhile.Derek Walters is a renowned astrologer.His booksare accurate and thorough.Although I believe Lillian Too is toocommercial and superficial, her books are good for those not wanting tospend the time to understand more sophisticated methods of feng shui.Byfar my most favorite book is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui byMoran and Biktashev.This book has it all: feng shui's origins; fengshui's scientific value; two classical methods of determining your home'sauspiciousness; Chinese zodiac astrology, and the Four Pillars of Destiny(written by the world-respected Master Joseph Yu), a method of determiningyour luck.What's great about this book is that it is a no-nonsense,humorous guide to understanding exactly what feng shui is and isn't and howthis 6,000 year old Chinese art and science can help you increase yourhealth, wealth, and relationship.You won't be disappointed!

Product Description
Reviewed by Feng Shui For Modern Living Magazine as "an American masterpiece that tops the lot," it is now considered the feng shui bible by classical practitioners, teachers, and students of feng shui. The Complete Idiot's GuideA (R) to Feng Shui, Second Edition will continue the first edition's success with the following two major additions.The revision includes coverage of the next level of a method of classical feng shui called Flying Start. And second, for those readers interested only in arranging one's furniture to allow qi to meander in a productive pattern, this section is expanded. More photographs and floorplans are included.

About the Author
Elizabeth Moran is a graduate of the American Feng Shui Institute and is the author of The Complete Idiot's GuideA (R) to The I-Ching. Val Biktashev founded the Beverly Hills-based American Healing Arts Institute in 1997. He has studied with a world-renowned classical feng shui master and has performed nearly 2,000 feng shui readings with successful results. @AUTHBIO - Joseph Yu has been practicing feng shui and Chinese astrology for over thirty years, and is recognized as one of the top five classical feng shui masters in the world.

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Review of Eco-Friendly Families (Paperback)

This book is great for beginners and seasoned "greenines" alike! There was so much imformation that anyone, just starting out on the green living journey could follow and not feel overwhelmed.For someone like myself who I consider further along on the journey of green living, I still found and unbelievable amount of information from Helen to help me take things even further.It is an easy read and you'll find yourself bookmarking page after page of tips, advice and step by step instructions. It is great for families of young children and Helen makes a special effort to include the teen age group in all of her helpful hints and how the families can work together to be a green team!

Product Description
Going green is a family affair...

Parents and kids making the world a better place.

Eco-friendliness has grown into a way of life across the country. Eco-Friendly Families is the perfect guide to raising a family with 'green' values, whether they're celebrating their first Earth Day or are old hands at recycling, eating organic, and carrying a cloth bag to the supermarket. Parents and children can all live by eco-example by following the tips in this book, including:

- Start-up advice for going green as a family affair- motivating all family members to embrace change

- Family activities that can make every day Earth Day and living green fun

- A practical guide to growing up green-what everyone can do around the house, at school, at work, and on vacation

- Realistic ways to deepen family involvement through environmentalism, conservation, activism, and advocacy

- Effective suggestions for raising responsible, ecoconscious citizens

About the Author
Helen Coronato is a freelance writer, talk show host, and full-time mother. Her articles have appeared in Parentguide News and International Doula magazine. She is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Reading with Your Child.

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