Review of What No One Ever Tells You About Renovating Your Home: Real-Life Advice for Hassle-Free, Cost-Effective Remodeling (What No One Ever Tells You About...) (Paperback)

A nice enough book, as a book to read before you read a practical book about renovating your home. The anecdotes are interesting to read, but I came away from the book with little to go on for my own upcoming renovation. This is not a book I highlighted, or where I turned corners down. A much better book, with practical help in the renovation process, is "What the Experts May Not Tell You about Building or Renovating Your Home". Similar titles, but while "What No One Ever Tells You" is full of anecdotes, "What the Experts May Not Tell You" is full of concrete and practical, step by step processes for handling renovation as an owner, including insights into relationships between the parties (owner, contractor, architect, inspectors, lenders, etc.).

Product Description
Read This Book Before You Remodel! It's no surprise that home remodeling remains hot. Home improvement centers are often packed with do-it-yourselfers and contractors preparing to do everything from modernizing an outdated kitchen or fixing up and "flipping" a property for a profit. Unfortunately, many homeowners find out that once they begin a remodeling project, they need aspirin to deal with all the headaches and hassles that can occur. In What No One Ever Tells You about Renovating Your Home, real estate columnist Alan J. Heavens brings 15 years worth of letters, e-mails, and phone calls from homeowners just like you to help you learn from the remodeling mistakes of others. Whether you're a homeowner, real estate investor, or home improvement enthusiast, Heavens' practical advice will teach you: - Sure-fire ways to find the best contractor - Tips to control your remodeling budget and schedule from start to finish - Making the most of your existing space - Projects that pay

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Review of Profit from Your Vacation Home Dream: The Complete Guide to a Savvy Financial and Emotional Investment (Paperback)

Having read Christine's first book "How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner," I was pleased to find that she had written another.After reading the Amazon description, the author's bio and the acknowledgements in the front of the book, I was sure that it was a sequel to the first book. Amazon even has a co-marketing deal where you can buy both books.

I was greatly disappointed to find that most of the info in the book - down to the examples and quotes she uses - came straight out of the first book. Many of these were word-for-word. There's a few new ideas, but this really should have been marketed as a 2nd edition of "How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner" than as her second book.

In fairness to Christine, I have to say that the content of the book is still great.I just wish it wasn't a near replica of the first!

Product Description
Vacation properties are not just for the elite and wealthy!

If you were a rich man... Stop right there!Just because you're not rich doesn't mean you don't want a second home to get away from life, as you know it.Whether you dream of living on the beach with sand between your toes or getting away from civilization in a mountain cabin, you don't have to be a Rockefeller to enjoy your dream home.

In Profit From Your Vacation Home Dream: The Complete Guide to a Savvy Financial and Emotional Investment, vacation home buying expert Christine Hrib Karpinski shows you how to not only make your vacation home dream a reality, but to get others to pay your mortgage when you're not enjoying your home away from home. By renting your vacation home using Karpinski's recipe for successful vacation home ownership, you will soon be on the road to buying, enjoying and profiting from your second, third - and even fourth home.

Karpinski will show you how to:
·Evaluate the different types of vacation properties and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each.
·Determine how many weeks you need to rent your home and how much you can charge to break even.
·Become a master at managing real estate transactions - from negotiating the purchase price to maintaining the property - from the comfort of your hometown.
·Determine if renting-by-owner or working with a property management company is right for you.




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