Own It!: The Ups and Downs of Homebuying for Women Who Go It Alone

by Jennifer Musselman

Do you dream of owning a home but don’t think you can buy one alone?

These days more and more single women are buying homes on their own, whether they’re are purchasing a home because it’s a good investment, buying a condo on the beach for the view (and the tax write-off), or finally realizing their dream as a DIY remodeler, they’re making it happen.

Now with Own It!, you can too.

In Own It!, homeowner and author Jennifer Musselman covers the how-to’s and hiccups of home buying for women braving the process alone. From figuring out your financials to deciding whether or not to buy and making the offer, from the inevitability of buyer’s remorse to refinancing, this book provides guidance, a friendly voice of reason, and trustworthy advice.

Genres: Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published May 27, 2008

Reviews

[Lauren]

As someone with absolutely *zero* knowledge about buying a home, I found this book to be a pretty good introduction. I picked it up before any other guide because I think I felt that as a single woman I needed a little emotional advice about this process along with practical/logistical advice. It doesn't replace a guidebook like Homebuying for Dummies, however (which will be my next purchase), as she touches on most of the major issues related to a home purchase but doesn't give an excessive amount of detail on anything. I dock the book a star because of Musselman's rather extreme focus on her personal experience, sometimes to the detriment of the bigger picture. For example, she recently purchased a home in California and goes into great detail about that process, knowing that the market there is significantly different than the rest of the country. Thus, it's hard to take many lessons from her experience unless you are also in the market for a condo in Santa Monica. Regardless, this is a solid introduction to the topic and certainly useful in a "101" sort of way.

[Elora Orazio]

This book offers lots of useful advice for women who are in the planning stages of buying a home. Musselman's qualifications are based on her experience buying her own home and are not grounded in formal training. This is a beneficial read for anyone who is looking to learn more about the terminology of the housing market but should take into consideration that it was written based on experience in LA just prior to the housing crash of 2008. Much of the advice will vary on buying location and current status of that market.

[Mary]

The book was a good start, however, the author drove me crazy with all these inserts on each page with additional information. If she found it important enough to write about, it should have been included in the body of the chapter. It was very disorganized reading which detracted from the reading of the book.

[Jen]

Jen Musselman has a great writting style that makes all her books fun to read! She must be a UNI graduate!

[Andrea]

Just starting to think about home buying... decent place to start.

[Caitlin]

Great advice but stuff your agent should cover with you.