Home Buying 101: From Mortgages and the MLS to Making the Offer and Moving In, Your Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home

Adams 101

by Jon Gorey

Learn all the ins and outs of buying a home and give yourself an advantage in the real estate game with this essential house-buying guidebook.

Buying a first home can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. Will you qualify for a mortgage? Is your dream home achievable? How do you make sure your offer will beat others? Don’t worry—now you can arm yourself with the information you need to know before you begin the hunt!

In Home Buying 101 , you will learn all the skills you need to find the right house at the right price, with financing that fits your budget. Full of nuts-and-bolts advice and organized in an easy-to-read format, this book will teach you all the basics
-Deciding the right time to buy
-Getting your finances in order
-Choosing a realtor—or going solo
-Assessing neighborhood/comps
-Deciphering the MLS/reading the listings for clues
-Buyers’ vs. sellers’ markets
-Types of mortgage loans
-Property insurance
-Making a smart offer

With the help of this guide, you’ll learn how to find the house of your dreams at a price you can afford!

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance, Personal Finance, How To, Reference, Adult

256 pages, Hardcover

Published February 15, 2022

Reviews

[Raechel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of a lot of useful information if you know nothing about buying a home, as well as some eye-rolling tips about cooking at home to save money.

Also, are all of these homebuying guidebooks going to assume you're a couple with a combined yearly income of 120k+? Some of us can't afford a 400k house, give more realistic examples!

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely going to rent this again from the library when I get closer to buying a home. Very, very thorough and easy to follow.

[Kendra Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough yet concise and easy to digest. As a first time home buyer, this book gave me a great overview and I will be keeping it with me to reference throughout the process.

[Brooke Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative for someone who knows close to nothing about the process of buying a home. I feel like I can go into the process much more confidently now!

[Tiffany Breyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It covers a lot of info, really helped me wrap my head around the whole process, and also gives useful tips for home ownership as well as financial assistance for the initial purchase. I borrowed it from the library but I'm considering buying it to use as reference. I recommend it for people in the beginning stages of buying a home.

[Revathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good read that I’m buying a copy for myself (checked this book out from the library for my first read)! It’s very detailed and thorough, yet written in a simple, accessible way that kept me engaged. It’s also quite up-to-date and written from a post-pandemic perspective with shoutouts to the problematic history of housing policies in America. I’d definitely recommend to anyone interested in buying a home for the first time!

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

So helpful in understanding the basics and all the steps

[Hannah Oney · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you’re buying a house this is SO helpful!!!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with a bookmark depicting Jesus Christ asking "Is that Smut?" Why no good Sir, it is not. You may be risen but I am now educated on debt to income ratio and contingencies.

[Huzef · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're ever planning to buy a house and don't wanna get duped due to lack of knowledge, this will be your go-to book to read. It covers every single question you can think of and even the ones you can't think of but are essential before you purchase a home. It does not contain any fluff and every single chapter is written concisely, packed with tons of great information. I did try reading a couple other home buying books but none of them come close to this one.

[Karunya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A useful handbook for anyone who is clueless about the daunting process of home buying. Mostly applicable for folks in the US

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best home buying book I’ve read! 10/10 would recommend Jon Gorey’s “Home Buying 101” to everyone.

Gorey organizes the process of buying a home into 10 entertaining and accessible chapters. There was so much helpful information that I typed out 15 pages of notes over the course of reading the book.

The top 10 highlights for me:
- Demystifying home buying acronyms like DTI, PMI, ARM, CC&Rs, FHA appraisals, LTV, and RoV
- Home buying financials
- Location considerations
- House-hunting tactics
- Major home systems
- Making an offer
- Steps between accepted offer and closing
- Renovations before vs. after moving
- New homeowner checklist for the first week
- Home maintenance schedule for the first year

This is the best book I’ve read in months. Please buy yourself and your friends a copy!

[Viral · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this in the "new books" section of my library and decided to take a peak. I know a fair amount about the house buying process, because I was a very involved nerdy teenager when my family moved and thus learned a lot about it. However, various things have changed since 2010 and the specific legal and financial stuff that my parent's largely took care of were outside of my knowledge, so I mainly appreciated this book for that. If you are a young Millenial/GenZer who dreams of one day owning a home, or are saving up for one in the next 5-10 years and feel completely out of the loop, this book covers the main things you need to know. I wish it was a bit more detailed, but it is a 101, so perhaps thats best for a different book.

[London · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overall guide to multiple facets of home buying, especially if it’s your first time like it’s about it to be for me. There’s a couple specifics I felt like should have been included. There are terms that were used that I feel like a first time home owner probably wouldn’t know, and they aren’t expounded on. But I’ve gained a wealth of information and would recommend to first time home buyers.

[Gemini · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book is packed with info to help you buy your home. The entire process is overwhelming so thankfully there are books like this to help you through it & make sure you're ready. People tend to underestimate the costs & everything else that goes along w/ it which can really be stressful. Having a book like this can walk you through things step by step & get a grasp of the arduous process. I would say to hold on to this gem.

[Ankit Dewan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 101 guide covers all aspects of home buying in great details. Everyone including the seasoned investor can learn a trick or two from this book.

From choosing your home buying team to financing, researching for homes to hone maintenance.

Thanks to the author Jon Gorey for producing such a great home buying guide.

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally everything you need to know about buying a home, including everything you don't care about. I faithfully read 98 pages before skimming the rest of the book for the things that mattered to me (I'm not interested in owning a condo our multi-family home, so why spend time reading about it?).
Well organized and skimmable. Like 300 home buyers blog posts compiled into a convenient book.

[Holly Dyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid and comprehensive introduction to everything you need to know to buy your first home. Lots of terminology and rules I didn’t know or think about. So many hidden fees! Some of the advice was basic and common-sense, like to save up money and how to move. But also some helpful resources like Mass Housing. I will reference this again when it comes time to make a move.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It was well organized and clearly written, with flashes of humor and understanding that were super reassuring. I feel a lot better prepared to start looking for my first home now that I've read this.

[Laurie Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first resource I’ve found for the homebuyjng process. Recently published, thorough yet easy to understand. Will refer to this again and again as I gather more information and get further in the process!

[Bethany]

100% glazed over the amount of numbers that my brain finds hard to comprehend, but a lot of excellent information that felt quite accessible. I will likely revisit this again once I've started talking to a mortgage loan officer and/or a realtor.

[kerrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple and straightforward, all of the information you could need as a first time home buyer - leave the rest up to the realtor. An easy read in a day, and even easier to refer back to during the home buying process.

[Alexandria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was informative and taught me a lot about first time home buying. However, some of it felt extremely repetitive or rambling which was a bit annoying to read through. Still a good book to pick up before buying your first home.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does an excellent job at breaking down the first time home buying process. I picked this one up so I could go back to the basics for clients.

I recommend this one for all who are unsure where to begin. I wish I would have read this sooner.

[Elizabeth Goltiao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough overview, nothing too game-changing.

[Nancy Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Homebuying book yet!

[Sophie Allers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read. Not a ton of info I didn’t know, but a good summary!

[Huey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise, up-to-date (post-Covid) and thorough for someone like me, who had no idea about the home buying process! Very useful.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super helpful resource for anyone working towards being a homeowner.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would recommend to any first-time homebuyer. Discussed nearly every topic imaginable related to home-buying and presents it in a comprehensible way to make you feel prepared and informed.