The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying a Home


Book Description

In real estate, it's a buyer's market—and here is the buyer's bible . . . Buying a home is the single most important financial move in most people's lives. This book covers a variety of topics including inspecting, evaluating, negotiating, financing, contracts, and legal issues. It also breaks down the roles of the key players and what these professionals, agents, brokers, and inspectors are responsible for—and when to go it alone. The thorough advice, covering everything from buying houses at auctions to what neighborhood to live in, will provide reassurance for every soon–to–be homeowner. • A necessary tool for those who plan to buy homes and even current homeowners in order to keep up with an ever changing market • Will be published in time for spring, when most people start looking into buying new homes • Covers a broad range of buying options and homeowner's needs




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Designing Your Own Home


Book Description

Creating a new home-or rebuilding a purchased one-requires architectural expertise, not only for aesthetic design purposes but also to account for structural safety, feasibility of plan, compliance with local laws and codes, and above all, to make a new house feel like home-the home you've always wanted. However, architects can be very costly- but only if you use them. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Designing Your Own Hometeaches readers to do all or most of an architect's work themselves, step-by-step, with inspirational ideas; clear, concise information; practice exercises; and professional secrets-all explained in a warm, inviting, friendly voice. It explains everything readers need to know to design the home they've always wanted while making it practical, affordable, and secure.




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Selling Your Crafts


Book Description

Get started selling handmade! This straightforward book walks you through the process of preparing your goods for sale, pricing and bookkeeping, finding venues, marketing and promoting your products, and working with customers both online and off—all without quitting your day job. Clear, concise instructions explain everything you need to know to sell crafts effectively in your spare time, and help you decide whether to take selling to the next level. Learn how to: • Find out whether you—and your crafts—are ready to start selling • Set prices to cover your costs and make a profit • Establish a bookkeeping system • Manage dual inventories of parts and finished goods • Discover the best places to sell your crafts in person or on the Internet • Identify the right people to market to • Accept credit cards and process other forms of payment • Start selling wholesale • Stay out of tax and legal trouble • And much more!




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting a Home-Based Business


Book Description

Offers advice on starting a home-based business, with chapters on creating a business concept, buying a franchise, turnkey businesses, business plans, insurance, and taxes.




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Selling Your Own Home


Book Description

Do it yourself . . . and keep the commission! Now anyone who wants to sell their home on their own can learn how. Whether readers are willing to pay a small commission for online help or a flat fee for an MLS listing, or they want to handle every step on their own, this guide will walk them through the process, providing tips on everything from signs and open houses to appraisals and inspections. 9781440696664




The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Home Inspections


Book Description

For home buyers and home sellers. Here is the first how-to that addresses the needs of both buyers and sellers, making it the perfect companion to the bestselling The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Buying and Selling a Home. The buyer will depend on this guide to determine whether a house is worth buying. The seller will need it to determine which repairs are necessary before listing or signing anything. Readers will learn to troubleshoot all areas of a home, including its structure and foundation, windows and doors, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, insulation, electrical systems, and the roof, just to name a few. In this Pocket Idiot’s Guide®, you get: • What to look for when inspecting the electrical system, the roof, and other parts of the home. • Simple advice on what to do if the results of your inspections aren’t good. • Expert explanation of what you can expect during and after the inspection. • Easy ways to tell if a home is worth buying—or if it will need extensive repairs before you put it on the market.




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Homemade Ice Cream


Book Description

Even with the proliferation of brand-name ice creams and ice cream shop chains and the availability of numerous flavours, homemade ice cream remains as popular as ever. You have only to look at the variety of home ice cream machines and the number of companies manufacturing them to see it. Homemade ice cream has a special taste that you can't buy, and it is a family activity and summer tradition in many homes. But homemade ice cream isn't as simple as it seems for the novice, and even families that have been making it for years look for new recipes and ideas to challenge their skills and their palates. In The Complete Idiot's Guide to Homemade Ice Cream, readers will find: *More than 200 recipes, ranging from the simple to the sublime *Step-by-step instructions for making ice cream, sherbet, sorbet, frozen yogurt, and gelato *Topping and serving recipes and ideas *Recipes and instructions for ice cream-based and other frozen drinks




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cold Calling


Book Description

Does this sound familiar? 'If I could get in front of the prospect, the rest of the selling process becomes easier. It's just getting in front of them that's the challenge'. The fact is most cold-calling efforts are doomed from the start. Salespeople lose sales not due to a lack of effort but because they lack a prospecting system they are comfortable with, and can trust to generate greater, consistent results. If you are feeling the same way you have been for the last several years (including the 'calling to check in, touch base or follow-up' approach) or haven't been prospecting at all, you're simply making it easier for your competition to take away the new business you are working so hard to earn. So, if you love to sell but hate (or don't like) to prospect, this book is your opportunity to maximize your cold calling potetnial and boost your income by learning how to get in front of the right prospects in less time and create greater selling opportunities without the fear, pressure or anxiety associated with cold calling.




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Real Estate Investing Basics


Book Description

What, where, and how to buy! The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Real Estate Investing Basics presents the practical advice and knowledge readers need to get started in the residential real estate market. Based on the knowledge of an established expert, this guide teaches readers how to find properties that have the greatest investment potential, make offers and negotiate deals, locate great tenants, and re- sell properties for maximum profit. • According to the US Census Bureau, there were an estimated 123.3 million housing units in the US in the first quarter 2005. • Residential real estate is always on the move. • Baby boomers are growing older, and many look at real estate investing as a safe way to assure their current standard of living.




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Being a Smart Landlord


Book Description

Details the necessities of landlording, including acquiring property, renting versus leasing, and selecting tenants, and includes legal information and management tips.