Introduction 1 Part 1: Getting Started with Buying a Home 5 Chapter 1: Deciding Whether to Buy 7 Chapter 2: Getting Your Financial House in Order 23 Chapter 3: What Can You Afford to Buy? 39 Chapter 4: Why Home Prices Rise and Fall. 69 Part 2: Financing 101 83 Chapter 5: Understanding and Improving Your Credit Score 85 Chapter 6: Selecting a Mortgage 103 Chapter 7: Mortgage Quandaries, Conundrums, and Forms 133 Part 3: Property, Players, and Prices 161 Chapter 8: Where and What to Buy 163 Chapter 9: Assembling an All-Star Real Estate Team 207 Chapter 10: What's It Worth? 239 Chapter 11: Tapping the Internet's Best Resources 261 Part 4: Making the Deal 271 Chapter 12: Negotiating Your Best Deal 273 Chapter 13: Inspecting and Protecting Your Home 301 Chapter 14: It Ain't Over till the Escrow Officer Says So 325 Part 5: The Part of Tens 341 Chapter 15: Ten Financial "To Dos" After You Buy 343 Chapter 16: Ten Things to Know When Investing in Real Estate 351 Chapter 17: Nearly Ten Things to Consider When Selling Your House 359 Part 6: Appendixes 367 Appendix A: Example of a Good Inspection Report 369 Appendix B: Glossary 387 Index 407.