--- product_id: 259026654 title: "Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home" price: "R1264" currency: ZAR in_stock: true reviews_count: 5 url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/259026654-nolos-essential-guide-to-buying-your-first-home store_origin: ZA region: South Africa --- # Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home **Price:** R1264 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home - **How much does it cost?** R1264 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.za](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/259026654-nolos-essential-guide-to-buying-your-first-home) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Buy Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home by Bray, Ilona, Schroeder, Alayna, Stewart, Marcia online on desertcart.ae at best prices. ✓ Fast and free shipping ✓ free returns ✓ cash on delivery available on eligible purchase. Review: Excellent information Review: I am a few weeks away from closing on my first home and read this book nearly cover to cover. I bought this book along with the "Home Buying Kit for Dummies" book. Both complimented each other pretty well, though there was a lot of overlap. Overall, this book alone is not going to cover "everything" you need to know, but I nevertheless give it 5 stars for being an excellent resource. It's difficult to recommend one book over the other because they are so different. The Nolo book is better written and covers more topics that were relevant to me, but the Dummies book might be a better resource overall. Strengths: The book is well-written and covers some topics I didn't expect. For instance, if you are considering borrowing money from a family member, you should take the IRS Applicable Federal Rate (AFR) into account when deciding an interest rate. If you set an interest rate too low (e.g. 1%) then the IRS will consider the loan a gift and the giver will be taxed as such. I loved the forms that the book comes with - checklists for looking at new homes, interviewing a real estate agent, a loan officer, even how to talk with your spouse about your ideal dream home. Weakness: The organization could be better if it was more chronological. For instance, home inspection happened pretty early in our process, but that chapter is near the end of the book. I would prefer to have the book organized so that I could read a chapter as it unfolded. But it's easy enough to skip around if you need to. The book is also weak on evaluating mortgage lenders. It capably covers important topics such as why APR (annual percentage rate) is more important to pay attention to than the interest rate (because the APR includes the interest rate as well as fees and most other costs associated with granting the loan) and also things like how to tell when buying points will be beneficial. What is missing is a step-by-step guide that would tell, for instance, at what stage you should shop around, or at what point you should withdraw your application if you find a better offer. For instance, if you get a GFE (good faith estimate) from one lender, you might wish to consider shopping around to see if you can find a better deal. At that point, you could take the GFE from a second lender and show it to the first lender to see if they would match it. Overall this is a great resource and I'm happy with the purchase. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | 1413321186 | | Best Sellers Rank | #587 in Real Estate | | Customer reviews | 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (509) | | Dimensions | 17.78 x 3.18 x 23.5 cm | | Edition | 005 | | ISBN-10 | 9781413321180 | | ISBN-13 | 978-1413321180 | | Item weight | 717 g | | Language | English | | Print length | 448 pages | | Publication date | 12 December 2014 | | Publisher | NOLO PR | ## Images ![Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71by8KrPXIL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review *by B***N on 8 March 2021* Excellent information ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review *by M***N on 7 May 2015* I am a few weeks away from closing on my first home and read this book nearly cover to cover. I bought this book along with the "Home Buying Kit for Dummies" book. Both complimented each other pretty well, though there was a lot of overlap. Overall, this book alone is not going to cover "everything" you need to know, but I nevertheless give it 5 stars for being an excellent resource. It's difficult to recommend one book over the other because they are so different. The Nolo book is better written and covers more topics that were relevant to me, but the Dummies book might be a better resource overall. Strengths: The book is well-written and covers some topics I didn't expect. For instance, if you are considering borrowing money from a family member, you should take the IRS Applicable Federal Rate (AFR) into account when deciding an interest rate. If you set an interest rate too low (e.g. 1%) then the IRS will consider the loan a gift and the giver will be taxed as such. I loved the forms that the book comes with - checklists for looking at new homes, interviewing a real estate agent, a loan officer, even how to talk with your spouse about your ideal dream home. Weakness: The organization could be better if it was more chronological. For instance, home inspection happened pretty early in our process, but that chapter is near the end of the book. I would prefer to have the book organized so that I could read a chapter as it unfolded. But it's easy enough to skip around if you need to. The book is also weak on evaluating mortgage lenders. It capably covers important topics such as why APR (annual percentage rate) is more important to pay attention to than the interest rate (because the APR includes the interest rate as well as fees and most other costs associated with granting the loan) and also things like how to tell when buying points will be beneficial. What is missing is a step-by-step guide that would tell, for instance, at what stage you should shop around, or at what point you should withdraw your application if you find a better offer. For instance, if you get a GFE (good faith estimate) from one lender, you might wish to consider shopping around to see if you can find a better deal. At that point, you could take the GFE from a second lender and show it to the first lender to see if they would match it. Overall this is a great resource and I'm happy with the purchase. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review *by B***P on 30 December 2020* I took two full-day first-time homebuying courses before purchasing this book, so I wasn't sure how useful it would be above and beyond what I'd learned in the courses. The answer: very, very useful. For example, it described why a homebuyer should check into zoning before purchasing a house: to give one example, if you've got your heart set on adding on a deck, you'd want to know ahead of time that zoning rules mandate a minimum distance between the structure and the property line, which effectively bars you from adding the deck. The book is full of tons of useful information like that. I read it cover to cover and would highly recommend it. Ideally, you should purchase it at the very beginning of your house hunt process, but it would be a valuable asset at any stage. It also is the homebuying guide with the most recent publication date that I could find, which is a big bonus. Definitely get this book! ## Frequently Bought Together - Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home - Home Buying Kit For Dummies - 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask, Fourth Edition: With Answers from Top Brokers from Around the Country --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/259026654-nolos-essential-guide-to-buying-your-first-home](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/259026654-nolos-essential-guide-to-buying-your-first-home) --- *Product available on Desertcart South Africa* *Store origin: ZA* *Last updated: 2026-05-30*