Get Ilyce Glink's "Buy, Close, Move In!"

Ilyce Glink's newest book on homebuying, "Buy, Close, Move In!" is her tenth, so calling her the real estate queen wouldn't be far off. But unlike many personal finance "gurus," Glink -- my colleague here at CBS Moneywatch -- is not building an empire. When you read "Buy, Close, Move In!" you don't get pitched a package of investment CDs, or an expensive credit-score repair kit, or directed to affiliated companies that want to melt down your wedding ring. You just get solid, practical advice on how to buy a home.

We've all seen the rules change over the past couple of years, and "Buy, Close..." changes with them. The book tells you why you might want to buy a foreclosure, and why you might not want to. It explains short sales from a banker's perspective, so suddenly you can understand why your short sale is taking so long. It helps you focus on neighborhood, and neighborhood income trends, and not just on buying a pretty house.

In fact, Glink's ability to guide homebuyers around obstacles and traps is one of her great strengths -- and it's one buyers need more than ever in the age of the Internet. Now that finding a nice-looking house is as easy as turning on your phone, there's a strong need for counterbalancing education, advice, and wisdom to teach you what to look for behind the pretty picture. And "Buy, Close..." delivers; the words "warning," "mistake," and "rethink" keep popping up in this book. Want to buy an investment property, but scared you'll get stuck? Page 50. Thinking of buying a house at auction, but don't want to get burned? Page 183.

Finally, a word to real estate agents and lawyers (if you regularly read this column you'll realize that I am a real estate agent, and a member of the National Association of Realtors, and that I don't think all real estate pros are evil): Glink gets the idea of a good real estate agent, because she has one, her mom. And she gets the idea of a good real estate lawyer, because she has one, her husband. The strategies in "Buy, Close..." include advice on good team building, which make it a nice client gift.

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