The Wall Street Journal. Complete Home Owner's Guidebook: Make the Most of Your Biggest Asset in Any Market

Your Map for a Brave New Real-Estate World

The days of real-estate mania—when you really couldn’t go wrong with buying a home, then selling it in a few years for a lot more than you paid for it—are over. Inflated prices and the “subprime” mortgage crisis have finally burst the bubble. Now, more than ever, it’s important for current and prospective home buyers to understand just what they’re getting into when they take that plunge—and to think smarter when it comes to making the most of their biggest asset.

The Wall Street Journal. Complete Home Owner’s Guidebook shows readers how to become savvy home buyers—and eventually owners—not only in this new, uncertain era but in any market:

• Understand the benefits and pitfalls of owning versus renting

• Make sense of the housing market—ask the important questions, factor in the unforeseen costs, and explode the big myths of home ownership

• Take advantage of current opportunities if you’re a first-time home buyer

• Overcome the challenges if you’re looking to trade up or cash out on your home for retirement

• Make the best profit on your home in any market

• Understand why your home—your number one asset—really isn’t such a

great investment

A comprehensive guide to home ownership, even in a troubled real-estate market, covers everything readers need to know about buying, owning, and selling a home, with practical advice on how to make a profit on a home in any market, overcome potential problems if looking to trade up or cash out on a home for retirement, and more. Original. 30,000 first printing.

DAVID CROOK is the editor of The Wall Street Journal Sunday and author of The Wall Street Journal. Complete Real-Estate Investing Guidebook. He developed Home Front and Property Report, the residential and commercial real-estate sections of The Wall Street Journal. David and his family divide their time between homes in New York City and rural Connecticut.