Buying A Home The Missing Manual

Home ownership is a cornerstone of the American dream, but it's a complex process that, without the right guidance, can seem like a nightmare. This Missing Manual takes you through the process of buying a home, from start to finish. Along the way, you'll use the book's expert advice and fill-in forms to identify the house you want, figure out what kind of neighborhood you want to live in, determine what a target home is really worth, make an offer, and close the deal. Throughout the process, this book helps you: Realistically determine how much house you can afford Assemble a real estate team that's looking after your interests and not the seller's Understand the different ways to finance your house, and which is best for you Create an attractive offer with the best chance of acceptance Learn what lenders look for so you can get your mortgage approved Inspect your new home to uncover potential problems Prepare all the right paperwork for a smooth closing

Home ownership is a cornerstone of the American dream, but it's a complex process that, without the right guidance, can seem like a nightmare. This Missing Manual takes you through the process of buying a home, from start to finish. Along the way, you'll use the book's expert advice and fill-in forms to identify the house you want, figure out what kind of neighborhood you want to live in, determine what a target home is really worth, make an offer, and close the deal. Throughout the process, this book helps you: Realistically determine how much house you can afford Assemble a real estate team that's looking after your interests and not the seller's Understand the different ways to finance your house, and which is best for you Create an attractive offer with the best chance of acceptance Learn what lenders look for so you can get your mortgage approved Inspect your new home to uncover potential problems Prepare all the right paperwork for a smooth closing

Home ownership is a cornerstone of the American dream, but it's a complex process that, without the right guidance, can seem like a nightmare. This Missing Manual takes you through the process of buying a home, from start to finish. Along the way, you'll use the book's expert advice and fill-in forms to identify the house you want, figure out what kind of neighborhood you want to live in, determine what a target home is really worth, make an offer, and close the deal. Throughout the process, this book helps you: Realistically determine how much house you can afford Assemble a real estate team that's looking after your interests and not the seller's Understand the different ways to finance your house, and which is best for you Create an attractive offer with the best chance of acceptance Learn what lenders look for so you can get your mortgage approved Inspect your new home to uncover potential problems Prepare all the right paperwork for a smooth closing

Keeping your financial house in order is more important than ever. But how do you deal with expenses, debt, taxes, and retirement without getting overwhelmed? This book points the way. It's filled with the kind of practical guidance and sound insights that makes J.D. Roth's GetRichSlowly.org a critically acclaimed source of personal-finance advice. You won't find any get-rich-quick schemes here, just sensible advice for getting the most from your money. Even if you have perfect credit and no debt, you'll learn ways to make your rosy financial situation even better. Get the info you need to make sensible decisions on saving, spending, and investing Learn the best ways to set and achieve financial goals Set up a realistic budget framework and learn how to track expenses Discover proven methods to help you eliminate debt Understand how to use credit wisely Win big by making smart decisions on your home and other big-ticket items Learn how to get the most from your investments by avoiding rash decisions Decide how -- and how much -- to save for retirement

Your financial goals probably include a comfortable retirement, paying for your kids' college education, and long-term healthcare. But you can't reach those goals by putting your money in a savings account. You need to invest it so it grows over time. Three seasoned personal finance experts show you how in this jargon-free guide. Investing demystified. Get clear, real-world examples of why investing is crucial to your financial goals How to invest. Learn how to evaluate four types of investment so you make the right decisions Hidden gems. Discover lesser-known, low-cost investments that provide tax advantages Retirement, Education, Healthcare. Find chapters devoted to the fine points of each of these big-ticket goals Flexibility. Learn how to change your investment strategy as you age Choices. Find an investment plan that's right for you -- whether you're a conservative investor or go-for-broke risk-taker

If you want to learn to create 3-D models using Google SketchUp, this Missing Manual is the ideal place to start. Filled with step-by-step tutorials, this entertaining, reader-friendly guide will have you creating detailed 3-D objects, including building plans, furniture, landscaping plans -- even characters for computer games -- in no time. Google SketchUp: The Missing Manual offers a hands-on tour of the program, with crystal-clear instructions for using every feature and lots of real-world examples to help you pick up the practical skills you need. Learn to use the basic tools, build and animate models, and place your objects in Google Earth. With this book, you will: Learn your way around the SketchUp workspace, and explore the differences between working in 2-D and 3-D Build simple 3-D shapes, save them as reusable components, and use SketchUp's Outliner to show or hide them as you work Tackle a complicated model building with lots of detail, and discover timesaving tools for using many components Animate the model by creating an interior walkthrough of your building Dress up your model with realistic material shading and shadows, and place it in Google Earth It's easy to get started. Just download the program from Google.com, and follow the instructions in this book. You'll become a SketchUp master in a jiffy.

Want to be part of the largest group-writing project in human history? Learn how to contribute to Wikipedia, the user-generated online reference for the 21st century. Considered more popular than eBay, Microsoft.com, and Amazon.com, Wikipedia servers respond to approximately 30,000 requests per second, or about 2.5 billion per day. It's become the first point of reference for people the world over who need a fact fast. If you want to jump on board and add to the content, Wikipedia: The Missing Manual is your first-class ticket. Wikipedia has more than 9 million entries in 250 languages, over 2 million articles in the English language alone. Each one is written and edited by an ever-changing cast of volunteer editors. You can be one of them. With the tips in this book, you'll quickly learn how to get more out of -- and put more into -- this valuable online resource. Wikipedia: The Missing Manual gives you practical advice on creating articles and collaborating with fellow editors, improving existing articles, and working with the Wikipedia community to review new articles, mediate disputes, and maintain the site. Up to the challenge? This one-of-a-kind book includes: Basic editing techniques, including the right and wrong ways to edit Pinpoint advice about which types of articles do and do not belong on Wikipedia Ways to learn from other editors and communicate with them via the site's talk pages Tricks for using templates and timesaving automated editing tools Recommended procedures for fighting spam and vandalism Guidance on adding citations, links, and images to your articles Wikipedia depends on people just like you to help the site grow and maintain the highest quality. With Wikipedia: The Missing Manual, you get all the tools you need to be part of the crew.

Microsoft Office is the most widely used software suite in the world. The half-dozen programs in Office 2010 are packed with amazing features, but most people just know the basics. This entertaining guide not only gets you started with Office, it reveals all kinds of useful things you didn't know the software could do -- with plenty of power-user tips and tricks when you're ready for more. Create professional-looking documents. Learn everything you need to know to craft beautiful Word documents. Stay organized. Keep track of your email, calendar, and contacts with Outlook. Crunch numbers with ease. Assemble data, make calculations, and summarize the results with Excel. Make eye-catching presentations. Build PowerPoint slideshows with video and audio clips, animations, and more. Build Access databases quickly. Make your data easy to find, sort, and manage. Manage your files more efficiently. Use the new Backstage view to quickly work with your Office files. Get to know the whole suite. Learn to use other handy Office tools: Publisher, OneNote, and Office Web Apps.