What are best courses/books for absolute beginner simply looking to buy a home?

[WendyinSA]

Hello all

I am new to the site and the forum.

My husband and I currently live in South Africa but he is an American and we are planning to move back to the United States in the next few years.

As such, we would like to buy a property now while the prices are still low but as he always rented when he lived in the US and I have only owned property overseas, we need to get a basic real estate education, not so much with a view to serial purchases or investing on an ongoing basis but more with a view to securing a home for our family at the best possible price.

Does anyone have any specific recommendations for us as there is a sea of information out there and a number of "authors" who it would appear from the forums are not well regarded?

Thank you.

Wendy in SA

[justin0419]

Welcome Wendy,
A lot of the same principles for investors here still apply to single family homes too.  We like to look for desperate sellers who are motivated to sell.  This results in negotiating power for you.  Foreclosures, Short Sales, divorcees, people who inherited a property thru an estate, and people with medical issues are all examples of motivated sellers who would be likely to need to negotiate a good price with you.  Something that needs some fix-up could also be discounted in price to you too. 
If you're not familiar with the numerous house issues that could cost you major money for repairs, it would be wise to spend a few hundred dollars for a home inspection. 
You'll find many threads in the Beginners and also Rehab/LL forums on here that will help you.  I recommend looking thru here because it's free and these are people who are currently buying properties and not necessarily trying to sell you a book.

[AJ290]

Wendy, what are your abilities for buying?  Are you looking for seller financing?  A conventional mortgage?  Etc. 

[herbster]

Thinking along the lines of what AJ already said I would wonder if you had any credit over here? You'll most likely need 2 years on a good job also. Best bet would be to talk to some Mortgage people over here and work up a plan. As far as how to buy, a lot of the for sale by owner sites have free literature for you read, the Mortgage people to. Herbster