Books offer home-buying strategies

If you see buying foreclosed properties as your ticket to wealth, this book will help you get there with details on short sales, configuring deals, buying deeds of trust, a rundown on state foreclosure laws and more. This is a follow-up book to the author’s first on the subject, “The Foreclosures.com Guide to Making Huge Profits Investing in Pre-Foreclosures Without Selling Your Soul.”

Proper marketing, not timing, is everything, the author argues, when it comes to selling a home. He offers advice on everything from cleaning a home before offering it for sale, to questions an inspector is likely to ask, to how to remain calm while a house stays on the market.

‘Powerhouse Principles: The Billionaire Blueprint for Real Estate Success,’ by Jorge Perez (Celebra, $23.95).

The successful developer offers lessons he’s learned in his career to those wanting to strike it rich in real estate. His advice to would-be entrepreneurs covers such topics as flexibility, passion, hard work, discipline and integrity applied to investment strategies, rules for selecting properties, construction timetables, securing equity and selling sites.

‘Make Money as a Buyer’s Agent: Double Your Commissions by Working With Real Estate Buyers,’ by Chantal Howell Carey and Bill Carey (Wiley, 24.95).

The authors find a potential in switching sides, representing buyers instead of sellers as unsold homes form a glut. They target both new and experienced agents, showing how to develop commissions, setting up retainers and fulfilling buyers’ needs.