Appraisal Inst. publishes guide to home buying

A home buying guide published this week by the Appraisal Institute teaches homebuyers when to buy, how to find a real estate agent, how to choose the best home on the market and more-all from the uniquely unbiased perspective of a real estate appraiser. "An Insider's Guide to Home Buying" by Mark Rattermann, MAI, SRA, notes that real estate appraisers are professionally trained to render an objective opinion of a home's value. Because they are not paid by sales commissions, they have the unbiased perspective needed to help homebuyers weigh their options carefully, make logical decisions and effectively navigate the sales negotiation and mortgage application processes. Rattermann provides expert advice that will help protect consumers from abuse, explains biases that exist in the real estate industry and provides clues to possible problems, potentially protecting homebuyers from significant financial losses. In the book's introduction, Rattermann writes: "The goal of this publication is to help homebuyers ask the right questions. In many cases, people wish they had asked a few more questions before making significant decisions. Because the real estate industry is constantly changing, buying real estate requires you to stay current, research popular trends and attitudes, and become an informed buyer." A real estate appraiser and agent in Indianapolis, Rattermann has worked in the real estate industry since 1979. He has written seven books about real estate and appraisals, some of which have been translated into Korean, Greek and other languages, and has lectured on a variety of real estate topics in 45 states and five countries. He has written 15 real estate training seminars and also writes on residential topics for The Appraisal Journal, the Appraisal Institute's quarterly technical and scholarly publication. The Appraisal Institute is the nation's largest professional organization of real estate appraisers. "An Insider's Guide to Home Buying" (ISBN: 978-1-935328-11-7) is a soft-cover, 190-page book and is available for $18 ($14 for Appraisal Institute members) plus shipping and handling at http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/buyersguide or by calling 800-504-7440. The Appraisal Institute is a global membership association of professional real estate appraisers, with more than 25,000 members and 91 chapters throughout the world. Its mission is to advance professionalism and ethics, global standards, methodologies, and practices through the professional development of property economics worldwide. Organized in 1932, the Appraisal Institute advocates equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in the appraisal profession and conducts its activities in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Members of the Appraisal Institute benefit from an array of professional education and advocacy programs, and may hold the prestigious MAI, SRPA and SRA designations.