Find It, Buy It, Fix It: The Insider's Guide to Fixer Uppers
In this era of rising real-estate and building costs, it's  natural that homeowner wannabes are turning to the less expensive  (though more problematic) joys of fixer-uppers. Robert Irwin is a  specialist in the area of improvable real estate, and this book is a  terrific primer for those do-it-yourselfers who want to save money on  the house of their dreams (or turn it around for a tidy profit). Irwin  pulls no punches--he starts off with a quiz to determine what manner of  fixer the potential buyer is able to handle; lays out the issue of  money early on, keeping it firmly at the forefront of every chapter;  and includes a horror story or two just to make sure the reader isn't  easily scared off. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" seems  to be his motto, however, and the venturesome handyperson will learn a  lot from this book.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.