Some recent real estate-related books:
• "American Foreclosure: Everything You Need to Know about Preventing and Buying" by Trevor Rhodes (McGraw Hill, $25.95): This book examines foreclosures from the perspective of the homeowner and a buyer by providing extensive details on state-by-state forms and legal procedures. The author is not only a real-estate professional; he says he lost his first home to foreclosure and knows the pain of losing a property. His main topics are: preventing foreclosure and avoiding scams; discovering financial options and risks; understanding the foreclosure process; communicating and negotiating with lenders; finding and buying foreclosed properties. The book is accompanied by a CD that includes forms, resources, property listings and other materials.
• "Homemade Contrivances and How to Make Them: 1001 Labor-Saving Devices for Farm, Garden, Dairy, and Workshop" (Skyhorse Publishing, $14.95): If you feel the need to learn how to reinforce a stone wall, press hay, make a device to clean a horse's hooves or build a dam for a pond, this book is a great starting point. This is an updated version of a book first published in 1897 and retains much of the old-fashioned language, with all its plainspoken charm. The book reminds us of just how much work a pre-industrial farm requires while giving us information on contraptions we can build if we're so inclined. You may not want to know how to use hogs to convert straw into manure for fertilizer but the advice on building a trellis for tomatoes is useful and timeless.
• "Small Strawbale: Natural Homes, Projects and Designs," by Bill Steen, Athena Swentzell Steen and Wayne J. Bingham (Gibbs Smith, $29.95): A number of builders are turning to straw for its insulation and sturdy qualities, as well as its environmental value, this book says. With loads of photos, floor plans and sketches, the authors show us how to put together sheds, small studios, cottages, outdoor walls and fences using straw as both foundation and wall structures or pure insulation, reducing the volume of wasted resources and chemically treated material. Bales of straw are frequently, though not always, plastered by clay or other material. Step-by-step instructions guide would-be builders through the process. The book is both a practical guide and an explanation of environmental thinking.
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