December 15, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lois A. Vitt

10 Secrets to Successful Home Buying and Selling Revealed.
Insightful New Book Reveals Hidden Drivers Behind The Home Buying and Selling Process

Middleburg, Virginia

Prentice Hall / Pearson Education announced the publication of 10 Secrets to Successful Home Buying and Selling by ISFS Founding Director Lois A. Vitt. The book is a general audience introduction to the sociological and psychological drivers that effect home buyer and seller decisions.

Two years in the writing and drawing upon first-hand knowledge gained in multiple careers as an educator, researcher and real estate professional, Dr. Vitt's book is designed to take the mystery out of the emotional rollercoaster ride that many home buyers and sellers experience.

As the reader explores and discovers the powerful secrets contained in this book , he or she will develop their own personal and unique housing psychology. This is a two step process that includes uncovering their housing history, and become better acquainted with their housing desires and values.

The book contains a powerful set of tools to assist the reader, including:

• A Housing History Questionaire that helps uncover the foundations of an individual's housing preferences.
• A Housing Discomfort Trigger Worksheet that compares the present home with potential new homes.
• A Monthly Housing Costs Comparision Worksheet that compares current expenses with those required for potential target homes.
• A Housing Profile Quiz that takes the answers to 20 questions and develops a profile of the reader's dominant housing decision-making factors.
• A Money Factor Worksheet that compares the expenses for renting versus buying.
• A Personal Selling Checklist to fill out when you are considering whether or not to sell your house.

When the reader has finished, he or she will have created a personal decision framework - call it a Housing Value System - for grappling with even the most difficult housing decisions. Using this system, the reader can compare notes and resolve disputes with his or her partner and/or other family members - allowing them to make shared housing choices without the emotional flare ups that make moving so unpleasant.

Prepublication response to the book was extremely positive:

“The most significant purchase a person makes in a lifetime is a home. The process of finding, purchasing, or selling a home can be down right nerve-racking. Lois Vitt has written a thought-provoking book that addresses both the technical and emotional aspects of home ownership.” — Deborah Owens, Financial Commentator and author of Confident Investing and Nickel and Dime Your Way to Wealth

“This book helps you get at not only the practical aspects of home buying and selling, but also the emotional side of what is usually the largest and most anxiety-riddled transactions of your lifetime. If you are thinking of buying or selling a home, it pays big dividends to read Lois Vitt’s advice before you do!” — Jordan E. Goodman, America’s Money Answers Man and author of Everyone’s Money Book

“Buying a house may be love at first sight or seemingly take forever. This terrific book covers all the bases. Readers will enjoy discovering the secrets as they are revealed. There’s something valuable for everyone.” — Willard Scott, NBC News, The Today Show

The book can be found at local booksellers, or online at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

For more information about the book and the opportunity to take the Housing Profile Quiz online, check out http://www.RealtyStudies.com.

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