This book analyzes the entire process of selling a home, with reasons to back it up. I think that helping a seller think about his or her home from the outside view of a buyer is very helpful. For instance, I've often heard about "curb appeal" but not usually read about how that really translates into what a buyer will notice. We are so used to our own house that we might not see that the front doorknob is tarnished or the front porch needs some potted flowers.

FULL VALUE by Jack Richards is intended to provide "Proven Methods to Price and Sell Your Home for Maximum Profit." Richards divides his text into sections about valuing your home, preparing for sale, marketing it, and closing the deal. He clearly is a data driven guy and includes charts and graphs, and refers to studies such as those which attempted to determine the value of a broker and/or listing on the MLS. The text seemed very "wordy;" for example: "Many sellers ask themselves whether they should hire a real estate agent, and if so, which one. Most will hire an agent; selecting the right one is more difficult. The market is crowded with many different agents advertising their services everywhere you look." I would have preferred a shorter, even bullet pointed summary or list. Overall, I did not think that he provided any unique insight. Mainly, his text, albeit often bolstered by statistics, seemed to contain common sense (e.g., “cash constrained buyers may highly value a seller’s contribution to closing costs”) which might be helpful to someone selling a home for the first time. However, real estate brokers seem increasingly professional and customer-oriented and readily provide this information, along with their expertise regarding local market analysis. 2.5 stars