Amazon.com (ISBN 0793116309, Paperback)

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.