Be Smart About Real Estate

Many Cobb County residents are exploring their housing options as recent media reports of improving home sales, employment, and other positive economic indicators suggest an upturn in the real estate market. Spring has historically been the season that real estate markets fire up – and renewed vigor in housing makes understanding real estate in a changing economy critical for prospective buyers, sellers, renters and landlords.

The Cobb County Public Library System offers many resources, at no charge to library cardholders, to assist our patrons weighing real estate-related decisions in their lives:

Reference Librarians: Ask a reference librarian at your local library branch about resources in the library and community for addressing your housing and real estate concerns.  Although librarians don’t give financial or legal advice, pointing you to helpful resources is central to librarians’ role.

Periodicals covering business are available at library branches and through the library system’s electronic resources. Among the publications in the library system are the Marietta Daily Journal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Business Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Barron’s.  Check availability at your local library branches or by searching the catalog.

E-Library: The CCPLS E-Library includes resources related to housing, from general information to data on specific homes and land, such as:

• The E-government page features links to Cobb County real estate records, foreclosure notices and other property records.
• DemographicsNow shows information on the communities you select for research, including population data, income, maps and more.
• Online courses by ed2go include Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investing II: Financing Your Property, and Real Estate Law.
• Zinio, an online newsstand, features digital copies of Consumer Reports, Bloomberg Businessweek, Good Housekeeping, and other publications.

Books: Below are some books on real estate in the library’s Adult Non-Fiction Collection:

• Selling your house in a tough market: 10 strategies that work by Alayna Schroeder
• Nolo's essential guide to buying your first home by Ilona M. Bray
• First-time landlord: your guide to renting out a single-family home by Janet Portman
• Home buying kit for dummies by Eric Tyson
• Neighbor law: fences, trees, boundaries & noise by Cora Jordan
• Leases & rental agreements by Marcia Stewart

Digital Downloads: Through its partnership with OverDrive, the library offers eBooks  and eAudiobooks as part of our Digital Downloads service. Real estate, investment, personal finance, and law are among the topics covered in the collection.

We hope you will take advantage of the library's free resources when making important real estate-related decisions. See you at the library!