On The Must-Read List

Before you sign on any dotted real estate contract line, check out June Fletcher's House Poor: Pumped Up Prices, Rising Rates and Mortgages on Steroids (Collins, $21.95). The Wall Street Journal reporter has all kinds of sane advice about this insane business. One smart idea: bargaining on an agent's commission rather than meekly accepting the "standard" (not!) 6 percent.