106 Mortgage Secrets All Homebuyers Must Learn--But Lenders Don't Tell

by: Gary W. Eldred, Gary W. Eldred

Topics include: housing cost ratio, loan reps, your total debt ratio, home finance plans, your qualifying ratios, home equity wealth, easier qualifying, portfolio lenders, credit repositories, equity buildup, garbage fees, yield spread premium, your home equity, credit blemishes, qualifying income, payment shock, realty agents, your credit scores, your lender, your buying power, wealth faster, rate lock, mortgage insurance premiums, accessory apartment, your loan

Book Description
One of America’s top real estate authorities explains the inside secrets of the mortgage business
Each year, more than ten million American homebuyers, homeowners, and realty investors enter the mortgage arena to finance or refinance their homes and rental properties. And each year, millions of borrowers pay more than they have to. But you won’t be one of them with Gary Eldred’s 106 Mortgage Secrets All Homebuyers Must Learn–But Lenders Don’t Tell.
Eldred explains all of your mortgage options and gives you the inside information you need to make the most intelligent money-saving choices. He simplifies the complicated math of mortgage financing and tells you how to make sure your loan rep is being honest with you. He covers every aspect of the mortgage process and highlights the key criteria you should always consider when making your decision. With these 106 secrets, you’ll have the confidence and the knowledge to:
• Increase your borrowing power
• Get the lowest interest rate
• Understand ARMs
• Cut the cost of mortgage insurance
• Save big with seller financing, foreclosures, and REOs
• Perfect your credit profile
• Avoid getting taken by the fine print
• Get maximum return on your home investment
There’s no reason to get a good mortgage, when you can get the perfect one for you. Simple, concise, and comprehensive, this book covers everything mortgage hunters should know–especially the 106 secrets lenders don’t want to reveal.

Better than Dummies Guide --
Want to take a proactive approach to financing your home or investment property? Then this book will give you the info you need. It gave me so many ideas that I hadn't even considered. Avoids standard advice (one size fits all as in Mortgages for Dummies) and tells you how to decide which type of financing will work best in various situations. Great techniques on saving money on interest and closing costs. Great techniques for improving your finances and credit score to get qualified. Solid book that answered all of my questions and much more.

Thorough and eye-opening, --
I really liked this book because it not only covers so many ways to cut the costs of my r.e. financing, but it opened many financing possibilities that I wasn't aware of. The chapters on how to arrange my personal finances to jack up my credit scores and qualifying ratios really got me me thinking. "Wait a minute! I don't have to remain a passive bystander to this whole borrowing process. Now I know how to take control and advance and protect my own interests." I suspect reading this book will make you feel the same way.

Reviews:

Encyclopedia of home financing --
You won't be disappointed with this book. It really covers the territory--everything from qualifying tips to government programs to seller financing to saving big dollars. Before I read this book I didn't know a an ARM from a leg. Now I can talk mortgage talk with any lender and not feel like I'm prime meat for the wolves. Really gives the lowdown on all types of financing alternatives and how not to get caught by the fine print. Thoroughly shows how to pay off your loan faster and save tens of thousands of dollars. Nuff said. This knowledge will pay back a thousand times the cost of the book.

Must Read -- I know that it's a cliche to review any book with the "must read" lable. BUT if you read this book you will see what I'm talking about. It goes beyond just explaining "how to get a mortgage" or "how to save money" on financing. I think what makes this one so worthwhile is that it greatly expanded my ability to make sense of all types of of financing. If you really want to pull back the curtain on the lending process, read this book.

No secrets...your lender HAS to tell you -- This book is so bad on so many levels that it barely merits one star. I'll chip it the star on the basis of one chapter that may be informative.

First, the title. There are no secrets in this book. Most of this is information readily available with a minimum of research(Fannie Mae). As far as your lender not wanting you to know...many of the so-called "secrets" could cost a lender their license, fines or even jail if they don't disclose. Mr.Eldred should know that the information on the Good Faith Estimate has to be more accurate than he portrays.

Further, in regards to fees such as the Yield Spread Premium, if the lender is a bank or a correspondent lender they do not have to disclose those fees at all. Only mortgage brokers do, making theirs the most transparent transaction. Some of the other fees he references to aren't even within the scope of a lender to control (title fees, etc.).

Mr.Eldred's "hints" on how to "improve" your income and debt are borderline fraud. People DO go to jail for this. With automated underwriting there is very little room to push the issue of "compensating" factors as Eldred suggests. This is a sensationalized rendering of how to get a mortgage. It's as if he took the examples of the worst 1% of lenders and applied them to the other 99%.

The chapter on ARM's is good in showing that there is usually a benefit to this product, with little of the risk imagined.
Overall, one would be much better off getting "The Mortgage Kit" by Thomas Steinmetz, now in it's 5th edition. Avoid the phony expose lure of this book.

Good presentation of concepts - lacks real world experience --
This book provides a fairly comprehensive look at mortgages. Unfortunately, the author didn't seem to have the time or desire to have someone with real life experience in home financing review it before publication (there are no acknowledgements mentioned as I would expect in a book such as this). As a new loan officer, I read the book hoping to validate and improve my own understanding of the industry. What I found is that there are enough inconsistencies between the text and my experience that it places the entire book in doubt. For example, he leaves out a critical parameter when comparing ARMs - the initial adjustment cap.

I disagree with a prior comment relating the book infomercials - investing wisely in real estate has made many a person weathy and most of the ideas presented in the book should help increase your return on investment over time (no get quick rich scemes here). There is a lot of good information in a easy-to-read format. A critical review would have made it much better and more reliable.

Thorough and objective guide -- I just closed a loan on my first home and I found this book to be a helpful guide. It's not as sensationalistic as the title might imply, but it prepared me to know what questions to ask and how to get my credit,income, and bills in shape before I put in my loan application. Although I took out a new loan, this book goes into assumptions, seller financing, and other financing choices that I didn't know much about. I think a lot of people looking to buy might find these alternatives worthwhile. Overall, a profitable read.

P.S. This book is not an "infomercial" or "get rich quick" hype. It also strongly warns against misleading a lender--none of the advice is "fraudulent." I find it interesting to read other reviews and sometimes wonder if they actually read the book they are reviewing. Not just here, but with many other popular authors. Oh well, such is life.