Mortgages 101: Quick Answers to Over 250 Critical Questions About Your Home Loan
320
Mortgages 101: Quick Answers to Over 250 Critical Questions About Your Home Loan
320Paperback(Second Edition)
-
PICK UP IN STORECheck Availability at Nearby Stores
Available within 2 business hours
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780814401668 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AMACOM |
| Publication date: | 05/02/2008 |
| Edition description: | Second Edition |
| Pages: | 320 |
| Sales rank: | 728,620 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author
David Reed is a seasoned mortgage banker and a columnist for "Realty Times" and "Mortgage Originator" magazine. He is the author of "Mortgage Confidential" (978-0-8144-7369-6), "Your Guide to VA Loans" (978-0-8144-7435-8), "Who Says You Can't Buy a Home! "(978-0-8144-7340-5), and "Your Successful Career as a Mortgage Broker "(978-0-8144-7370-2).
Read an Excerpt
Chapter 1
Introduction to Mortgages
There's a lot more to buying a home than just picking one out and moving in. If you don't have a wad of cash stuffed in your sofa cushions, chances are you'll need a mortgage. Mortgage lending has been around for a long, long time, and some things haven't changed while other parts of the mortgage process are brand new. Knowing what you're getting into can help you to make the right decisions.
1.1 What's the difference between buying and renting?
One way you own the roof over your head, and the other way, you don't. If you've always rented or otherwise never owned a home, one of the things you'll discover is that when things go wrong with your house there's no landlord to yell at. There's no superintendent to come fix your leaky faucet. If your hot water heater is busted, you're the one who has to make the trip to your appliance store to shell out another thousand bucks or so just so you can take a hot shower in the morning.
When you rent, you can pretty much walk away as long as your lease agreement has been fulfilled. Want a change of scenery? Pack up and move across town. Want a swimming pool and fitness center without the hassles of owning either? Rent. Want new carpet or drapes every year? Rent. Want your utility bills paid? Rent. Free cable? Ditto. You get the point. Renting has its perks. Much less responsibility and no hassles of ownership.
1.2 How do I know if it's better to buy a home or continue renting?
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to determine if it's better to buy or rent is to sit down and calculate the financial advantages of owning versus renting. This is commonly done online with a "rent versus buy" calculator found on the Web.
Tell Me More
These calculators compare your current or probable rent situation with a projected home ownership number. They're easy to find. I ran a Google search for the term "mortgage and calculator" and retrieved 6,100,000 websites that had those two terms.
But the kicker is that these calculators rarely will they tell you, "No, it's not a good idea to buy." That's because of the tax benefits of home ownership. The interest and property taxes associated with a mortgage are generally tax deductible. You can deduct them from your gross income when you file your taxes. With rent, you can't.
Yeah, I know. When you're a renter you don't pay property taxes or mortgage payments. Instead you give money to someone else for the privilege of living there. But you can't write off your rent. It's just that. Rent.
When might a "rent versus buy" calculator suggest it's better to rent? When you intend to own your next home for only a year or so. Buying a home incurs other expenses, such as money for the down payment, property taxes, and hazard insurance (which is much higher than a renter's policy). Many apartment complexes pay your electric bills along with water and other utilities. When you own, you pay all these expenses. Owing a home with all its tax benefits doesn't outweigh the acquisition costs to buy the home if you're only going to own it for a short period. Short term, rent. Longer term, buy. Are your rent payments the same or less than what a mortgage payment would be? Depending upon where you live, they may be the same. Especially if interest rates are relatively low.
Let's say you're renting a nice 3,000-square-foot, three-bedroom home close to schools in a friendly neighborhood. You might be paying $1,800 each month in rent. A similar three-bedroom home might cost $150,000. If you put 5 percent down to buy the home, your monthly house payment, including taxes and insurance, would be close to $1,200 using a 30-year fixed rate at 7.00 percent.
If rent payments in the area you want to buy are near what a mortgage payment would be, it makes sense to buy. If you can save $600 per month and you also get to write off the mortgage interest and property taxes, then it's truly a no-brainer.
Another reason buying is generally better than renting is simply a matter of appreciation and equity. When you rent and property values increase, your landlord will probably raise your rent again. And, of course, each time you make a rent payment you're not increasing your equity in anything; you're just helping your landlord increase his stake in your house or apartment. I'll give you an example.
Your rent is currently $1,000 per month, and you're thinking about buying a $150,000 home. If you put 20 percent down and borrow $120,000 at 7.00 percent on a 30-year fixed rate, your principal and interest payment are about $800 a month. Let's also assume that property values are increasing in your area by about 5 percent per year. What's the situation after two years?
If you rented, you paid someone else $24,000. But if you owned and itemized your federal income taxes, you likely deducted over $16,600 in mortgage interest on your income taxes. You also paid your loan down by over $2,500 while at the same time increasing your equity position in the house by nearly $18,000.
Now you see why those calculators always tell you to buy a home.
Through all of these calculations, remember the real reason for buying: You buy a home because you want to. Because you like the place. It's your home. A home is one of the largest single financial commitments someone can make. And while I agree with that statement, let's not go overboard here. Buy a house because you want to, not because some calculator told you so.
1.3 How should I search for a house?
That's easy. Start doing some research on your own on the Internet, even before contacting a real estate agent. If the Internet was invented for any particular industry it has to have been for real estate. Before the World Wide Web was born, one could typically locate houses only in the newspaper on the weekend. If you saw a house that you liked, you'd contact the agent selling the home. Then came the endless cycle of driving around in a real estate agent's car looking at houses until—finally, finally—you found a home you wanted to buy.
Tell Me More
The Internet has helped agents become more productive by letting consumers do a little shopping first before they get serious enough to use an agent. An agent who advertises a house is called the "listing" agent, because he puts the house for sale on the multiple listing service, or MLS.
The agent will show you the home and ask if you are using another agent. If you aren't, the agent will ask if you would like to see other homes for sale. You of course say "yes," and the agent then becomes a "buyers" agent as well, helping you find a home to buy and not just listing a house for sale. You give your agent your requirements for your dream home, such as four bedrooms on a cul-de-sac with a swimming pool. Your agent would then scour the MLS to search for such homes. After the search, you'd both get in the agent's car and go see the homes.
But viewing homes on the Web gives both you and your agent a head start. You only look at homes you're interested in, and the agent's not dragging you all over town to look at homes you'd never buy. Your agent spends more time selling or listing homes and less time driving all over the place.
You can start with www.realtor.com. At this official site of the National Association of REALTORS, you can search for homes anywhere in the country or across town using home listings from your local newspaper to your local or even national real estate brokerage. It's really cool. You simply log onto the site, choose where you want to live, and select your preferences, like four bedrooms in this zip code in this price range with a pool or without, and so on. Next thing you know, there are your potential dream homes right on your computer screen. Some sites even have "virtual" tours showing different views of the house. This way you can see what homes are selling for and what's generally available.
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface 000
Section I Mortgage Fundamentals 1
Chapter 1 Introduction to Mortgages 0
1.1 What's the difference between buying and renting? 0
1.2 How do I know if it's better to buy a home or continue renting? 00
1.3 How should I search for a house? 00
1.4 When is a good time to buy a home? 00
1.5 What's the difference between being prequalified and preapproved? 00
1.6 What is the preapproval process? 00
1.7 What are loan conditions? 00
1.8 What are Automated Underwriting Systems? 00
1.9 Who uses Automated Underwriting Systems? 00
1.10 If an Automated Underwriting System approves me, does that mean I get the loan? 00
1.11 What are the benefits of getting preapproved? 00
1.12 What are all these terms? 00
1.13 Who are the key people in a typical loan approval process? 00
1.14 What is the 1003? 00
1.15 What are the ten sections of the 1003? 00
1.16 What happens if the information you put on your application is wrong? 00
1.17 What happens after I fill out the 1003? 00
1.18 Are online applications the same as the five-page 1003? 00
1.19 Is an online application safe? Can someone steal my identity? 00
1.20 What happens after I make an offer for a house? 00
Chapter 2 How to Know How Much Home to Buy 000
2.1 How do I know how much I can borrow? 000
2.2 What are debt ratios? 000
2.3 How do I calculate my debt ratios? 000
2.4 How much do debt ratios affect how much I can borrow? 000
2.5 How can lenders approve people with high debt ratios? 000
2.6 Why do lenders use monthly tax and insurance payments in debt ratios? 000
2.7 Why is escrow a requirement for loans with less than 20 percent down? 000
2.8 If I have a choice, are escrows right for me? 000
Chapter 3 Getting Your Finances Together 000
3.1 What will the lender look for when looking at my assets? 000
3.2 How do I document my assets? 000
3.3 How do I document my income? 000
3.4 If I just got my first job, how can I provide a W-2 from last year? 000
3.5 What do you mean by "how you're paid"? 000
3.6 Why do lenders ask for the most recent 30-day paycheck stubs? 000
3.7 If I get paid in cash, how do I document that? 000
3.8 How do I calculate hourly wages? 000
3.9 How do I calculate overtime? 000
3.10 How are bonuses used to figure my income? 000
3.11 How do I figure my income if it is based solely on commissions? 000
3.12 How do I calculate my pay if I have both a salary and a bonus or a commission? 000
3.13 If I can deduct a lot of expenses from my income taxes, does that help gross monthly income? 000
3.14 How do I show expenses on my loan application? 000
3.15 How do I calculate my dividends and interest income? 000
3.16 How do I calculate my income if I own my own business? 000
Chapter 4 Down Payments and How They Impact Your Mortgage 000
4.1 What exactly is a down payment? 000
4.2 What are the risk elements? 000
4.3 How do I know how much to improve another risk element? 000
4.4 What kinds of accounts can I use to fund the down payment? 000
4.5 Can I borrow against my retirement account? 000
4.6 Can my family help me out with a down payment? 000
4.7 What do I do if I don't have a down payment saved? 000
4.8 What is a "seller assisted" DPAP? 000
4.9 How do I know if I qualify for a down payment assistance program? 000
4.10 Is there an ideal amount I should put down on a home? 000
4.11 How much is a mortgage insurance policy? 000
4.12 Can I deduct mortgage insurance from my income taxes? 000
4.13 Can I "borrow" my mortgage insurance? 000
4.14 Will PMI come off of my mortgage automatically? 000
4.15 What about "zero money down" loans? 000
4.16 What is the My Community Mortgage? 000
4.17 How do I buy a house if I need to sell my house for my down payment? 000
4.18 Will I have to qualify with two mortgages? 000
Chapter 5 Getting Your Credit Together 000
5.1 What exactly is credit? 000
5.2 How were credit bureaus established? 000
5.3 What's in my credit report? 000
5.4 What's not in my credit report? 000
5.5 What's the difference between a Chapter 7 and a Chapter 13? 000
5.6 Do lenders view a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 more favorably when reviewing a mortgage application? 000
5.7 What's the difference between "good" and "bad" credit? 000
5.8 How do I establish good credit? 000
5.9 I've got great credit. How do I keep it that way? 000
5.10 I cosigned on my brother's car, but he's making the payments. Will this affect my credit? 000
5.11 What should I do first to improve my credit? 000
5.12 What happens if you find a mistake on your report? 000
5.13 Can't I write a letter explaining my side of the story to the credit bureaus? 000
5.14 Can my lender help fix mistakes in my credit history? 000
5.15 What do I need in order to prove something is a mistake on my credit report? 000
5.16 What about mortgage companies that advertise "bad credit, no credit okay"? 000
5.17 What about a cosigner? 000
5.18 Can a seller ask for a copy of my credit report? 000
5.19 What is alternate credit? 000
5.20 I have bad credit and was contacted by a credit counseling company that wants to help reestablish my credit. Can they do that? 000
5.21 Can I erase my old credit report completely and start all over again? 000
5.22 I have great credit, but my spouse has terrible credit. What do I do? 000
5.23 My "ex" has screwed up my credit. What do I do? 000
5.24 How will lenders view our credit report if we're not married? 000
5.25 How long do I have to wait in order to get approved for a mortgage if I declared bankruptcy in the past? 000
5.26 I filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and I'm still making the payments. Can I get a mortgage now? 000
Chapter 6 Credit Scores: What They Are, How They Work, and How to Improve Them 000
6.1 What are credit scores? 000
6.2 What makes up a score? 000
6.3 What things in my payment history affect my credit score? 000
6.4 What about my amounts owed? What is most important? 000
6.5 How do I find out what my score is? 000
6.6 How do I get a credit score? 000
6.7 What is the minimum credit score I need to qualify for a mortgage loan? 000
6.8 What if my lender told me I couldn't qualify because my credit score was too low? 000
6.9 How do I know how much to charge and how much to pay off? 000
6.10 What else affects my credit score? 000
6.11 How can I increase my available credit without opening up new accounts? 000
6.12 I've applied at more than one mortgage company. Will all those credit inquiries hurt my score? 000
6.13 How do I fix scores that are artificially low due to mistakes? 000
6.14 If there are several mistakes on my report, do I get them all corrected? How do I know which ones to correct? 000
6.15 I'm a single parent and a minority. Does this status help or hurt my credit score? 000
6.16 How do lenders choose which credit scores to use? 000
6.17 I have great credit scores, but my spouse has low credit scores. What happens? 000
Section II The Right Mortgage 000
Chapter 7 Finding Your Home Loan 000
7.1 What kinds of loans are there? 000
7.2 When would I want a fixed rate? 000
7.3 When would I want an adjustable rate? 000
7.4 How do adjustable rate mortgages work? 000
7.5 Are ARMs only helpful in the very near term? 000
7.6 What exactly is a hybrid loan? 000
7.7 What's a balloon mortgage? 000
7.8 What is a buydown? 000
7.9 Apart from choosing fixed or adjustable rates, what types of loan programs should I consider? 000
7.10 How are limits on conventional loans set? 000
7.11 Who or what are Fannie and Freddie? 000
7.12 What are special commitments? 000
7.13 What exactly is a jumbo mortgage? 000
7.14 Can I prepay my mortgage or pay it off early? 000
7.15 What are prepayment penalties? 000
7.16 Why do lenders have prepayment penalties on some of their loans? 000
7.17 What are VA loans? How do you get them? 000
7.18 Who's eligible for a VA loan? 000
7.19 What is a VA "entitlement"? 000
7.20 How often can I use my VA eligibility? 000
7.21 What is a VA streamline refinance? 000
7.22 Do states have VA loan programs, too? 000
7.23 What about FHA loans? 000
7.24 Who sets FHA loan limits and how much are they? 000
7.25 Is FHA only for first-time home buyers? 000
7.26 When do I choose an FHA loan instead of any other? 000
7.27 Can I use a coborrower to help me qualify for an FHA loans? 000
7.28 Does FHA help me save money on closing costs? 000
7.29 What about first-time home buyer loans? 000
7.30 What does "portfolio lending" mean? 000
7.31 What's the difference between second homes and rental property? 000
7.32 How does the lender know that a property is a second home and not a rental unit? 000
7.33 Can I use rental income to qualify for a mortgage? 000
7.34 Are loan limits for rental properties the same as for primary residences? 000
7.35 What is an interest-only loan? 000
7.36 What is a negative amortization loan? 000
7.37 What is a payment option ARM? 000
7.38 What about seller financing? 000
7.39 How can I rent-to-own or use a lease-purchase to buy a house? 000
7.40 What's a wraparound mortgage? 000
7.41 What is a biweekly loan program? 000
7.42 What is alternative or "Alt" lending? 000
Chapter 8 Loans for Good to Great Credit 000
8.1 What should I look for in a mortgage loan? 000
8.2 So everyone should first try for a conventional loan? 000
8.3 What if my loan isn't a Fannie loan? What if it's a jumbo or a portfolio? 000
8.4 Then how do I manage to find the loan that's right for me? 000
8.5 Should I always try to put as much down as I can? 000
8.6 Do I have a choice in my loan term? 000
8.7 Why are payments higher on a 15-year loan even though the rate is lower? 000
8.8 Won't my loan officer help me find the right mortgage? 000
8.9 What if I can't provide parts of the documentation for the loan? 000
8.10 Why wouldn't I just apply for a "NINA with no job" and forget about all the other hassles of pay stubs and W-2s? 000
8.11 Why would I ever want to apply for any of those loans? 000
8.12 Does the type of property affect the kind of loan I can have? 000
8.13 What types of property can I expect problems with? 000
Chapter 9 Loans for People with Impaired or Damaged Credit 000
9.1 My credit's not so good. Where do I get a mortgage for my situation? 000
9.2 Do I have to put more down with a subprime loan? 000
9.3 What's the matter with subprime loans? 000
9.4 What kind of interest rates can I expect from a subprime loan? 000
9.5 What about prepayment penalties on subprime loans? 000
9.6 How can a hybrid adjust after two years? 000
9.7 Aren't subprime loans more expensive? 000
9.8 Should I just wait until my credit gets better and apply later? 000
9.9 What if the rates are higher when I go to refinance a subprime loan? 000
9.10 What is a predatory loan? 000
9.11 Don't some lenders make a loan hoping they can foreclose on it? 000
9.12 What's the difference between subprime and predatory? 000
9.13 Are subprime loans harder to qualify for now because of past problems in the industry? 000
Chapter 10 Refinancing and Home Equity Loans 000
10.1 Why would I want to refinance my mortgage? 000
10.2 Should I wait until the interest rate is 2 percent lower than my current one to refinance? 000
10.3 What is my rescission period? 000
10.4 How long should I wait to recover closing costs? 000
10.5 Do I have to close my loan within thirty days, or can I wait to see if rates drop further? 000
10.6 Why are there fees on a refinance? 000
10.7 Should I pay points for a refinance? 000
10.8 What about reducing my interest rate and also reducing my loan term? 000
10.9 Why not just pay extra each month instead of refinancing? 000
10.10 What's a cash-out mortgage? 000
10.11 How do I get money out of my property without refinancing? 000
10.12 How do I refinance if I have both a first and a second mortgage? 000
10.13 Which is better, a cash-out refinance or a HELOC? 000
10.14 Why is my loan payoff higher than my principal balance? 000
10.15 My credit has been damaged since I bought the house. Will that hurt me? 000
10.16 How do I get a note modification? 000
10.17 What is a "recast" of my mortgage? 000
10.18 I've heard of a modifiable mortgage. What's that? 000
10.19 What happens when my loan is sold? 000
10.20 What's a reverse mortgage? 000
10.21 Who qualifies for a reverse mortgage? 000
10.22 How much can I get with a reverse mortgage? 000
10.23 Why not do a cash-out refinance instead of a reverse mortgage? 000
10.24 Are the closing costs the same for a reverse mortgage as with a regular mortgage? 000
10.25 What are the rates for reverse mortgages? 000
10.26 I have a current mortgage on my house. Do I get to keep that? 000
10.27 How do I know if a reverse mortgage is right for me? 000
Chapter 11 Construction and Home Improvement Loans 000
11.1 Why would I want to build a home? Why can't I just go out and buy one? 000
11.2 How do construction loans work? 000
11.3 Do I buy a home from a developer, or is it better to start from scratch? 000
11.4 How do I get approved for a construction loan? 000
11.5 How much do I need for a construction loan? 000
11.6 Does the lender approve my builder? 000
11.7 How does the mortgage lender know what the house is worth before it's built? 000
11.8 What if I already own the land? Do I still include that amount in the construction loan? 000
11.9 But what if I don't want a permanent mortgage, but just a construction loan? 000
11.10 What choices do I have for construction loans? 000
11.11 Is a one-time close better than a two-time close? 000
11.12 What if rates drop during my one-time close loan? 000
11.13 What if my builder is financing the construction? 000
11.14 Do I have to use the builder's mortgage company? 000
11.15 What are my options if I just want to build onto my current house? 000
11.16 How can I borrow enough to make major improvements on my home? 000
11.17 What is an FHA 203(k) loan? 000
Section III The Right Lender and Rate 000
Chapter 12 Finding the Best Lender 000
12.1 I've decided on my loan. Now what? 000
12.2 How do I find the best lender? 000
12.3 But where do I get the names of all these lenders in the first place? 000
12.4 How do I know if I can trust these lenders? 000
12.5 Should I use my real estate agent's mortgage company? 000
12.6 I thought all money came from the bank. Doesn't it? 000
12.7 What is a mortgage broker? 000
12.8 Are mortgage brokers more expensive? 000
12.9 Why do mortgage companies use mortgage brokers? 000
12.10 How do mortgage brokers get paid? 000
12.11 How many lenders do mortgage brokers use? 000
12.12 Will the broker keep my lender a secret? 000
12.13 Is a mortgage broker my best choice? 000
12.14 Should I choose a broker or a banker? 000
12.15 What happens if I want to change lenders in the middle of my loan process? 000
Chapter 13 Finding the Best Loan Officer 000
13.1 How do I find the best loan officer? 000
13.2 How do I know if the loan officers my real estate agent suggests are any good? 000
13.3 What if my agent is not a heavy hitter? 000
13.4 Do the best loan officers work with the biggest lenders? 000
13.5 What questions should I ask a potential loan officer? 000
13.6 How do loan officers get trained? 000
13.7 What training or courses do loan officers take? 000
13.8 How do loan officers get paid? 000
13.9 What are market gains? 000
13.10 Are market gains legal? 000
13.11 Do all loan officers charge one percent on every loan? 000
13.12 My loan officer isn’t any good. Can I change loan officers? 000
13.13 Where do I complain about my loan officer? 000
Chapter 14 Finding the Best Interest Rate 000
14.1 Who sets mortgage rates? 000
14.2 How does my loan officer quote rates? 000
14.3 But doesn't the Fed set interest rates? 000
14.4 Are mortgage rates tied to the 30-year treasury and the 10-year treasury? 000
14.5 Who invests in bonds? 000
14.6 Where are rates headed? 000
14.7 What types of economic reports should I pay attention to? 000
14.8 Do I follow all of the economic reports? 000
14.9 When is the best time to get a rate quote? 000
14.10 Can I trust the interest rates in the newspaper? 000
14.11 Why are some lenders so much lower than everyone else? 000
14.12 How do I get a good rate quote from all my competing lenders? 000
14.13 What do I do with my two best quotes? 000
14.14 How do I lock in my mortgage rate? 000
14.15 Does my lock mean I'm approved? 000
14.16 What happens if my rate lock expires and I still haven't closed my loan? 000
14.17 What happens if I lock and rates go down? 000
14.18 Will lenders drag their feet to make a lock expire? 000
Chapter 15 Closing Costs and How to Save on Them 000
15.1 What types of closing costs can I expect? 000
15.2 Why are there so many charges? 000
15.3 Why do lenders charge fees? 000
15.4 On which closing costs can I save and which ones can I forget about? 000
15.5 Are fees for purchases and refinances the same? 000
15.6 How can I save on my appraisal fees? 000
15.7 How can I save on my credit report? 000
15.8 How can I save on title insurance? 000
15.9 What exactly is the good faith estimate? 000
15.10 How do I use a good faith estimate to compare lenders? 000
15.11 What is APR, and does it really work? 000
15.12 How can I get the seller to pay for my closing costs? 000
15.13 What's a "one-fee closing" cost? 000
15.14 Can a lender pay all my fees? 000
Chapter 16 The Internet and Mortgages 000
16.1 How has the Internet helped mortgage lending? 000
16.2 Should I apply for a mortgage online or meet with a loan officer? 000
16.3 How can I use the Internet to find the best mortgage rate? 000
16.4 What about online companies that advertise they will have lenders "bid" on my mortgage loan? 000
16.5 What happens if I choose an online lender but the closing papers are all wrong? 000
16.6 Should I avoid online lenders? 000
16.7 I keep getting e-mails from companies with some very competitive offers. Shouldn't I at least explore them? 000
16.8 Can I get my loan approval online? 000
16.9 Is there any way I can check on rates without contacting a lender? 000
16.10 Can I track my loan approval online? 000
16.11 What are some good Web sites consumers can use to help them? 000
Appendix: Monthly Payment Schedules 000
Glossary 000
Index 000
What People are Saying About This
"When you read anything by David Reed, you get the feeling you are talking with a lifelong friend. His folksy, familiar style makes learning about loans fun and you won't forget his advice. If you do, you'll regret it." — Blanche Evans, Publisher/Editor of Realty Times and Agent News
"David Reed has the ability to explain some of the most complex issues in everyday language. This veteran gives it to you straight and gives you the upper hand when looking for a home mortgage. The chapter on finding the best rate is worth the price of admission alone." — Barry Habib, CEO, Mortgage Market Guide
"Easy to understand, this book puts all the information in one place. The best book on home mortgages I've ever read." — Michael Finney, Award winning San Francisco consumer reporter for ABC TV & Radio. Columnist, San Francisco Examiner
Publishers Weekly: "An easy-to-digest look at the world of mortgages. Reed writes in a straightforward, conversational tone and offers appropriate cautions.serves up useful advice that is rarely discussed. The q&a format makes this a worthwhile addition to the real estate shelves."
Mortgage Originator: "With consumer-friendly language and an easygoing tone, Reed answers over 250 common, yet critical borrower questions. Originators can use this book chapter by chapter, or as a whole, to help educate consumers on the entire mortgage process.Give this book to any potential customerófirst-time buyers, move-ups, and experienced homeowners alike and they will come back to you more informed and confident in their mortgage proceedings.you and your customers will benefit greatly from this informative book."
RealtyTimes.com: "Written in Q&A, the advice in Mortgages 101 is unvarnished and to the point. Reed takes a dry subject and makes literally years of hard-gained knowledge digestible and usable in a thumbable loan manual."