How to Save Thousands of Dollars on Your Home Mortgage, 2nd Edition

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Find The Home Mortgage That's Right For You

Finding the right mortgage can be complex, confusing, and frustrating. But that doesn't mean you have to settle for anything other than the terms you want. This indispensable and newly updated second edition of How to Save Thousands of Dollars on Your Home Mortgage spells out everything mortgage hunters need to know in clear and accessible terms. It covers more loan alternatives than any other book and examines the importance of discount points. It offers complete details on virtually every mortgage option currently available, what advantages each option offers, how to choose the right one for your needs, and how to save money in the process. New information in this edition will help you use the Internet to find a home and get a mortgage, examine automated underwriting models and conforming loan limits, and weigh new shopping strategies. Easy-to-read charts and graphs, helpful sample forms, and numerous examples will help you understand:
* First-time buyers programs
* APR, buy-downs, reverse mortgages, accelerated payoffs, and zero point loans
* Refinancing strategies
* Closing costs, lender fees, and other expenses
* How to dispute credit report errors and fix credit problems
* How to use the Internet for loan analysis

Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

An excellent book March 23, 2002
45 out of 45 found this review helpful

This is one of the books I bought when I bought my first house. It's a fine reference source if you want to know what all the different mortgage options are (e.g., what's the difference between a fixed-rate mortgage and an adjustable-rate mortgage, what indexes are ARMs tied to, etc.). And the author--Randy Johnson--makes honest recommendations on which mortgages best suit certain typical lifestyles or income scenarios. Also, one of the books great strengths is the discussion of how many discount points to pay. The one thing I found missing, though*, was at least one real-world scenario that you're likely to see used if you visit a mortgage broker in my neck of the woods [Silicon Valley], or other high-priced regions. And that is the use of a 'first' and a 'second' mortgage in a so-called "piggyback financing" or "80-10-10 financing" arrangement which can help you eliminate Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). There's no in-depth discussion of this technique--which is very common--which I found incredible. There's all this advice on getting an ARM tied to the CD index vs. the LIBOR index with a balloon payment if you stay in your house for 3 years instead of 10 years and so on and so forth...but nothing about getting a conforming, fixed-rate, 30-year first mortgage and a smaller second in a technique to reduce your overall payments during the lives of the loans. It's a simple technique, and very worth a detailed analysis, but I couldn't find it. Anyway, like I said, if you want to know esoteric information about mortgages, then this is a worthy book. It helped me, it's just a little shy of a full-fledged 5-star effort.

*Please Note: The review written above pertained to the 1st edition which I initially gave a 4-star rating. The second edition--which I now own also--has effectively covered "Piggyback" loans (i.e, 80-10-10 transactions), which I think propels this book into a solid 5-star work. The second edition also has updated information on shopping for a mortgage on the Internet, and some [though not all] of the examples that show different types of mortgages have had their interest rates brought more into line with present-day (i.e., 2002) rates. This is an excellent book for folks who want to know all about mortgages.

5 out of 5 stars This is the book most loan officers hope you won't read September 7, 1998
31 out of 35 found this review helpful

I've been in the industry for over seventeen years and I can tell you - this is one of the only mortgage books that really tells it like it is. If your idea of shopping for a mortgage includes picking up the local papaer or yellow pages and calling a bunch of different lenders to ask "what's your rate?", you're in trouble. Read the info on pages 113-118 to see why.

Are you serious about shopping for a mortgage? Are you ready to set aside everything you think you know? Do you want a book that really "hits the nail on the head?" This is the book for you!

Still undecided? How about this? - We like this book so much that we bought 500 copies to give to our mortgage customers.

Do yourself a favor and put this book in your cart.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent! Read this book BEFORE you go loan shopping. December 3, 1998
20 out of 21 found this review helpful

Mortgage broker Randy Johnson reveals the chicanery that exists in the home loan industry, so you won't get bamboozled on this expense of a lifetime. He also shows you how to find the real pros who care about their clients and know how to work the system. It's a real jungle out there in mortgage land. Don't even think about sitting down with a loan officer before you read this book!

4 out of 5 stars Some interesting detail, but could be better October 15, 2001
18 out of 18 found this review helpful

This book is written by a mortgage industry insider and makes the claim that it will reveal the inner workings or even secrets of the process of obtaining a mortgage. And there is some interesting detail concerning ARMs, lender rate sheets, zero-point loans, etc.

But I think the book lacks organization and consistency. Like a lot of "insider" books it needed to have been read by a lot of "outsiders" for coherency before publishing. The author is not consistent in using the terminology that he defines at the start. He often is not clear about when he is talking about the firm originating your loan or the ultimate buyer of the loan. He creates as much confusion as clarity in his sloppy use of the terms: rebates, points, loan discount points, or loan origination points. Furthermore, for a detail-oriented book I was surprised that section numbers of a standard settlement form, 800, 900, 1000, etc, were not referred to when discussing closing costs.

I would have like to have seen more realistic discussion about the ability of a consumer to force a loan originator to reveal or discuss the profit margin on a loan as the author suggests one do. As far as I know American businesses are not in the habit and in fact resist revealing markups to consumers.

For some readers this book may be just what they are looking for, but I suspect that for most the detail is just not presented in a way that makes it particularly understandable or usable.

5 out of 5 stars I Saved $128,000 Dollars October 29, 2000
17 out of 17 found this review helpful

The difference between a NO-NEG-AM at 8.86% and a 30 year Fixed at 7.75% saved me $128,000 on my mortgage. Thanks to Randy's book I knew what questions to ask my lender. I knew the right answer too - NO - no negative amortization loan for me. This book gives you the knowledge you need to make an informed decision. No matter how "nice" and "helpful" your lender's may appear, YOU need to know what they are telling you is accurate. Don't buy a house without knowing what the terms being offered really mean for you. Thanks LoanWolf!!

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