How to Get the Best Home Loan, 2nd Edition

By W. Frazier Bell

Book Overview

Save Time and Money-and Get the Loan That's Right for You Ever-changing mortgage guidelines . . . confusing financial forms . . . if you're buying or refinancing a home, you know all too well how overwhelming and intimidating the mortgage process can be. This revised edition of How to Get the Best Home Loan guides you through all the critical issues and demystifies the mechanics of mortgage lending-everything from disclosures and fees to closing costs, points, and making payments. Longtime mortgage banking industry insider and former realtor W. Frazier Bell helps you sidestep the risks of financing a mortgage and sheds light on many unknown aspects that keep borrowers from making intelligent, money-saving decisions. Written in clear, simple language, this comprehensive Second Edition features new information on desktop underwriting, merged credit reports, and using the Internet, as well as updated sections on verifications, qualifying, and loan types. Bell gives you hands-on access to his hard-won experience, providing the tools you need to: * Understand why lenders do the things they do * Learn what to look for when comparing loans and lenders * Head off potential problems and expensive mistakes * Navigate FRMs, ARMs, FHAs, GEMs, and TILs * Know why certain loans may be better for you than others * Save yourself hundreds, even thousands, of dollars Packed with real-life examples, sample forms, and proven advice, How to Get the Best Home Loan, Second Edition will ensure that you get the right loan, at the right price, from the right lender.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471415111
• ISBN13: 9780471415114
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Provides the Details other Books don't

I have read several home-buying books and two other mortgage books and found this to be the only source for detailed information. As another reviewer suggested, if you want the feel-good basics then look elsewhere ("Navigating the Mortgage Maze", by Turnauer or "The Centuray 21 Guide to Choosing your Mortgage"). My view is that if you are taking the time to read a book on a subject, you want details. I find generalities and broad sweeping statements a waste of time. This text provides a breadth and depth of information in a clear and succinct manner. My only complaint is that the book could be updated with a newer edition. However this 10 year-old text is by no means out of date since the author gives you the framework to understand everything in the fast-changing mortgage industry.

Very Useful and Informative

Nine times out of ten the biggest factor that decides whether or not you successfully buy or sell a real estate property is -- financing. And yet it is the one area people know the least about. By understanding home loans and how they work, you dramatically increase your chances. And this book is the best on the subject I have read. The writer is a professional experienced mortgage broker who writes well. The bottomline, as the writer states, is "Most loans...are approved or denied based on some very fundamental rules." It's really good to know these fundamentals.

Excellent.

I hesitated at first, I'd had a home loan before. What else was there to learn? I cannot put this book down. There is so much to know about home loans and this author writes it in easy to understand language. I wish I had this book 10 years ago. The is an excellent, easy to understand book packed with information that I highly recommend everyone read before applying for a home loan.

Worth the time!

Excellent book. Took the mystery out of home buying and allowed us to negotiate a better mortgage rate (and not pay any points)!