Review by Elizabeth R. Mueller:

Ah, where do I begin?

I am someone who had to learn the hard way about real estate. I looked to buy my first house in areas that had goldmine rushes in appreciation, like Princeton, NJ, Kapaa, HI and finally settled on Portland, OR–one of the most competitive markets in real estate history (last year, prices raised 150 grand in 3 months, and the bubble still has not burst.)

I was in contract multiple times, but since the houses I liked were old, they were plagued with foundation issues, dry rot, water damage…I was so used to bad inspections and dropping properties, I almost fell out of my seat when a perfect, 6 bedroom, Victorian, commercial space had an excellent report.

I was so focused on the front end of my deals, negotiating into contract, I had neglected studying the loan process.

When the sellers to my dream house learned they had backup offers close to 100 grand more than I paid, they did everything they could to throw my deal and restrict my timetable to get a loan. They asked for a week long extension on my inspection period, pretending they would repair misc. small items and then returned saying not only did they not call in contractors, they would not grant me an extension on the close date and practically cackled in my face,”Have fun getting a loan!” I had 2 weeks.

I read 4 books on mortgages, but still felt unprepared. Then, by sheer luck, I found Carolyn Warren’s, Mortgage Rip-Offs and Money Savers and it saved my entire deal.

This book is THE most informative, concise, entertaining book you will ever read on mortgages. It is an absolute crash-course, packed with minute details on the dirty, ugly, greedy world of mortgages.

She tells you how to find a loan in one day, what to say to the lenders, how to cut out their sales pitch and get facts, and she warns you about scams –and trust me, even the most reputable companies, will try to deceive you.

I ended up frustrating so many lenders because I would catch them at every turn. Warren’s book gives you the power to anticipate the games these companies will play with your time, money and future investment. I had no idea how loan officers can be worse than car salespeople and they are relentless.

What will they do to you? Lie, lie and lie some more. They will pretend they cannot get you Good Faith Estimates or Truth-in-Lending forms without running your credit or taking an application fee (never pay this!), they will say their “computers are down” and want to run numbers verbally (thus, it is not binding), they will quote good deals and then act like they made a mistake-more bait and switch, they will not tell you what the wholesale price of their loan is and how much they over-charged you, they throw in junk fees…but even when you think you have it nailed in writing, they can surprise you at the closing table–especially, if they know you are pressed for time and love the house–they will try to change terms or slip in new charges, and conveniently be “unavailable” to correct blatant errors, in your final moments.

In addition to her book, Carolyn Warren runs a website where you can email her questions. She answers within a day and will even look over your Good Faith Estimates and Truth-in-Lending forms. She claims she will save you twice as much money in your closing costs then she charges you, or else your consultation is free.

I was so terrified of losing this deal and expressed my desperation in an email, Carolyn even took the time to call me and give me additional advice.

I am not sure if she does this for everyone, my situation was pretty extreme…so, I hope my stating this will not result in overwhelming requests for a phone call from her…but I feel I should include this in my review because she was incredibly kind and she armed me with the knowledge I needed to protect myself. (Thank you, Carolyn!)

And here are some extra pieces of advice, from me. When you look for a mortgage broker, google “Upfront Mortgage Brokers.” They have a website, with state directories of lenders and brokers. You can read about their philosophies on the website. They will not hassle you about getting Good Faith Estimates or Truth-in-Lending forms…(at least they won’t pretend their “computers cannot generate these” without paying a fee–as Countrywide tried to scam me.) But do NOT let your guard down. Follow Carolyn’s advice, watch the junk fees, use her service–if you want an extra pair of eyes to catch something on the forms. Even the “Upfront Mortgage Brokers” will mess with you. Be Vigilant.

Finally, when you notice a Realtor or Mortgage agent is making “mistakes”–but then is suddenly out of the office or town, not taking your calls? Always get their cell numbers before your time line crunch hits and try dialing *67 before their number. This blocks your number from registering on their Caller ID. Most likely you will nab them, because they won’t want to miss important phone calls from other potential suckers–oops, I mean clients–and you can demand time-sensitive documents be handled/fixed and not ignored.

I wish all of you luck and happiness in finding a home. And I promise you, buying Mortgage Rip-Offs and Money Savers, by Carolyn Warren, will be one of the best bargains you will ever find. I gave this book, as a gift to several friends and they are like me–they cannot shut up about how great this book is! No joke.

Review by Longhorn Girl:

This book is absolutely amazing.

I’m currently shopping for a mortgage and was *almost* roped in by several of the tactics Carolyn outlined in her book. My husband and I started our house buying process with the intent to use the builder’s financial mortgage services. We got pre-approved using my ss#, income and asset info which was a fairly straightforward process. The builder threw in a 12,500k lot discount and offered us ,500 credit on closing costs. Our mortgage consultant spent a great deal of time going through various options and even talked about interest rates (6 months outside of the close date). At the time I had no idea what I was doing and so I trusted her to provide me with all of the information I needed to make a decision.

Fast forward to five weeks ago (today is 8/20).

My mortgage consultant essentially faded away. She didn’t return calls. She didn’t respond to requests for GFEs (if you don’t know what that is, buy this book), but finally did after the forth request. Although Carolyn suggests that you shouldn’t ‘shop’ mortgages, I did after reading the ‘secrets’ and changed my whole approach to the process.

First, my builder’s mortgage lender considered us a slam dunk. We were locked into using them otherwise we’d lose our discounts. After reading the book, I decided to call two other brokers one of who responded with 4 GFEs within 45 minutes. I made it easy for him to get them for me because I outlined all of the information Carolyn stated that he needs to generate these. In addition, I asked him point blank the questions that SO MANY people fail to ask!! I’m not going to give you the list because it’s in the book (if I quit my job to write a book about the secrets, I wouldn’t want someone spilling the beans)!

I asked about some of the fees and here’s how he responded:

App & Commitment Fees: With my stellar credit and all of my paperwork ready to go, I promise it will be a very clean loan. “The commitment fee is the only charge from the lender. It is to cover their cost of doing business. I have no leeway in reducing or waiving that fee. As a broker, every lender we have use will have a similar fee. As for the application fee, this is our only fee and I can look into reducing it but I can’t waive it completely.”

Attorney Courier Fees/Copy/Fax/Email Fee: Again, I’ll have all of my paperwork to you early August for a September 12th close date. “Just based on our conversations I can believe that this loan will be very clean and painless for both parties. You are a much more educated borrower than we normally see. The fees that the attorney charges for your closing that is shown on the GFE are an estimate that should cover most attorneys no matter where they are. If you have an attorney that you want to use (and it is your choice) that will negotiate their fees, please let us know. Again this is a third party fee that I cannot negotiate or reduce, whatever they charge is passed along to you with no mark up on our end.”

I was amazed when he said, “Your much more educated borrower than we normally see.” All of my questions and comments to him came from understanding these dirty little mortgage secrets.

To make a long story short: this book gives you all of the information you need in order to make an educated decision about one of the most important decisions in your life.

The builder’s mortgage lender’s closing costs are 635.00 and the new broker’s are ,800.00 and he disclosed every fee and commission (whereas the builder’s lender would not). The builder’s lender charges a higher rate than the new broker even though I have stellar credit. The builder’s lender didn’t even try to find a competitive rate for us because they *knew* the discounts would keep us hooked.

My personal mortgage tip for the day: when you see these types of discounts continue to do your homework!! Do not be fooled and by all means, don’t sign something saying you’ll lose them if you use someone else (like we did).

In the end, we were able to finally negotiate the discount and closing fees using another lender. Had I not purchased and read this book, we would have paid a lot more for our mortgage.

buy today….

Review by A. Hiltunen:

I just bought my copy of The New Rules for Mortgages and was happy to find it to have so much information that I can use. It has all the information one needs about mortgages written in a very clever way. I recommend this book to anyone from first-time buyers to real estate professionals.

Review by Jacquelynn Atcheson:

as a mortgage professional for over 20 years, Dale’s writing on the topics necessary for any homebuyer, whether it be first time or repeat is the perfect read.

The book is quick, concise and inserts the author’s brand of humor on what most folks would feel is a very dry topic.

I firmly believe in educating my buyers and this is a book I will recommend to them.

Review by Christopher Cruise:

I train residential mortgage loan originators around the country and I recommend this book to all of them. I have learned more from this book than from dozens of other books combined. Do not lend or broker mortgage money without reading this book; you will learn more from this book than you would from spending ten years in the business.

Review by Gary Frimann:

Dave Reed has written an excellent book. His style of a Q & A format makes for easy reading and he keeps the answers short and on point. I own a mortgage company and a real estate brokerage, and I think his book could easily be used by the following 3 groups:

1) People shopping for a loan

2) Realtors who want to familiarize themselves with the multitude of loan products available.

3) Any agent new in the industry. I would advise every lender to have a copy on hand. If you get a new agent who is inexperienced, put them in a corner their first day on the job and have them read this book.

I think Mr. Reed has done a thorough job explaining what is currently out there in the way of mortgages, and his Q & A format worked because that is typically how a loan officer gets and delivers information, i.e. “If I do that what happens?” or “Can I buy this house with this much or that much down?”

He strongly encourages in this book to find an experienced loan agent who is working in your best interest. Even though there are a loans available these days, not all make financial sense to all people. Sometimes a borrower just has to take what is offered due to job history, credit history, or lack of downpayment. But, the good news is that people can now get loans who could not get loans in the recent past (at somewhat reasonable rates). Real Estate has been so good to so many people, that it is undeniably the best investment for the average person. I’ve seen it too many times in my 19 years of being in the business. Dave Reed has done much to add to the understanding of loans for the average person.

Good job Dave on this great book.

Review by Peter Hupalo:

Buying a home is the biggest financial deal many people will ever make. If you’re about to buy your first home it pays to learn the ins-and-outs of mortgages. Structuring your mortgage properly can save you thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the mortgage. “Mortgages For Dummies” explains how mortgages work and how to get a great deal on your mortgage.”Mortgages For Dummies” begins by asking the reader to evaluate how large of a mortgage he/she can afford. Tyson and Brown discuss budgeting, which is something many people will already know. The authors point out that in addition to covering your basic expenses, such as food and water, you must also allow for your other financial goals, such as retirement planning. Only through budgeting will you get a handle on how large of a mortgage you really can afford. Obviously, you don’t want to wind up with mortgage payments you can’t pay!Lenders have separate evaluations of how much you can afford. Tyson and Brown suggest that lenders will expect your monthly housing expenses and repayment of non-housing debt to total no more than about 36% of your monthly income. And, your total housing expense probably shouldn’t exceed 28% of your monthly, pretax income. Tyson and Brown suggest not making an overly large down payment, “if it depletes your emergency financial cushion.” And, don’t accept a bigger mortgage than you think you can afford just because the banks say you can afford it!If possible, you probably want at least a 20% down payment on your home. Lenders borrowing to people with less than 20% equity have found that there is an increased risk of default. Because of this, Tyson and Brown explain new homeowners with less than 20% equity in their homes will need to pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). PMI can cost hundreds of dollars a year. PMI benefits the borrower, not the homeowner. Tyson and Brown suggest that as soon as you have 20% or more equity in your home, you should eliminate PMI. Another option is to have the government insure or guarantee your loan. Mortgages For DummiesTM mentions FHA, VA, and FmHA government-guaranteed loans.Chapter 3, Fathoming the Fundamentals, was one of my favorite chapters. The chapter does a good job explaining the secondary loan market and the purpose of the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA, or Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC, or Freddie Mac). “Mortgages For Dummies” discusses the difference between conforming and non-conforming mortages. Tyson and Brown write: “This delicious tidbit of information can save you big bucks. Conventional mortgages that fall within Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s loan limits are referred to as conforming mortgages. Mortgages that exceed the maximum permissible loan amounts are either called jumbo loans or nonconforming loans. … You pay dearly for nonconformity.” “Mortgages For Dummies” goes on to give the money-saving tip: “If you find yourself slightly over Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s limit, don’t despair. You can either buy a slightly less expensive home or increase your cash down payment juuuuuuuust enough to bring your mortgage amount under the conforming loan limit.” The “juuuuuuust enough” isn’t my typo, although I probably got the number of u’s wrong. It’s Dummies’ humor.Today, “Mortgages For Dummies” Chapter 9, Refinancing Your Mortgage, will be popular. Tyson and Brown provide an example showing how quickly your refinancing will breakeven. They give us “Refinancing’s Magic Formula” to calculate if you should refinance.”Mortgages For Dummies” doesn’t formally introduce the annual percentage rate or APR, and I believe this is a critical oversight. (The book does mention APR in its glossary). So, you might be quoted 7.2% and not realize this rate doesn’t take into consideration points and fees you will pay, i.e. it’s not the APR. Suppose your current mortgage rate is 8% (APR), you might quickly calculate that you save (neglecting tax effects) 8 – 7.2 = 0.8% on the principal loan amount. This would be incorrect, because your actual APR would likely be higher than 7.2% due to the added fees. You really need to distinguish between the fee-inclusive rate and the fee-exclusive rate you might be quoted.Overall, I think reading “Mortgages For Dummies” is useful for people who are buying their first home or considering refinancing an existing home. Enough dollars at stake that you should pursue all information on the topic and become an informed consumer, even if you need to tolerate some siiiiily jokes. Peter Hupalo, Author of “Becoming An Investor”

Review by :

Excellent, plain English explanation of the various mortgages and how to choose one that best fits your situation. Also details how to shop and negotiate the best deal…with all the hype about shopping on the internet, that excellent chapter alone is worth the price of the book. I learned a lot about “creative financing” techniques like 80-10-10 loans that I knew nothing about before picking up a book. I’ve tried other mortgage books and found them to be dull and not to the point. This book was a joy to read and left me thinking clearly!

Review by Yodo:

I think this book is the new gold standard for MBS. Unlike previous MBS books I have read, this one flows well from chapter to chapter and can actually walk someone new to the field through collateral, structuring and valuation in a logical manner. Excellent job!

Review by Kevin:

This book can be used either as a reference for specific technical securities questions or for generic background reading on a related topic. Many people in our office find it very useful and it always seems to disappear from my desk. A must have five star book!

Review by Aquinnah Kate:

I chose Mind Your Own Mortgage by Robert J. Bernabe from my available book selection [...] where I get books for free. I enjoyed this book especially because it was so current. I enjoy reading business/financial books but so many of them go out of date very fast or unrealistic. This is a 2010 post bailout financial tool kit designed to make you think a little differently about your finances. I have always been a fan of paying off your mortgage and living below your means. This book broken into three parts: choosing, managing, and paying off your mortgage. So many people refinance or use their homes as an atm but they never really do the math and figure out what that money is costing them. You can save yourself a tremendous amount of money simply by paying more (even .00) more to your mortgage each month. You can spend your money or you can save it or use it to pay off mortgage debt. We are a culture so used to immediate gratification and it is costing us heavily. A strong economy is the sum of its parts and the parts are pretty weak right now – Americans are overspent and have bought into consumerism rather than ensuring that their own households are economically sustainable. I love the book The Millionaire Next Door and this is the first book I’ve read in a long time that reminds me of it. You can choose to drive a flashy car, live in a big house with a pool, gourmet kitchen, etc. and have a bunch of bills or you can live below your means and have a simpler, less flashy life, but be completely financially free. Hopefully this book will inspire more people to become savers so that they can calm down and use their lives and the gifts they have been given rather than obsess about the newest, fanciest gadget. If we have economically strong households we will have a stronger economy.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who is looking to simplify their life and wants to be financially free.

Review by T. Brown:

Minding Your Own Mortgage- The Wide Homeowner’s Guide to Choosing, Managing, and Paying Off Your Mortgage by Robert J. Bernabe surprised me in a couple of ways. For one, the book is a lot better than the cover art. For another, it was enlightening and easy to understand. That’s what I enjoyed most about this “how-to” guide to being smarter when it comes to mortgage shopping and managing is that it is very straight-forward, doesn’t give me more information than I need and bore me with stuff I wouldn’t understand unless I actually worked in the industry. Much of the time, I found myself thinking, “Hey, I did this when shopping for my last mortgage” but I didn’t know that it was worthy of writing a book about. But maybe that is exactly the point of the book. This is stuff we should know. It is stuff our grandparents probably knew, and somehow, over the years, we learned to trade long-term wisdom and delayed gratification for short-term benefits and immediate pleasure, only to pay the piper in the long run. Bernabe puts forth straightforward truths, simple checklists, and good worksheets so I can know if a lender is hosing me, and all in a clear way anyone can understand. The bottom line is this- this book should not have been written. It should not come as a shock to anyone, the principles included. And we should not be in the mess we are in as a nation. But because we are, Bernabe’s book is worth the read, and its timeliness is impeccable.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their [...] book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”