Review
"Fun–to–read.... Deciphers mortgage mumbo–jumbo." —
San Jose Mercury News "A favorite.... Fun reading and informative." —Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Objective, down–to–earth.... A book I wish I′d read before purchasing my first lemon–of–a–home." —Wilmington News Journal
"Invaluable information, especially for the first time home buyer." —Fort Worth Star–Telegram
From the Author
Answer all your mortgage questions!Whether you need a loan to buy your first home, or you want to refinance an existing mortgage, or you'd like to tap some of the value you've built up in your home over the years, you've found the right book.
Mortgages are big business. Unfortunately for most of us, the mortgage field is jammed with jargon and fraught with fiscal pitfalls. Choose the wrong mortgage and you could end up squandering money better saved for important financial goals such as higher education for your adorable little gremlins or your very own retirement.
Unless you're independently wealthy, we're sure mortgages are a big deal to you. For typical homeowners, the monthly mortgage payment is either their largest or, after income taxes, second largest expense item. When you're shopping for a mortgage, you could easily waste many hours of your time in addition to the financial losses sufferd in not getting the best loan that you can.
Since so much is at stake, we want to help you make the best decisions possible. Our goal in writing this book is to make you as knowledgeable as possible before you commit to a particular mortgage. We're not here to promote any specific brokers and lenders - we wrote this book to educate you.
When you obtain a mortgage, that decision affects your ability to save money and accomplish other important financial goals. We help you to understand how best to fit your mortgage into the rest of your personal-finance puzzle. Other mortgage books don't help you consider these bigger-picture issues of personal finance before you sell.
We pride ourselves on simplifying the complex. Between the two of us, we have nearly 50 years of practical experience explaining things to real people just like you. Eric works as a financial counselor, teacher, and syndicated columnist. Ray hosts a residential real estate radio program and does real estate consulting. Our combined experience can put you firmly in control of the mortgage decision making process.
You can read our book piecemeal to address your specific questions and immediate concerns. But, if you want a crash course on the world of mortgages, read it cover to cover. In addition to being organized to help you quickly find the information you're seeking, each portion of the book stands on its own.
Whether you're a first time homebuyer who needs to secure a mortgage or a long time homeowner who is considering refinancing an existing mortgage, we've got you covered. Along with nationally recognized expert Ken Scholen, we've also included an entire chapter about home equity conversion plans (so-called reverse mortgages)for qualifying homeowners who want to convert part of their home's equity into cash without having to more or repay a loan each month
