Rating: 
Summary: very informative
Review: Being a new home buyer, I found this extremely useful - especially while going through a re-financing. But as the book says it's for dummies [like me :)], and covers only the basics.very well written.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book For home buyers or refinancers
Review: 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"
Rating:
Summary: The best book of its kind on the market
Review: Excellent book. This book is well-written, concise, and articulates the essentials of mortgages succintly and with real-life examples. As a serious first-time home buyer and real-estate investor, I needed to develop a fundamental understanding of the different types of mortgages available on the market and what is best suited for me and my financial goals. This book classifies all mortgages into its 2 basic types, and explains benchmark mortagage financing options as well as the more exotic or creative types of financing available. Easy to read, fun to read and you'll get a lot out of it.
Rating:
Summary: Just what the doctor ordered
Review: 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!
Rating: 
Summary: Good Introductory Book for Those Unfamiliar with Mortgages
Review: I didn't know a lot about mortgages before I read this book. I picked it up to learn more about any and all types of mortgages, and I wasn't disappointed. This title covers all necessary terminology, even the most basic (which is great for beginners like me).
The chapters are broken into logical sequence, and the autors do a very good job of directing you to relevant related chapters (e.g. telling you to skip ahead to a later chapter if you are not thinking about certain types of mortgages).
I cannot comment on whether this book would be too basic for those familiar with the industry, but it certainly is an appropriate introduction for mortgage "dummies" like me.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely helpful in getting our mortgage
Review: I read this book shortly before we signed to build a home, and I can't say how helpful it has been. Knowing how mortgages work (especially ARMs) and the right questions to ask has definitely changed the treatment we have received from various mortgage companies. We ended up going with our builder for financing and after dealing with them, I get the impression that a lot of people DON'T read up on mortgages and just take whatever is offered. Don't just trust the mortgage companies to give you the best deal - read this first and arm yourself for negotiating!
Rating:
Summary: an excellent primer for getting that mortgage
Review: I'll have to admit. After reading Personal Finance for Dummies, I think that Eric Tyson's advice is outstanding. He did such a good job with PFfD that I paid my daughters to read it. (They were paid by contributions to their IRA after answering a few questions).
Mortgages for Dummies does not disappoint. I was looking for a construction loan and I wish there was more info on that topic but overall the coverage was excellent and very down to earth.
Rating:
Summary: Very useful for first time home buyer
Review: I've found this book the most useful of the dozens I scanned through at the bookstore. The numbers used in the examples better represented the real-world of 1999 than the others. The authors do a good job of explaining the steps one should take to obtaining a mortgage and the many terms that are thrown about the mortgage industry. I didn't come away from the book with a definitive answer to "which mortgage is right for me?" but I certainly understood what the trade-offs were between the different ones. One problem I did have with the book is the many references to the graphs in "Appendix C" of how the ARM indices have behaved over time. The copy of the book I have has no such information in appendix C or any other appendix.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for mortgage buyers
Review: If you are contemplating buying a home, then this book is a must. Everthing is in here. So complete. I followed this advice in buying my own home. It works and samed me a bundle. By contrast, I tried to follow advice in JBQ's book and found that most was outdated and the rest was ineffective.
Rating:
Summary: Do not go Home buying without reading this first !!!!!
Review: This book has done a great job in explaining and putting in simple, understandable words all the mortgage techicals and jargon. The mortage offical that originated my loan application was amazed at how much i knew about the matter (if she only knew). Seriously, if you want to get the deal that benefits you the most, then get this book and save hundreds and maybe thousands on closing costs and interest rates during the life of your loan. It will only cost you $16.99 and some little time to read and understand. Hope your have a great deal!!!
| 
