Category: (Book)
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Carolyn Warren better get a bodyguard. Her new tell-all on the mortgage industry exposes so many of the lending industry's favorite frauds, every loan officer from Seattle to Miami is going to be gunning for her! Mortgage Rip-Offs and Money Savers is like a map that guides you around the carefully camouflaged landmines laid by lenders. And it gives you simple, step-by-step directions for saving tens of thousands of dollars. If you're looking for ways to save a king's ransom on your mortgage and monthly payments, you simply must read this book. -- Clayton Makepeace, founder and president, The Profit Center
Topics include:
* Why calling around for the best interest rate is a BAD idea
(and what to do instead).
* How to force lenders to disclose their hidden fees.
* The Dirty Dozen: Junk fees You should not pay.
* How to get the lowest possible rate.
* Uncover the best-kept secret of the mortgage industry.
* Avoid the five most common unpleasant closing surprises.
* Turning a denied loan into an approved loan.
* and much more.
Money Savings You Need to KnowReviewed by M. Murray, 2010-02-22
I am in the process of purchasing a home as a first-time home buyer. This week I am heading down to finalize my loan for my dream house. Thankfully I took the time to read this entire book (easily read in 2 days) and found that my own bank was grotesquely taking advantage of me, did not provide accurate information to make any sort of informed decision (all the while they treated me to "good customer service", pampered and reassured me they'd take care of everything). I found a local mortgage company and loan officer that was honest, did not charge extra junk fees or shady back end commissions and with this book I ended up saving thousands of dollars! An absolute must-have book. I have now made a point of passing this book along to any person looking to buy a home and for them to do the same.
Worth every penny - A must readReviewed by KZ (Massachusetts), 2009-12-08
I am usually very skeptical about books that are suppose to help
you. But I have read this book because my brother recommended it to
me. He literally saved thousands of dollars when he purchased his
house. So I though why not? And let me tell you I did not even
realize I would have been one of the people paying all the "junk
fees" and so forth. I am very happy the author of this book is
doing what she is doing by educating us on what could cost us so
much of our hard earned money. Especially during the hard economic
times of layoffs and pay reductions. Every penny matters more than
ever. I would highly recommend reading this book if you are
planning to purchase a home or refinance. She makes a boring
subject very interesting and very helpful.
On a side note, she advertises that you can ask her question on her
website [...] and she will try to respond in 48 hours. I did this
and she responded within a couple of hours. She was very helpful
with our potential situation and I appreciated she stayed true to
what she stated in her book. I was very impressed and has since
passed on this recommendation to 3 other people I know are buying
houses.
Extraordinarily HelpfulReviewed by T. Sokol, 2009-12-05
My sister recommended this book and I'm so glad she did. I bought two prior homes before my current one and this book opened my eyes to how mortgage brokers and loan officers make their profits, sometimes taking advantage of others!! Ms. Warren explains the step by step process concisely and makes it easy to understand for someone with very little experience in real estate (like me). I highly recommend this book to first and repeat home buyers.
Is This Book Still Relevant Now?Reviewed by Warren, 2009-10-30
This is Carolyn Warren, author. I've been receiving emails from
people asking if the information in this book is still relevant, so
I thought I'd answer that for everyone here.
The information about over-charges, bogus junk fees, secret
back-end commissions you pay for, how to properly shop for a loan
are all still as relevant today as on the day I wrote it. It
applies to both home buyers and home owners refinancing.
To illustrate: Just this week, I received an email from a person
saying she used the information in this book to save $1,400 in up
front fees. And, I received another email from a gentleman who said
this book enabled him to save $73,000 overall in the cost of his
loan.
In addition, the information about how to negotiate is still
relevant. So is the information about how to turn a denial into an
approval, what could go wrong in the middle of the loan process and
what to do about it to save your home, etc.
There are new lending laws and, of course, new rip-offs, scams, and
marketing ploys that have come out since I wrote this book. And a
lot of foreclosures. Those are all covered in my latest book,
Homebuyers Beware: Who's Ripping You Off Now?--What You Must Know
About the New Rules of Mortgage and Credit
One other question people ask me is if there is duplicate
information in the books, and the answer is no. The publishers are
two different companies; therefore, all the writing for Homebuyers
Beware had to be fresh and new. And since I was (and am still)
working as a loan officer when I wrote it, the information is "from
the trenches," not from the standpoint of a reporter or a professor
or a real estate agent who has never actually ever closed a loan
themselves.
I hope this helps to answer questions. Thank you for considering my
books. My purpose in writing them is to enable people to get the
cheapest financing with the least amount of hassle and stress.
Since there is so much "bad theory" given as so-called "good
advice" from people who have never worked inside the mortgage
industry, I wanted to reveal what really goes on behind closed
doors. I think the public has a right to know.
Badly written but a few good economic pointsReviewed by Steve in Raleigh, NC, 2009-10-09
I've read most of this book as I prepare to buy a home. It gives
some good points such as Yield spread premiums and a couple of
others. It also points out the astounding fact that banks have paid
off congress to allow them to not disclose certain fees they stick
to you (YSPs). But it's poorly written and the Good Faith Estimates
they show you are poorly done-- hard to read and do not fit in with
what the text is saying. I think if the author updated it with some
help it could be valuable. It needs to be reorganized --it's as if
some high school kid wrote it in an afternoon --just chaotic, even
in the important sections of yield spread premiums and par rates.
It needs to talk about banks more --not just mortgage brokers and
discuss the differences between them. Knowing how par rates come
about should be detailed. You need to know where to find par rates
for the day and week and this book does not tell you and you have
to have some better and more recent figures for average closing
costs and lender fees. Someone could make a fortune if they wrote a
book that would cover all these points in detail. All the stuff
about the process of buying a house is nonsense; the key points are
the mortgage and what it costs you in the long run.
Aside from the couple of good points I picked up, it is a very
frustrating book to read.
See my review of the NOLO book on "Buying your first home" for a
suggestion of where to get some good info.
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