How to Find a Home and Get a Mortgage on the Internet

Rating:
Summary: What You Don't Know Will Hurt You!
Review: Having purchased two previous homes, I thought I knew all there is to know: you call up a realtor who takes you around to see houses and you pick from a 30-year or a 15-year fixed rate mortgage. Wow! Was I wrong! Thanks to Randy Johnson's latest book on using the internet to find a home and get a mortgage, I now know that there are many types of mortgages available, many of them better- tailored to most people's needs than the two I've already named. I've learned the difference between a "mortgage banker" and a "mortgage broker" and that I may save thousands of dollars by using the services of an Upfront Mortgage Broker, one who agrees to sign a pledge to act in the best interests of the customer. I now know about the advantages of automated underwriting and the difference between rate versus fee when shopping for a mortgage. Imagine my astonishment to learn that paying points for a lower rate is a good strategy that may save me thousands of dollars in the long run! The author has made a highly technical subject easy to understand through charts and personal examples. I now have access to scores of helpful internet sites and forms to download. True to the book's title, I have shopped for a home in another state, qualified for a loan and am about to obtain a mortgage, all while sitting in front of my computer! If you, too, want to SHOP SMART for a home or mortgage, this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: What You Don't Know Will Hurt You!
Review: Having purchased two previous homes, I thought I knew all there is to know: you call up a realtor who takes you around to see houses and you pick from a 30-year or a 15-year fixed rate mortgage. Wow! Was I wrong! Thanks to Randy Johnson's latest book on using the internet to find a home and get a mortgage, I now know that there are many types of mortgages available, many of them better- tailored to most people's needs than the two I've already named. I've learned the difference between a "mortgage banker" and a "mortgage broker" and that I may save thousands of dollars by using the services of an Upfront Mortgage Broker, one who agrees to sign a pledge to act in the best interests of the customer. I now know about the advantages of automated underwriting and the difference between rate versus fee when shopping for a mortgage. Imagine my astonishment to learn that paying points for a lower rate is a good strategy that may save me thousands of dollars in the long run! The author has made a highly technical subject easy to understand through charts and personal examples. I now have access to scores of helpful internet sites and forms to download. True to the book's title, I have shopped for a home in another state, qualified for a loan and am about to obtain a mortgage, all while sitting in front of my computer! If you, too, want to SHOP SMART for a home or mortgage, this is the book for you.