Homebuyers Beware: Who’s Ripping You Off Now?--What You Must Know About the New Rules of Mortgage and Credit [Paperback]

Carolyn Warren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0137020163 | ISBN-13: 978-0137020164 | Edition: 1

“Carolyn Warren is my go-to expert for mortgage industry information. She not only helps you avoid rip-offs, she helps you know what questions to ask and how to ask them. Full of tips, scripts, and sample letters, Homebuyers Beware is an extremely valuable book that I recommend to all my readers!”

--Alison Rogers, “Ask the Agent” columnist, CBS Moneywatch.com

 

“In this fun-to-read volume, mortgage industry insider Carolyn Warren tells you what real estate cheats and mortgage scammers do NOT want you to know: the tricks, the deceptions, and the outright frauds that would otherwise add thousands, maybe tens of thousands of dollars to your mortgage. Get it. Read it. And take it to the mortgage broker with you. You’ll be glad you did!”

--Clayton Makepeace, The Total Package, Makepeacetotalpackage.com

 

“In Homebuyers Beware, Carolyn Warren directs her keen eye at the mortgage and credit markets in the wake of the housing bubble. With an insider’s knowledge, plenty of interesting anecdotes, and helpful reference information, Warren is a cheerful teacher leading readers down the path to homeownership and pointing out pitfalls along the way.”

--Ben Meyer, InternetBrands.com

 

Get the Best Mortgage Deal in Today’s Real Estate Markets--and Avoid a Whole New Generation of Scams! 

 

• Exposes new secrets, lies, and scams the mortgage industry doesn’t want you to know about
• Reveals how to save thousands right now by finding the best rate and negotiating the best deal
• Guides you step-by-step through improving your credit and preparing to buy, even if you’ve faced foreclosure

 

Everything you thought you knew about financing a house has changed. Your future depends on knowing today’s mortgage and credit realities: Relying on older information could cost you a fortune or keep you from buying a house altogether. In Homebuyers Beware, Carolyn Warren reveals the new realities of home financing and shows exactly how to take advantage of them, whether you’re buying your first home, refinancing, struggling with imperfect credit, or planning to invest in real estate.

 

Homebuyers Beware reveals new secrets homebuyers simply can’t afford to miss and exposes new scams that target today’s eager consumers--including new loans that look great on paper but are every bit as dangerous as yesterday’s subprimes. Unlike other mortgage guides, this book fully reflects today’s radically new mortgage requirements, in addition to the latest federal housing legislation and how to improve your credit rating. From its up-to-the-minute guidance on real estate negotiation to its powerful tips on getting lower interest rates and avoiding bogus junk fees, this may be the most valuable book you ever read!

• Who’s ripping you off now
  High-tech “smoke and mirrors” that can trick you into overpaying
• Quick, easy, powerful ways to fix your credit
  Innovative ways to raise your credit score or recover from a foreclosure or short sale
• Uncovering the costly secrets of the Yield Spread Premium
  Get past your banker’s lies, learn the truth, and save a fortune
• The latest laws and credit rules and what they mean to you
  So-called anti-predatory laws and codes of conduct actually hurt homebuyers. Learn what you can do to protect yourself from big corporation greed.
• New plans for recovering from bad credit, foreclosures, or short sales
  Step-by-step techniques that erase bad credit and raise your credit score faster than you ever thought possible. Learn how to recover from a foreclosure

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carolyn Warren has been a mortgage industry insider for more than twelve years. She worked in both retail and wholesale lending for some of the largest national lenders including Full Spectrum Lending/Countrywide Home Loans, Ameriquest, Green Tree Financial/Conseco, and First Franklin wholesale lending.

 

Carolyn Warren is the author of the best-selling Mortgage Rip-Offs and Money Savers, a book that became The Washington Post’s August 2008 Book Club pick-of-the-month and earned reviews in publications ranging from The Boston Globe to the Orange County Register, The Seattle Times to the Arizona Republic and San Diego Union-Tribune. She has appeared on many radio talk shows, including Bob Brinker’s national Money Talk and The Gil Rose Show in San Francisco.

 

Currently, she is working as a broker/banker and is the owner of two Web sites, www.AskCarolynWarren.com and www.Mortgage-Helper.com. She lives in Seattle with her husband and Himalayan cat.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: FT Press; 1 edition (October 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0137020163
• ISBN-13: 978-0137020164
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Business & Investing > Real Estate > Mortgages

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will save you many,many times the price you pay for it, November 20, 2009

By 

Temujin53 (Rancho Cucamonga,CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Homebuyers Beware: Who’s Ripping You Off Now?--What You Must Know About the New Rules of Mortgage and Credit (Paperback)

As a small businessman and even smaller real estate investor,a licensed R.E.Broker and General Contractor,I wholeheartedly recommend Homebuyers Beware to all home buyers,first timers and seasoned investors alike.

I read Carolyn Warren's first book,Mortgage Rip-Offs,a few months ago and liked it so much I contacted her for consultation re:refinancing of my properties.Eventhough I bought my first home over 30 years ago and many since,I must confess I know NOTHING about yield spread premium and the way brokers/lenders use YSP to add income to themself before reading that book.The YSP information alone was worth thousand times the cost of the book(approx.$13 from AMAZON.COM)because I know absolutely, definitely that the brokers' additional income must come only from one source : borrowers like you and me.

There were other important information for ALL mortgage seekers in the first book :how to negotiate for lower fees and rates,whether to pay point,how and what to do with junk fees etc.All those and more were explained and clarified further in Carolyn's second book,Homebuyers Beware.

In her new book,Carolyn takes her readers to the real estate mortgage market situation today.This is most important due to the fact that rules for qualifying for new and refi mortgages changed substantially in the last 2 years it's like we're looking at 2 different creatures altogather :

---no more easy no loan docs. loan,no more easy qualifying loans

---good credit is a must.So are substantial down payment required in most cases

---W-2,income tax returns and bank staments are all standard required docs.

---etc.,etc

Carolyn explained all of the above in practical details,with intended benefit for the consumers.Even for readers who've no credit,with bankruptcy/shortsale in their credit report or who want to repudiate bad info. in his/her credit files.The book is,like her first book,very easy to read and full of helpfull pointers that can be used to save unnecessary fees/chrges made by lenders/brokers.

This book will save you many,many times the price you pay for it.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I lost everything in the mortgage crash!, May 7, 2010

By 

Claire Jordan "Filmmaker - "The Baroness ... (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Homebuyers Beware: Who’s Ripping You Off Now?--What You Must Know About the New Rules of Mortgage and Credit (Paperback)

(What's this?)

I was not a major real estate investor, just an average homeowner, but I had a "friend" who was a mortgage broker for Countrywide. He kept pushing me into (what I know now were) increasingly worse loans. At the top of the market he came to me with an income property that was such a great deal that if I didn't jump on it he was going to buy it himself (and I believed that? What a sucker!) I didn't listen to my inner voice which kept telling me that none of this added up. Instead I deferred to him because I thought he was an "expert" who knew so much more than me (turns out he didn't even have a high school diploma and had only been selling mortgages for 6 months when I met him... before that he sold used cars!) I also thought that he had my best interest at heart, when, in fact, the only thing he cared about was his commissions.

I'm currently in a short-sale on that investment property: it's in escrow for 1/3(!!) of what I paid for it and we were lucky to get that. My home was foreclosed on a year ago. Thirty years of excellent credit is destroyed. I'm not blaming the mortgage broker, I could have rejected any of his offers. I was just under-educated about how real estate mortgages REALLY work, but not anymore.

As I read this book, it was like reading a postmortem of my financial situation. I cannot tell you how many times while reading it I shouted, "That Bastard! That's exactly what he did to me!" As I dissected my mistakes and the ways in which I was conned, and learned how to avoid similar traps in the future, I began to feel as though I might actually have some hope of fixing this mess and restoring my good credit and, perhaps, even owning property again someday.

But even if I don't ever buy another piece of real estate, I'm glad I read this book because now at least I understand what happened to me (and to so many otherwise well-educated, successful people,) and I don't feel like such a complete failure anymore. In that regard, this book is better (and way cheaper,) than therapy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I had no idea!, June 4, 2010

By 

T. Jewell (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Homebuyers Beware: Who’s Ripping You Off Now?--What You Must Know About the New Rules of Mortgage and Credit (Paperback)

Carolyn Warren's "Homebuyers Beware" book is full of useful, eye-opening information and tips. I purchased it because of a recommendation I saw in a newspaper and, since I'm preparing to buy a house, I thought it'd be a nice read since I'm tired of staring at the computer and doing internet searches for information. Her suggestions concerning getting a Good Faith Estimate up-front, asking Escrow companies about "email fees" (4 of the 5 I've asked do have that), and managing your credit score were wonderful advice. I definitely recommend this book if you are in the market to purchase or refinance a new property! Don't even call for a pre-approval before reading this!