Mortgage Ripoffs and Money Savers: An Industry Insider Explains How to Save Thousands on Your Mortgage or Re-Finance

by Carolyn Warren

Book Overview

Mortgage Rip-offs and Money Savers reveals how the mortgage industry cheats borrowers out of billions in extra costs every year. Mortgage industry insider Carolyn Warren taps her decade of experience with lenders to expose the tricks, lies, and dirty little secrets they don't want you to know. With her expert guidance, borrowers will save tens of thousands when they avoid the traps so many consumers fall into. Having this inside information is the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470097833
• ISBN13: 9780470097830
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Mortgage Bible

THE MORTGAGE BIBLE, is what it should have been called. Uncut, no holes barred, Carolyn definitely puts her foot in this one (and trust me it took a lot of courage and sacrifice to expose the lies and deceitfulness that Carolyn brings forth in this informative piece of work. I applaud you. Thank you! Definitely a must read for those uninformed and naive to this cut throat business. Ive never written a review on a book yet but I felt the need to do so as a way to show my appreciation and gratitude for this book.The knowledge I gained about prepayments, interest rates, rate locks, wholesale lenders, corporate meetings, credit scores, points, backroom meetings, yield spread premium was definitely needed for me going into rental investments. I can bet that I'll never read another book that lays it all out on the table on the table like this one....I applaud you. Thank you for your bravery, Carolyn!!!

Not an option to skip this book....

This book is absolutely amazing. I'm currently shopping for a mortgage and was *almost* roped in by several of the tactics Carolyn outlined in her book. My husband and I started our house buying process with the intent to use the builder's financial mortgage services. We got pre-approved using my ss#, income and asset info which was a fairly straightforward process. The builder threw in a 12,500k lot discount and offered us $1,500 credit on closing costs. Our mortgage consultant spent a great deal of time going through various options and even talked about interest rates (6 months outside of the close date). At the time I had no idea what I was doing and so I trusted her to provide me with all of the information I needed to make a decision. Fast forward to five weeks ago (today is 8/20). My mortgage consultant essentially faded away. She didn't return calls. She didn't respond to requests for GFEs (if you don't know what that is, buy this book), but finally did after the forth request. Although Carolyn suggests that you shouldn't 'shop' mortgages, I did after reading the 'secrets' and changed my whole approach to the process. First, my builder's mortgage lender considered us a slam dunk. We were locked into using them otherwise we'd lose our discounts. After reading the book, I decided to call two other brokers one of who responded with 4 GFEs within 45 minutes. I made it easy for him to get them for me because I outlined all of the information Carolyn stated that he needs to generate these. In addition, I asked him point blank the questions that SO MANY people fail to ask!! I'm not going to give you the list because it's in the book (if I quit my job to write a book about the secrets, I wouldn't want someone spilling the beans)! I asked about some of the fees and here's how he responded: App & Commitment Fees: With my stellar credit and all of my paperwork ready to go, I promise it will be a very clean loan. "The commitment fee is the only charge from the lender. It is to cover their cost of doing business. I have no leeway in reducing or waiving that fee. As a broker, every lender we have use will have a similar fee. As for the application fee, this is our only fee and I can look into reducing it but I can't waive it completely." Attorney Courier Fees/Copy/Fax/Email Fee: Again, I'll have all of my paperwork to you early August for a September 12th close date. "Just based on our conversations I can believe that this loan will be very clean and painless for both parties. You are a much more educated borrower than we normally see. The fees that the attorney charges for your closing that is shown on the GFE are an estimate that should cover most attorneys no matter where they are. If you have an attorney that you want to use (and it is your choice) that will negotiate their fees, please let us know. Again this is a third party fee that I cannot negotiate or reduce, whatever they charge is passed along to you with no mark up

Excellent resource guide

This book is an excellent resource for mortgages. If you really want to know tips, advice or directions, Carolyn gives it to you in easy to understand languge. No industry jargon; plain simple english. Step by Step approaches. I think everyone thinking of getting a mortgage should FIRST read this book. It is about time someone is honest and straightforward about the mortgage industry and the process. Don't get a mortgage without it!

This Book Taught Me Everything I Needed to Know in 24 hrs...Run to the Store and Get it...You Will N

Ah, where do I begin? I am someone who had to learn the hard way about real estate. I looked to buy my first house in areas that had goldmine rushes in appreciation, like Princeton, NJ, Kapaa, HI and finally settled on Portland, OR--one of the most competitive markets in real estate history (last year, prices raised 150 grand in 3 months, and the bubble still has not burst.) I was in contract multiple times, but since the houses I liked were old, they were plagued with foundation issues, dry rot, water damage...I was so used to bad inspections and dropping properties, I almost fell out of my seat when a perfect, 6 bedroom, Victorian, commercial space had an excellent report. I was so focused on the front end of my deals, negotiating into contract, I had neglected studying the loan process. When the sellers to my dream house learned they had backup offers close to 100 grand more than I paid, they did everything they could to throw my deal and restrict my timetable to get a loan. They asked for a week long extension on my inspection period, pretending they would repair misc. small items and then returned saying not only did they not call in contractors, they would not grant me an extension on the close date and practically cackled in my face,"Have fun getting a loan!" I had 2 weeks. I read 4 books on mortgages, but still felt unprepared. Then, by sheer luck, I found Carolyn Warren's, Mortgage Rip-Offs and Money Savers and it saved my entire deal. This book is THE most informative, concise, entertaining book you will ever read on mortgages. It is an absolute crash-course, packed with minute details on the dirty, ugly, greedy world of mortgages. She tells you how to find a loan in one day, what to say to the lenders, how to cut out their sales pitch and get facts, and she warns you about scams --and trust me, even the most reputable companies, will try to deceive you. I ended up frustrating so many lenders because I would catch them at every turn. Warren's book gives you the power to anticipate the games these companies will play with your time, money and future investment. I had no idea how loan officers can be worse than car salespeople and they are relentless. What will they do to you? Lie, lie and lie some more. They will pretend they cannot get you Good Faith Estimates or Truth-in-Lending forms without running your credit or taking an application fee (never pay this!), they will say their "computers are down" and want to run numbers verbally (thus, it is not binding), they will quote good deals and then act like they made a mistake-more bait and switch, they will not tell you what the wholesale price of their loan is and how much they over-charged you, they throw in junk fees...but even when you think you have it nailed in writing, they can surprise you at the closing table--especially, if they know you are pressed for time and love the house--they will try to change terms or slip in new charges, and conveniently be "unavailab

This book will save me lots of money on my next mortgage!

I thought I understood mortgages until I read this book. What a great source of information! It is easy to read and well organized. I wish I had read it before my last mortgage. With the knowledge I now have, I will save a considerable sum of money next time. What a fantastic book!

Best Mortgage Book I've Ever Found

This is by far the best book about home morgages that I've ever found. The book is packed with information in easy-to-find sections. There are so many details included in it that I never knew when I bought my first house: like free grants, and how to negotiate for lower rates. I realize now that a lot of the fees I paid when I purchased my home were junk fees that I could have avoided. If you are serious about buying a home, or refinancing the one you have, you should first read this book, then re-read it at every step in the process.