Tips & Traps When Mortgage Hunting

I found Irwin's Tips & Traps When Buying a Home useful when I bought my first house. I expect this to be useful also.

First off, if you just want to buy a house and not deal with much, find a good broker (of course, that assumes you can find a good broker) and set them loose with specific requirements.This book is more worthy of people who want to learn more about mortgages and save themselves anywhere from 1000 to 5,000 dollars on average. More if you really dig but this isn't the book for big saves in real estate.Irwin will take you through all the various steps in(1) figuring out your credit rating and what you can and cannot get with it;(2) different types of mortgages and which ones to use;(3) how to figure out your payment schedule; how to not get in over your head; (4) the little costs for escrow and banks and other costs; some of which you can have removed;(5) dealing w/ a broker;(6) various loans to seek out, including govt ones;(7) dealing with the seller; and(8) how to make sure you don't get ripped off.Overall, this is a great book for the first time investor or someone who wants a home and wants to save a few thousand dollars (or more). Not worth your time, as it's too complicated, for those who want to spend little time learning about it.

The most complete book I've ever seen on hunting for a mortgage. It explained in detail all my options. It even gave me a list of different types of mortgages that I could get and where I could get them. I found it invaluable in getting a lower than market interest rate mortgage from a mortgage broker. (Who cares if he was previously a real estate agent or not-see earlier reviews!)

I learned a lot about the mortgage busines