106 Mortgage Secrets All Homebuyers Must Learn--But Lenders Won't Tell Book

	Introduction: Will You Pay Too Much for Too Little?	ix
1	Affordability Depends on You--Not the Lender	1
Secret #1	Affordability depends on you	4
Secret #2	How you choose your property and arrange financing will add (or subtract) tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars to (from) your net worth	6
Secret #3	Separate the emotional from the financial	8
Secret #4	Align your self-talk with your priorities	10
Secret #5	Don't focus on the kind of home you want now. Focus on the kind of home you want 5, 10, or 15 years from now	16
2	Increase Your Borrowing Power	19
Secret #6	10,000 lenders set their own standards	19
Secret #7	You can make your qualifying ratios look better	22
Secret #8	You can lift your qualifying income	25
Secret #9	Reduce your disqualifying debt	29
Secret #10	Use compensating factors to justify higher qualifying ratios	31
Secret #11	Never fib to a lender	33
Secret #12	Can't qualify on your own? Enlist the help of a cosigner, co-borrower, or co-owner	36
Secret #13	Let tenants pay your mortgage	38
Secret #14	Don't change your loan status	46
3	Slash Your Cost of Interest	47
Secret #15	Most borrowers who want a long-term fixed-rate loan should choose 15 years, not 30	48
Secret #16	Lower interest rates mean big savings	52
Secret #17	Lower rates magnify borrowing power	53
Secret #18	ARMs can offer greater borrowing power, lower costs, with manageable risk	55
Secret #19	State and local housing finance agencies offer low-interest mortgage bond loans	57
Secret #20	Assume a low-interest-rate mortgage	59
Secret #21	"Assume" a nonassumable mortgage	62
Secret #22	Save $1,000s with a Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC)	66
Secret #23	Seek employer assistance, or seek an employer who gives assistance	67
Secret #24	Trade off points for a lower interest rate	69
Secret #25	Negotiate a temporary buydown with the sellers	70
Secret #26	New home builders offer mortgage incentives	71
Secret #27	How to borrow jumbo amounts without paying jumbo rates	72
Secret #28	Your after-tax cost of borrowing may not be as low as you've been told	75
4	The Risks and Rewards of ARMs	79
Secret #29	ARMs do not necessarily present more risk than fixed-rate loans	79
Secret #30	For the short-term ARMs usually prove best	84
Secret #31	ARMs for the long run: How to lower costs and alleviate risk	87
Secret #32	You can (sort of) forecast interest rates	88
Secret #33	Watch out for low teaser rates	91
Secret #34	Your start (teaser) rate isn't your contract rate	93
Secret #35	There's no one best index	94
Secret #36	Don't ignore the margin	98
Secret #37	All caps aren't created equal	99
Secret #38	That flashy convertible could prove to be a clunker	100
Secret #39	APRs tell you nothing about ARMs--and very little about fixed-rates	101
5	Perfect Your Credit Profile	105
Secret #40	Emphasize all five Cs of credit approval	106
Secret #41	Credit scores can shape your destiny	111
Secret #42	Your credit score doesn't necessarily represent your credit strength	112
Secret #43	You can discover your credit scores	113
Secret #44	You can improve your credit scores	115
Secret #45	Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO)	117
Secret #46	Credit repair firms can't fix your credit or boost your credit scores	121
Secret #47	Credit counselors can scam you, too	122
Secret #48	Credit counselors and debt management firms do not improve your credit record or boost your credit score's	123
Secret #49	Bankruptcy (Chapter 7) doesn't ruin your credit	124
Secret #50	Your ex-spouse can ruin your credit (and other tales of double counting)	126
6	The Lowdown on Low Downs	129
Secret #51	You can buy with little or nothing down	129
Secret #52	No matter how much you earn, FHA may hold the key to your home financing	130
Secret #53	Discover FHA's best-kept secret: The 203(k) program	133
Secret #54	Too many vets pass up VA loans	137
Secret #55	The USDA offers a prime choice for low-to moderate-income homebuyers	138
Secret #56	Community lending goes mainstream	139
Secret #57	Not-for-profit housing groups help people in need buy and finance homes	142
Secret #58	Local governments assist with down payments	144
Secret #59	Even Fannie and Freddie accept little-or nothing-down loans	145
Secret #60	Cut the cost of PMI by learning where rates break	146
Secret #61	Before you obtain a PMI little- or nothing-down loan, understand the high cost you'll be paying	147
Secret #62	Reduce the high cost of low down payments with a second mortgage	148
Secret #63	Use pledged collateral to eliminate PMI	149
Secret #64	Search for sellers with low-equity assumables	151
Secret #65	You can avoid PMI with a higher interest rate mortgage	152
7	Win Big Savings with Seller Financing, Foreclosures, and REOs	153
Secret #66	Sellers can nearly always beat the banks at their own game, but you must do more than ask	156
Secret #67	Ask the seller and lender to cooperate with a refi blend	159
Secret #68	Bridge the assumable gap with a seller second	160
Secret #69	Avoid the bang of a bursting balloon	161
Secret #70	Buy on the installment plan	162
Secret #71	Try it before you buy it	165
Secret #72	Buy and lease simultaneously	167
Secret #73	Beat high interest rates with wraparound financing	170
Secret #74	Don't dillydally with due diligence	171
Secret #75	Negotiate a preforeclosure workout	174
Secret #76	Buy (carefully) at the foreclosure sale	177
Secret #77	Locate a foreclosure pro	178
Secret #78	HUD may hold the keys to your home or investment property	179
Secret #79	VA offers deals to both veterans and nonveterans	182
Secret #80	Let Fannie or Freddie treat you to below-market financing	184
Secret #81	Buy and finance directly with a lender	186
8	Beware: Fine Print "Gotchas" at Work	191
Secret #82	It's a jungle out there	191
Secret #83	Tell your loan rep to take out the garbage	194
Secret #84	Don't place much faith in the Good Faith Estimate	195
Secret #85	What's the real cost of a no-cost mortgage?	198
Secret #86	Does your loan permit unlimited prepayment?	200
Secret #87	An assumable loan may offer much less than you've assumed	203
Secret #88	Appraised value doesn't necessarily equal market value	205
Secret #89	On occasion, lenders want appraisers to lowball their appraisals	207
Secret #90	Appraisals don't forecast the future	209
9	Achieve Your Lowest Rate	211
Secret #91	Refuse to yield to the yield-spread premium	211
Secret #92	Red and yellow, black and white, do lenders treat them all alike?	214
Secret #93	Rate quotes: Fact or fiction?	215
Secret #94	What rate will you get at closing?	216
Secret #95	Achieve your best rate	219
Secret #96	Industry pros and government agencies need your help	222
Secret #97	How to (almost) vanquish tricks of the trade	225
10	Manage Your Home and Home Financing for Maximum Return	231
Secret #98	Treat your home and your home financing as an investment	232
Secret #99	Stay alert for opportunities to refinance	239
Secret #100	Use refinancing to create other benefits	242
Secret #101	Refinance and safely invest the proceeds	244
Secret #102	Never buy biweekly baloney	248
Secret #103	Cancel your PMI. Get a refund from FHA	251
Secret #104	Negotiate out of escrow	254
Secret #105	Just say no to home equity loans	256
Secret #106	Trouble, trouble, what to do?	259
	Conclusion: You Can Live on the House	263
	Index	269