BOOK REVIEW : Overcoming Difficulties in Financing a Home

“The Survivor’s Guide to Financing Your Home” By Douglas J. Wolf and Rina K. Gill (Scott Foresman, Carmel, Ind.), 1991, 112 pages, $14.95, available in stock or by special order at local bookstores.

For many home buyers, their biggest hurdle is not finding the right home to buy, it is financing their purchase. This book, written by a mortgage banker and a newspaper writer, shows how to overcome most home finance difficulties.

Topics discussed include steps in buying a home, loan basics, home loan categories, how to shop for your home loan, real estate helpers and advisers and mortgage problems. There are glossary, mortgage amortization tables and a chart explaining the loan process.

If the book has any flaws, they are (1) it does not discuss creative finance alternatives such as lease-options, equity sharing and seller financing, and (2) it says very few unfavorable words about lenders, such as those who don’t deliver the loan promised or those who pull last-minute tricks such as raising the quoted interest rate or loan charges.

This book is a quick, easy summary of the home mortgage process. On a scale of one to 10, this book rates seven.