BOOK REVIEW : Lender Gives Insights for Getting Best Home Loan

“How to Get the Best Home Loan” by W. Frazier Bell (John Wiley & Sons, New York), 1992, $14.95, 182 pages.

If you’re in the market for a home loan, you’re going to love this book. Author Frazier Bell, an experienced mortgage lender, tells it the way it is. He cuts through all the fluff some mortgage lenders use to mislead borrowers by explaining why it can be so difficult to get a home mortgage, how to short-cut lender procedures and how to play the lending game to get the mortgage you want.

My favorite chapter headings in the book include “Fees, points, and other garbage,” “Selling and servicing your loan . . . It’s not that we don’t like you but. . . ,” “The less your down payment, the more it costs,” and “Mortgage lenders of last resort . . . if it sounds like a good deal, it isn’t.”

The chapter on closing costs is the most revealing. Bell warns borrowers to beware of the lender garbage or junk fees. By that, he means fees that lenders really don’t have to charge but will attempt to collect to raise their profits. Study this chapter very carefully because it is an especially complete list of the creative undisclosed last-minute fees lenders try to overcharge borrowers.

What makes this book so good is the author’s sharing of his viewpoints. It is not a dull textbook, but rather a guide to help borrowers get the mortgage they want.

On my scale of one to 10, this excellent book rates a solid 10.