Cheap Homebuyers Beware: Who's Ripping You Off Now?--What You Must Know About the New Rules of Mortgage and Credit

I was not a major real estate investor, just an average homeowner, but I had a "friend" who was a mortgage broker for Countrywide. He kept pushing me into (what I know now were) increasingly worse loans. At the top of the market he came to me with an income property that was such a great deal that if I didn't jump on it he was going to buy it himself (and I believed that? What a sucker!) I didn't listen to my inner voice which kept telling me that none of this added up. Instead I deferred to him because I thought he was an "expert" who knew so much more than me (turns out he didn't even have a high school diploma and had only been selling mortgages for 6 months when I met him... before that he sold used cars!) I also thought that he had my best interest at heart, when, in fact, the only thing he cared about was his commissions.

I'm currently in a short-sale on that investment property: it's in escrow for 1/3(!!) of what I paid for it and we were lucky to get that. My home was foreclosed on a year ago. Thirty years of excellent credit is destroyed. I'm not blaming the mortgage broker, I could have rejected any of his offers. I was just under-educated about how real estate mortgages REALLY work, but not anymore.

As I read this book, it was like reading a postmortem of my financial situation. I cannot tell you how many times while reading it I shouted, "That Bastard! That's exactly what he did to me!" As I dissected my mistakes and the ways in which I was conned, and learned how to avoid similar traps in the future, I began to feel as though I might actually have some hope of fixing this mess and restoring my good credit and, perhaps, even owning property again someday.

But even if I don't ever buy another piece of real estate, I'm glad I read this book because now at least I understand what happened to me (and to so many otherwise well-educated, successful people,) and I don't feel like such a complete failure anymore. In that regard, this book is better (and way cheaper,) than therapy.Get more detail about Homebuyers Beware: Who's Ripping You Off Now?--What You Must Know About the New Rules of Mortgage and Credit.