DEAR BOB: My parents are avid readers of your articles and have become quite the experts on reverse mortgages for senior citizens. But they live in a small town that has one bank, owned and run by an "old geezer" who has been there for 100 years. At least he seems that old. I know he charges high interest rates but he is so charming that most of the "locals" don't bother to go to the nearest city about 50 miles away to compare loan terms. Where is the best place for my parents to get a reverse mortgage? Are reverse mortgages available at small-town banks?  more...

If you know virtually nothing about home loans and want to learn the basics, reading "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Mortgages, Second Edition" by Jamie Sutton and Edie Milligan Driskill is a good place to start. This book explains the very minimum essentials that home buyers, sellers and real estate agents need to know.

Readers won't become home-loan experts, but they will understand how mortgages fit into the home-buying process.  more...