A guide to Mortgage Rules 2.0

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Book Review
Title: "The New Rules for Mortgages"
Author: Dale Robyn Siegel
Publisher: Alpha, September 2009; 224 pages; $14.95 list ($10.76 on Amazon.com)

If you're familiar with Bill Maher's HBO talk show, "Real Time," you're familiar with his "New Rules" segment at the close of each episode, in which he articulates the rules he'd lay down if he ruled the world -- hilariously or outrageously, depending on your particular political leanings.

Dale Robyn Siegel's new book, "The New Rules for Mortgages," might not be quite as entertaining as Maher's New Rules, but it is certainly more usable by the average mortgage consumer.

Siegel's day job as a mortgage broker gives her the (Wall and Main) Street credibility on the topic of what it takes -- right now -- to get a mortgage that is so lacking in many mortgage how-to titles.

As such, "The New Rules for Mortgages" is written in the demystifying, real-world educational voice of one whose job it is to empower borrowers with just the facts they actually need to know to prepare themselves to qualify for and choose the right home loan for them.

The book is meant to be a guidebook of sorts for today's mortgage consumers, many of whom are stunned to find themselves in a totally new lending landscape, just as they thought they had gotten a grasp on mortgage basics and as they finally had the ability (due to the drop in home prices) and the incentive (due to the first-time homebuyer's credit) to break into the market.

Siegel provides a helpful primer on what she calls "The All-Important Credit Score," including "Credit Boosters," "Credit Killers," and (in a particularly timely touch) the impact of foreclosures, bankruptcies and judgments on one's credit -- as well as tips for improving your credit score quickly.

She moves on to discuss income documentation in all its various iterations, and the cash lenders now require borrowers to put into their transactions -- both of which are next-generation mortgage guidelines in this post-stated-income, post-"no-money-down" era. Similarly, in her coverage of appraisals and mortgage types, Siegel devotes timely treatment to issues like the challenges presented by appraisal in a declining market and private mortgage insurance.

Finally, Siegel wraps the book up by briefing the reader on where to find a loan, what to expect from the loan process, rates and closing, and special loan types (e.g., loans for everything from mobile homes to multi-family properties). ...CONTINUED

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