eloan

My husband and I are shopping around for our home we plan to purchase. My husband is a school teacher and I brought home this book, thinking he could read through it and get a real handle on what we should be doing for a mortgage when we find our home. He found the book very complicated and he said it was overwhelming. I paged through the book, just reading the tips, which I found helpful, but I, too, felt the book was very heavy on facts and information which probably doesn't pertain to the average homebuyer - certainly not us.

We were pre-approved for a loan before we started looking for our home by a very helpful mortgage broker referred to us by our Realtor. He has answered all the questions we had to date very professionally. I showed him the book and he said he had read it and he thought there were some helpful hints in it but he said there were some very glaring errors in it, too. Like one of the other revieweres pointed out, the author makes a monster mistake when he states that most all mortgage brokers are real estate agents. That's not at all true. They are required to have a current Department of Real Estate license (mortgage brokers) but they are not automatically real estate agents unless the author meant that they are QUALIFIED to sell real estate. The vast majority of them do not sell any real estate. They make loans on the real estate sold by real estate agents. It sounds confusing but it isn't. The author needs to correct this. He also needs to scale down the contents of his book so that the average borrower can understand it better.

He should also spend a lot more time denouncing many, if not all, of the lenders who advertise on the highways and freeways with their big electronic billboards advertising interest rates that absolutely do not exist. He should devote an entire chapter to this unethical practice which continues. unabated, as I write this review.

I called one of those lenders this afternoon because they offered a rate which was better than my mortgage broker offered. I found out that what they advertised wasn't even close to what they were quoting. The agent there told me the billboards were malfunctioning. I suggested they turn them off, then. His comment was, "we spend too much money on them to turn them off." Robert Irwin, get on this scam now. Do a whole book on it.

First off, if you just want to buy a house and not deal with much, find a good broker (of course, that assumes you can find a good broker) and set them loose with specific requirements.

This book is more worthy of people who want to learn more about mortgages and save themselves anywhere from 1000 to 5,000 dollars on average. More if you really dig but this isn't the book for big saves in real estate.

Irwin will take you through all the various steps in

(1) figuring out your credit rating and what you can and cannot get with it;

(2) different types of mortgages and which ones to use;

(3) how to figure out your payment schedule; how to not get in over your head;

(4) the little costs for escrow and banks and other costs; some of which you can have removed;

(5) dealing w/ a broker;

(6) various loans to seek out, including govt ones;

(7) dealing with the seller; and

(8) how to make sure you don't get ripped off.

Overall, this is a great book for the first time investor or someone who wants a home and wants to save a few thousand dollars (or more). Not worth your time, as it's too complicated, for those who want to spend little time learning about it.

The most complete book I've ever seen on hunting for a mortgage. It explained in detail all my options. It even gave me a list of different types of mortgages that I could get and where I could get them. I found it invaluable in getting a lower than market interest rate mortgage from a mortgage broker. (Who cares if he was previously a real estate agent or not-see earlier reviews!)

Working in the banking industry I was turned on to this book by a colleague and what a colossal waste of time reading this was. The vast majority of this book's models are outdated and if Mr. Saunders was trying to write a historical piece he has accomplished that in spades. Nothing in this book is relevant and it is obvious the esteemed Mr. Saunders lent his name to a very poor book that he probably should have glanced through if not read. Linda Allen should probably get some real world experience because she is wasting people's time with her research.

This book reviews concepts that have been around for more than 10 years and well published in articles. Perhaps it pulls it all together in book form, but even so, it is dated. It is light on credit derivatives and the exploding market in synthetic securitizations driven by credit derivatives. These products introduce structured credit risk (and hedges) to banks and investors.

The reader will need to buy "Credit Derivatives and Synthetic Structures" by Tavakoli to get insight into these products.

I have a copy of this book. It covers popular credit risk models and things like RAROC, etc. These concepts have been discussed extensively in the industry but I assume this is the first in the book form. The book does a good job in presenting basic ideas. However, if you are looking for technical details, you best bets are still the original technical documentations (CreditMetrics, CreditRisk+, KMV, etc). Nevertheless this book is a useful survey of the current stable of models. Besides, it is not very expensive.

This is not a book that will teach you much of anything. Not about design, or the elements of design, or how various design elements might be used either separately or in conjunction to evoke feelings or images.

The book is broken into sections, one for each design element such as color, texture, etc. The first page of each section is a very general description of that design element. This is then followed by 15 pages or so of full-page pictures highlighting that design element. Looking at 15 pages of colorful objects or highly textured objects may be mildly interesting but it isn't terribly informative or useful.

This book may be marginally adequate if you just want to flip through the pictures looking for inspiration. But the pictures are largely mediocre and too few to really exhaust the topics at hand so it isn't even terribly useful as inspiration. No matter what your needs or purpose you would do well to pass on this book and look for something better.

The Elements Of Design: Rediscovering Colors, Textures, Forms And Shapes is a joint-project by Amsterdam exhibitions curator Loan Oei and Antwerp based Decile De Kegel, a graduate in textile design and weaving expert. The heart of Elements Of Design lies not in words, for it contains precious few of those, but rather in the stunning, full-color, full-page photographs that fill it cover to cover. Each photograph presents a different, majestic juxtaposition of colors, shapes, patterns, and fascinating medleys in this inspirational book created specifically to motivate artists and designers everywhere. An amazing treat for the eyes and especially recommended for personal and professional fabric-based art and needlecraft reference collections, Elements Of Design is a beautiful and varied book sure to open one's eyes to brand new possibilities for artistic creation.

I bought the book because I was applying for and SBA loan, after reviewing with my husband and my partner we returned the book because we found it to be of very little help!

Carol

Parker, a former banker, takes us throughthe incomprehensible logic of banking loans. Do the terms "dinosaur brains" or "ostrich management" have meaning to you? They will after you're done with this book.

The auther utilizes a genial, anecdotal writing style that leads you through the loan and approval process by retelling his personal experiences. His stories teach without being dry or scholarly. There are no lectures here, no dogma, and no sermonizing. The author genuinely wants us to understand the industry so we can succeed.

Parkers' message is clear. Banks are large, highly structured, highly regulated institutions that are unable to handle, or comprehend, the entrepreneural world that they make their living from. If half of what he writes is true I'm surprised his sanity lasted long enough for him to escape.

Please buy this book and read it. You'll either learn a lot, laugh a lot, or groan at the incomprehensibiltiy of this system. I did all three.

The author accords interest payments due 20 or 30 years in the future the exact same value as cash in hand today. It appears that there is NO time value for money.

I don't disagree with the premise that many families are better served by prepaying their mortgages than by spending surplus family cash flow, but the Cunningham's "proof" of that wisdom is such a far fetched reach, that the entire book is not suitable for anyone wanting to understand the most basic concepts of money, finance and investing. It misleads the reader and denies the advantages of saving and investing money.

A "proof" of the foolishness of the author's basic premise is this reader's intuitive answer to a hypothetical offer to accept employment from an employer today; but not to receive today's wages until 25 years in the future. No interest, no compounding; just payment of today's wages deferred until middle age.... No thanks.

A fresh perspective on managing your mortgage with thoughtful insights into home ownership. I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to make sense of their finances. Paying a mortgage can cost you more than you can afford if you also want to save for retirement. In this book you'll learn how to turn unproductive (lazy) debt into a hard working, asset building tool. You will also learn to free yourself from years of mortgage payments and how the money you would otherwise use for mortgage payments can build your retirement nestegg. READ THIS BOOK!

Very general overview of the workout process. Basic concepts. If you have ever worked in restructuring credits, this one is not for you. If on the other hand you know nothing about workouts, pick it up, although [] there are much better buys. Come to think of it, should have bought my better half a nice present instead, why don't you?

This is the first book I have come across that leads the reader through the entire workout process, from the loan to the recovery as well as the organisational issues surrounding it, often neglected by pro's. Highly recommended for the people who are relatively new to the game, although there are also some useful tips for those of us who think we know it all!!!!

I went ahead and paid a whopping $137.99 for this book based on the write up and one glowing review. I've worked in this industry for 2+ years in the admin dept and wanted to truly understand the ins and outs of the business, rate sheets, etc. before making the jump to a commission only job. Guess what? The book is padded by printing only one side of the page to make it appear more substantial than it is. Many, many pages are copies of loan application forms, disclosures, etc. that are completely self explanatory. There is ONE page (barely - 3 inch margins all around) explaining rate sheets - the biggest mystery to new loan officers - in the entire book. I hope I can get a refund. This book isn't worth $19.95, let alone $137.99. Its a total rip off.

This book saved my life. When I started as a loan officer I knew nothing. And my manager was no help. So I had to train myself. This book was recomended to me by another in my office. And it is the best training manual I have seen. It covered everything I needed to know and alot of things I would never have known.
If you are new to this business, get this book. You'll thank me later.

Judging by some of the reviews posted here some people who have looked at this book feel like they have stumbled onto something profound and new.

The same reviewers also use the words: 'disturbing' and 'confusing'.

This is a book written by a hack who preys on those 'disturbed' and 'confused' minds by quoting some eminent people out of context, using some real statistics then drawing absurd conclusions.

I was lent a copy in April this year and browsed this site out of curiosity and was surprised to see so many people had read it. My understanding is that most of the original print run had to be pulped, and the copy I was lent was a rarity. When I read it I could see why.

Poorly written, poorly researched, full of errors of fact and logic (too many to remember now 6 months after reading the book). The title is memorable but perhaps better suited to a B grade horror flick. The publisher was embarassed, I am sure. The author appears to have been swept away in his own world and is probably busy today muttering in some alley-way about lack of coins, and the coming end of the world due to shortage of such.

Apparently there are still some 2nd hand copies available. It's a buyer's market, I would say...

I was given this book to read by my sister who has always had problems with her credit card debt. She said "read this book if you want to know what is going on with debt in the world. Money is all just really debt back to the banks, it's all fake. This book exposes the whole fraud of the system."

The difficulty I had with this book is that it is very hard to follow the logic of the author and he seems to exaggerate everything.

I got sick of it by about page 200 when the author just started repating himself for the 20th time that there is too much debt and the world is going to ruin. I skipped to the end. His only solution is government handouts of money to people in debt...Where that money comes from is not explained.

I gave the author ** because he tries to tackle a serious problem, being rising levels of debt in the world, but he says nothing new or interesting about it and offers only an unrealistic solution to fix the problem.

You'll notice that people either love it or hate it. Please also notice that the detractors don't offer any summary to rebuke the book's basic thesis. Monetary reformists disagree with allowing banks to control money by the creation of money within the fractional reserve banking pyramid of "credit" (read DEBT). The debts of governments never decrease. Reduction of government debt actually hurts the economy (if you consider lack of growth to be a negative). Multiply the average per capita income of the U.S. by the popuplation of the U.S. and you'll yield a rough estimate of the amount of money in circulation (notice I said in circulation, not sent off to Swiss bank accounts). Guess what that number is always approximately equal to? It equals the debt of the U.S. government, about $6.4 trillion as I write this - a debt owed mainly to the financial establishment, the "elites" of the world who live off usury. How do the people who hate this book explain such facts? They don't. They can't explain the creation of money because they just don't get it. They are defenders of the status quo. They want us to believe that our money is honest so the privileged can retain the appearance of having earned their respected positions.

I don't think Rowbotham wants to abolish money. He's only asking for a more genuine and democratic monetary system. Let governments create money for themselves - no borrowing from the rich money that can never be paid back. Conservatives shout and wail that such a method would cause inflation. SO! Inflation happens in the current system. If you create more money, all vendors will raise their prices to try to scoop up those new dollars in circulation. The problem is that the wealthy control that very creation by fractional reserve banking - lending out more money than they really have to lend, which they are able to do because money is not a physical thing, but instead just numbers on ledgers. If you don't see a problem there, you've simply been duped by years of believing that banks are somehow honest institutions...

Should be called "Financing College in the 1990s." But it's now 2001 and a lot of the suggestions in this old clunker of a book just don't hold water any more. Lots of free web sites run by state treasurer's office will give you current advice on newer college investing plans and it's free. Also check out Nellie Mae or Sallie Mae which are not-for-profit organizations that arrange for money so that kids or adults can afford to go to college. Skip this book however because it's N-O-T worth it.

I think the author was treated unfairly in the some of the earlier reviews. They must have been referring to the older editions of the book. The current edition of the book does talk about the new 529 plans without becoming an accounting textbook. What I like about Davis' treatment of the subject is the "you can do it yourself" approach instead of being a referral tool to financial advisors. Especially valuable is the worksheet on federal financial aid which gives one the ability to see how changes in one's finances can change computed financial need. Most financial aid websites just give you a grand total without explaining how the numbers were calculated. This isn't a book for those who love mind-numbing detail, but it is a good basic guide for getting started with a college savings plan.

This book is terrifically up to date. I wonder how the three people who gave it one star reviewed it five months before it was published. If they'd read the current edition (or any. I wonder just who these three people were who all happened to have reviewed the book on April 6. I smell a rat.), they would have found it to be wonderfully current, well written, comprehensive. Anyone with kids--whether teens approaching college or tots--would benefit from this book.

I do not think I have ever taken this much time to read such a short book. At least it seamed to me that it took a long time. It was like walking up a never-ending hill. The only reason I kept plodding along is that I was interested in the overall outcome. What I am trying to say is that the book is dull. It is also that the subject is a bit on the non-sexy side so coupled with the authors "mathematics textbook" style of writing, it made a little book into something close to the Battan death march. Ok, I may be overstating it a bit, after all I did work my way through the book. The one good thing I can say is that the first half of the book was far better then the second half. How the author turned his already dull prose into something that was almost life threatening I will never know.

With all this said there were some parts of the book that gave me some insight on how legislation works its way along the process. The part I thought was most interesting is all the groups that stick their hands into the bill. People with what appeared to me to have almost no or little effects from the bill got involved and tried to get their two cents in. Plus all the back handed and obstructionist activities made me wonder how anything gets done in Washington. Overall the book was dull, but did offer a tour of what it takes to get a bill passed. There has to be better books out there on the topic, I just do not know what they are.

The story itself isn't a very interesting or informative one. The author tries to end chapters with a catchy phrase that is cynical/humorous/meaningful, but they rarely come off well. Journalistic style, if you like reading a 250 page news article, then you'll love it, but if you have a hard enough time getting through the lead of a front page article in the "New York Time," then don't bother.

Steven Waldman does an excellent job of explaining the substantive issues surrounding the national service bill and its corollary, student aid reform, and showing how conflicting ideals were reconciled or submerged. The detail gets a bit tedious in the last chapter, but the book does live up to its subtitle. Johnson & Broder's "The System," about the 1994 health care reform campaign, is a longer but more exciting book along the same lines.