I was asked to participate in an online book tour for a new book by Dale Robyn Siegel: The New Rules for Mortgages.

After I accepted I received an advanced copy of the book, a sponge, and a memo pad. I was not compensated in any way, nor was my opinion influenced by anyone other than myself. (unless you count the sponge as a bribe) :-p

Here's what I thought:

Although we had just purchased a house, I still found the book extremely informative. It is short - just under 200 pages - but covers everything you might need to know about buying a house and applying for a mortgage. Dale covers topics from FICO scores, to properly inspecting a property, to the types of mortgages available, to what to expect at closing.

I found I wanted to read the book cover to cover, like a chapter book, but quickly got overwhelmed by the detailed information, and had to pause several times while reading.

A book like this would have been very helpful to read before we had started the home buying process, since I did not know much of anything when we first started. I was able to learn most of what Dale says in the book via a medley of online sources and library books, but nothing covered as much as The New Rules for Mortgages does in one swell foop. If you don't know much about the mortgage and banking industry this book could be very helpful, but if you already have a baseline idea of what's out there and what you are interested in then you might find yourself reading a lot of what you already know.

It certainly is written in a fun way - but it is also easy to get lost with all the knowledge in the book. For example, just reading the section on FICO scores makes it seem extremely difficult to get a good rating. There are several tricks to improving your score before applying for a loan, or for keeping it high during the approval process, and they are all covered. It didn't matter for our loan, because just going about our daily lives gave us both very high FICO's, but if your score is questionable there are good tips. Same for the types of mortgages - we knew we wanted a fixed rate no matter what, but if you are unsure this book would help you explore all the different options available. If you are unsure about any aspect of the home buying/mortgage applying process this book has you covered.

In the changing real estate market (after the boom) there are many things that are different and stricter - this book does a good job covering all situations in "today's economy." If you are thinking about buying a house with a mortgage I would recommend checking it out. It might not be a book you want in your permanent library collection, but is definitely worth getting from the library.

One thing is for sure: Dale is very easy to contact and talk to. If you have a question you could visit her blog page or send her an email and I am sure you will get a real, honest, fast, reply.