Would it be worthwhile reading a book on mortgage financing?

Question

Hi how's it going,

I've been reading anything I can get my hands on lately to educate myself before making my first investment. I want to really understand the real estate market before investing - why prices go up and down, the role of banks, the government, etc.

I was looking online and found a book titled "Residential Mortgage Lending: Principals and Practices"

Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Residential-Mortgage-Lending....

Do you think this would be a worthwhile read? It goes pretty in depth about the roles of the law, the various types of lenders, and the economy with regards to real estate.

Here are the chapters: 1. History. 2. Real Estate Law. 3. Role of Lending. 4. Mortgage Lenders. 5. Secondary Mortgage Market. Part II: PROGRAMS. 6. Conventional Mortgage Lending. 7. Government Lending. 8. Private Mortgage Insurance. 9. Construction Lending. 10. Equity Lending. Part III: PRACTICES. 11. Compliance. 12. Origination and Processing. 13. Underwriting. 14. Appraisals. 15. Closing. 16. Loan Administration. 17. Selling Loans. 18. Lending Strategies.

While it's not directly related to real estate investing, I feel like it could help a lot to really understand the real estate market.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks

Shon Butani · Answer

Ok thanks that definitely makes sense. I'm going to do some research and find a similar post-2013 textbook.

If anyone has any recommendations, that would be a huge help.

Thanks

Chris Mason · Answer

Your link didn't come through, but I think I found that book by searching Amazon.

It's from 2011. The history and concepts haven't changed, but there have been some major industry-wide changes since then. Everything that we learned needed to be fixed in 2008, it took about 5 years for a lot of it to fall into place. I'd look for something 2013 or later, because I would definitely want something with a chapter on the recession, what we learned, how it played out, and what we as a society did about it.

That last bit, "what we as a society did about it," is rarely depicted or discussed in popular culture (aside from bit--ing about how hard it is to get a mortgage now-a-days). I'd have wanted "The Big Short" to have like a 10 minute post-script running alongside the credits, but it didn't.

In your case, thinking about reading a serious book on the subject, I'd suggest finding something with that final chapter or chapters.