[Porsche-O-Phile]

Okay, I'm a semi-regular poster in the other RE threads on this board and although I generally question the sanity of anyone attempting to get into the current RE market I want to be thorough and get as much background information on the process of buying so that if/when an opportunity DOES come along, I'm not losing time trying to figure out what the heck to do.

Here's the background:

I know a pretty fair amount about construction, design and buildings. I am trained as an architect although I specialize in commercial (not residential) jobs. As such, I'm not an appraiser, but I have a pretty decent idea of what some of the "red flag" items on potential properties might be. I'm not saying I'd never hire an inspector, but the likelihood of something getting past me are a little less than Joe Schmoe - let's just put it that way. So that's one in the plus column.

I know damn nearly NOTHING about finance, banking, loans, etc. I'm scared to death if I walk in and say "I'm interested in buying (probably a condo)", the sharks will immediately sense my naivity and rip me to shreds. I'm EXTREMELY distrustful of banks, bankers, realtors and any of the people that typically profiteer off of people just like myself - maybe for good reason, maybe not.

My credit is okay. Not perfect (we went through a pretty bad patch about four years ago, but have done pretty well since), but fair. Getting better daily as past bad experiences (mostly layoff-related) get further and further into the past. Things only improve as time goes on.

So anyway, where the heck do I start? I'm also paranoid about Internet "phishing" scams so I'm reluctant to submit a bunch of personal information to one of those "find-a-lender" or "make-banks-compete-for-your-business" web sites, although I don't want to throw away a potentially good resource too. . . What do you guys think of these places?

Given my druthers I would PREFER to deal with a smaller more personable lender than a big "mega-congloma-corp-co" bank. Obviously best deal controls, but I sort of prefer smaller credit unions or lenders to some "you're-only-a-number-despite-what-the-commercials-say" place. Thoughts? Opinions?

Realtors generally seem cut from the same cloth as snake-oil salesmen and used-car dealers. I know there have to be some decent ones out there, but how do I ask the right questions so as to not get snookered? How do I know if someone is trying to take advantage of me (their lips are moving, I know, I know. . . haha).

I'm horribly uneducated in finance terminology and the like. For example, I think I finally have a grasp on what "points" are. I only recently learned what "upside-down" means. Conceptually I think I'm a reasonably smart guy and can grasp the stuff if I have it explained, but the maze of jargon and terminology makes my head spin - anyone recommend a good book or something to learn how to make sense of all the financial babble?

Some stupid questions:

1. Can you use a mortgage to consolidate/eliminate other debt? In other words, could I take out say a $350,000 loan on a $300,000 place and use $50,000 to wipe out a bunch of other debt like credit cards, car loans, etc. or possibly invest? Bad idea? Is it even allowed? Obviously if we could do that and be left with a mortgage and a student loan payment and that's it, it'd simplify the hell out of things and be a lot better interest-rate wise.

2. If you get "pre-approved" for something, what does that mean exactly? How long is it good for?

3. Who are some of the better (or worse) lenders that people have dealt with? Realtors?



I'm sure I'll have more. Sorry for the long post but I figure I might as well take advantage of this time while I'm sitting around waiting for the market to correct/crash and actually learn how this stuff works so when the light turns green I can just "go", rather than trying to futz around figuring all this stuff out. . .

TIA guys.