David Reed's new book Mortgages 101: Quick Answers to Over 250 Critical Questions About Your Home Loan accomplishes the nearly impossible - it's fun to read.

Having a background in stand-up comedy doesn't hurt. The Austin, Texas resident has a cowboy boot-wearin' drawl you don't get to hear in print, but the country-sly wit is there nonetheless, such as when he mentions in his acknowledgments that his mom and dad and still have the first pre-school story he ever wrote about an airplane called "Spitfire."

"For some reason it never made it to the big screen," writes Reed.

Written in Q & A, the advice in Mortgages 101 is unvarnished and to the point. Reed takes a dry subject and makes literally years of hard-gained knowledge digestible and usable in a thumbable loan manual.

For this reason, it's a good book for Realtors to have in their libraries as they are often asked many of the same questions that Reed answers in his book.

How many times, for example, have you been asked by buyers what the point is of a preapproval letter? Reed says, "You know before you go," and then goes on to explain how preapproval letters speed the loan process.

Maybe it's not in the same class as "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit," but it's a catchy response that most agents and buyers should be able to remember.

But where Reed can really help real estate agents is in saving their sales - by saving their clients from themselves.

How many times, for example, have you lost a sale due to rate lock issues?

In attempts to get better deals, buyers may lock loans with one lender, and if rates happen to go down, abandon that lender for another with a lower rate.

Reed doesn't castigate buyers for doing that, but he does carefully explain when it's reasonable to ask a lender to re-lock or shop elsewhere or leave well enough alone.

"If your initial purchase contract says that you'll close within thirty days, you don't have the luxury of shopping your mortgage around till the cows come home. At maximum you should give yourself two full weeks of mortgage processing time. And this is only if you've already been approved by your lender and provided them with all required documentation."

He also answers the questions that your buyer won't ask you, that you should have the answers for anyway, like - "How do I know if the loan officers my real estate agent suggests are any good or not?"

Unlike some lenders, Reed is Realtor-friendly, but he definitely likes experience for this one - "Top agents use loan officers who will close deals with no problems....Top loan officers also know that if they mess up a deal they'll likely never get another lead from that top agent."

As he points out, Reed's been asked all 250 questions in his book by homebuyers, and that's why Mortgages 101 is the kind of book you can read with a highlighter pen.

But it's also a good guide to what you as a Realtor should also know about loans, in case you're ever asked by a buyer.