Cleveland Real Estate News

I read the Teresa Dixon Murray article in yesterday’s PD and felt a bit of a rant coming on. After talking with two colleagues today it became clear that getting (as Paul Harvey used to say) the rest of the story out there is needed here. I’m talking about the article Theresa wrote about the current state of getting home loans. The title of the piece is the usual chicken little approach. But let’s take the ‘consumers face stricter standards for loans’ phrase in her title at face value. Since we got into a bit of a mess with everything from predatory lending to borrowers over extending themselves, does it not make sense that we all strive to change our ways? That automatically means stricter loan standards – or at least it means following a standard and not letting someone get a loan who should not have one. So why would this be a bad thing? It’s not.

She chicken littles the title but then goes on to say that a family she interviewed wondered if they could refinance and lo and behold they could. So no need to panic, it worked out.

Getting away from the article now, the point I want to make is this. You do not automatically have to put 20% down to get a loan in 2009. There are, for example, plenty of 3% FHA loans to be had. There are mortgage programs that offer a whole slew of possibilities. One of my colleagues heard from a National City lender talking about some of the programs available. We have programs available at Howard Hanna Mortgage Services, along with more than 120 million bucks to lend. Plenty of other lenders I have not mentioned here do too.

My last point is this. Stricter or more conscientious loan practices, however you want to describe them, are good for us and our economy. Second, there are home loans being made every week. I had a listing go under contract two weeks ago, and have two buyers with pre approval letters (and a few buyers in same category but have been with me longer) ready to find a home.

Teresa Dixon Murray makes one point that bears fleshing out. You can be afraid to find out if you qualify for a loan. You can be afraid to check with your lender to see if you qualify for a refinance. The truth is, once you make the calls you will feel much better. Knowing what your situation is and how to move ahead is the way to go on any financial matter.

If you qualify for a loan you can get one. As opposed to the years that got us into this mess when you may have gotten one even if you didn’t qualify. Which situation is better for our economy? So if you were tempted to just read the headline on that PD article yesterday, remember that grain of salt that says, is this the real story?

Rant over, Peace Out, Ohm…. 3C