Marlene - Hopefully, the new bill HR6694 will pass. Thanks for stopping by -good to hear that CA business is good.

Compare Mortgage - I agree with you. Since so many people - regardless of their credit score have depleted their Savings and their relatives who would normally Gift them the Down Payment are in the same boat, I fear that unless HR6694 is passed we will see a lot more Loan Officers and Mortgage Companies go out of business which will add to the unemployment rate--- but the most detremental will be the HUGE reduction in home sales for buyers who would love to own their own home in this already ailing economy. Fewer homes sold = less builders in business. Fewer builders in business = builders laying off workers and  fewer building supplies sold. Fewer building supplies sold =   the higher the unemployment rate. The higher the unemployment rate = more foreclosures.  More foreclosures = even tighter mortgage guidelines -- and it starts all over again into a downward spiral. You get the picture.

TLW - Good to hear from you. I wish I could stick my head in the sand - but then I'd miss the many guideline changes that are sent to my email each and every day. How's business in Fl?

Andrew - In this market I agree with you when it's about your home -especially when you can walk into so much equity. Unfortunatley, there are a lot of people still running up the credit cards to get the big screens and every other toy and they don't think about saving for the future.

Courtney -that is my hope as well.

Cindy -you hit the nail on the head! The $7500 Tax "Credit" is only a TEASER THEY HAVE TO PAY BACK to get 1st time homebuyers to buy now  - which most of the time they will be in that home for about 5 years or less before their family grows and they need a bigger home and they are still paying $500 more a year in taxes becasue of that one time "Credit". However, they can't buy that 1st home when they don't have any other means but Down payment Assistance to buy the home since most borrowers fall into that FHA category. Even worse, before this bill was passed banks were helping homeowners keep their home by lowering rates and deferring payments to keep them out of foreclosure - since OUR tax dollars will be bailing out these banks, what is the incentive for them to help the hurting homeowner? More homeowners are going to be instant renters and the only ones who will get richer are the Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Attorneys.

Travis - Chase Wholesale

Diane -I couldn't agree with you more -this will only make our economy worse. (See above comments to Compare mortgage and Cindy) How is business in Hilton Head?

Elizabeth - Unfortunatley, most 1st time home buyers are just so excited to be Approved and their payment is where they want it for 2 or 3 years - they believed that they would have plenty of time to Refi before the rate adjusted since history had shown in their area that home values have always increased each year. I believe most Borrowers were informed and still made the decision to have an ARM. For the Loan Officers - the Borrower's Income, Credit, and New Home fit the guidelines that their Lenders Approved. For the Lenders - Wall Street was buying the loans. For Wall Street -the Loans were profitable.

Tim, Jenn , Elizabeth - That could be a solution - but Justin has it - the government wants us to become citizens that save up for our down payment. We use to be a nation that saved up 20% of the Sales Price to buy a home  - before the government intoduced FHA in 1934 and VA loans in 1944 to help our citizens buy homes after the Great Depression (which I think is still a  good idea). Even tho I personally believe  that we should save up our own Down payment when it is only 3.5% of the Sale Price - right now, in this economy, the amount of time that would take most Americans to save that amount for their Down Payment may cause this Great Nation to see another Great Depression just due to the amount of jobs that would be lost to the even worse housing market.  Congress' thoughts are that the Current Housing Law  will slow down foreclosures - they may be correct - BUT IT WILL DEFINTELY MAKE THE ECONOMY EVEN WORSE - which is not what they are realizing.

Justin -See Above :D

Russ - I know where you are coming from I want people to be a ble to keep their homes too and it would make sense in a  thriving economy; however, if you sell a lot less homes in Michigan right now in this economy - it not only hurts you and the borrowers - it makes your local economy even worse because if Realtors, Lenders, Appraisers, RE Attorneys, Title Insurance Companies, Home Inspectors, Pest Companies, Insurance Companies, Builders, Building Supply companies, and everyone else who feels the pain of a lot less houses being sold start consuming less and cutting back, maybe even losing their own homes -then Small Business owners who run restaraunts and other Retail businesses who sell not what we need but what we want  will see a huge decline in business which will waterfall down to even less homes being sold and increasing foreclosures since another group of people are in the position to not afford to save up for the Down Payment of their homes or to not be able to afford the homes they already have due to losing their job. People do need to save for their Down Payment - but in an economy that is bleeding us dry with a very high cost of living I don't see how it would work until our economy recovers.

Debbie and Bob -I completely agree - America needs Down Payment Assistance right now.

Jim - Going slow but still going. How's business in Charleston?

Diana -Thnaks for stopping by.