I had a friend that I hadn't seen in a while run into me at the supermarket in our neighborhood.  We proceeded to talk a little bit about what each other's been doing since the last time we talked. 

And then it happened....

"Are the banks lending money again?" he asked.

As a mortgage planner, I was thinking, "Holy crap.  Is he serious?"  As it turns out, he really was.

So why is this such an unbelievable question from someone in my line of work?  Becasue perception is reality people.  If they media says so, it must be true, right? 

Wrong!

I live and work in the Silicon Valley in California and to be honest, many of the areas around here haven't been hit too hard by the "recession".  Banks never stopped lending money to the right people.  They just tightened their belts and stopped lending money to the wrong people. This area is the global epicenter to the technology world and innovation is continuing to happen.

For most major banks, lending slowed down, but it NEVER stopped.  People still need to borrow.  We have several different types of lenders in our portfolio who are what we call "portfolio lenders."  These folks have one specific niche that they are really good at.  They will only loan you money if you meet their exact requirements...no exceptions.  In talking to some of the account executives, their default rate is near ZERO!  Why?  Because they dio their due diligence before they say yes.

So, the moral of the story...is to not believe everything you hear about in the media. ;)