first mortgage, home loan lender
If you're looking at buying a house and getting your first mortgage, as the old joke goes, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that the overheated housing market is cooling fast and prices are dropping like a stone in a lake. The bloated inventories of home builders mean good news for families looking for their first mortgage as well. The bad news is that right now, getting credit is one the hardest tasks imaginable. Part of the reason for that is that so many home loan lender firms have their backs against the wall. Their capital is tied up in too many a bad home mortgage for them to be able to lend much. So my advice for any couple seeking a first mortgage is for them to go into this process with as much cash in hand as they can scrape together. In order to obtain that first mortgage, you'll need to put down a hefty down payment, anywhere from ten to twenty percent of the value of the home. The days of no money down on a first mortgage are long gone. About the only thing counts in the housing market these days is cash in hand. If you do have some cash to put down for a deposit on that first mortgage, you'll probably be able to land a good deal on a nice home.