| Mortgage market gets back to basics
To buy a house in today�s market, the new ways of borrowing are out, and the old ways are back in. �The mortgage business swings like a pendulum,� said Elaine Shepperd, Cornerstone Mortgage Co. branch manager in Temple. �The government is tightening down on all the lenders.� Caren Hildinger, a certified mortgage planning specialist in Temple, agrees with the pendulum analogy. �We�re getting back to the basics of prudent underwriting,� Ms. Hildinger said. �The guidelines have been so lenient some people were getting mortgages that didn�t need to be getting them. And now the industry has paid for that. The type of business you did a year ago, you can�t do now.� Mortgage professionals point to three specific changes in home lending guidelines they say are necessary corrections that get back to the basics: lNo more borrowing with little or no money down lGood credit scores necessary lNo more 100 percent financing Although myriad circumstances can attribute to someone losing their home, Bell County foreclosures suggest the need for more stringent lending requirements.
Credit crunch rattles student loans
Getting a mortgage or finding a low-interest credit card these days aren't the only slices of the financial market tightening up during a national money crunch. Securing a student loan — the financial enabler for an increasing number of students' post-secondary educations — is becoming more expensive this spring, as participants in government-backed programs are facing the prospects of higher fees and people relying on private loans are finding fewer choices in the market. With rising demand and dwindling supply, it doesn't take an economics major to know that the numbers could look worse this year for some college-bound students and their families. “It's an uncomfortable time," said Jeanne Mott, director of financial aid at Baker University in Baldwin City.
Frishberg and Laffer Bust the Bear Market Bubble and Expose the "Tax the Rich" Folly
If you're hoping that the recent market rally is the end of the Bear Market, I have some bad news... more people are more eager to sell stocks right now than has been in over 20 years -- and fewer want to buy, so stock prices will continue to get lower and lower. Our only hope is if the dollar stops falling and foreign investors rush in to buy our American stock at bargain prices. But there's no sign of any of that happening yet. .
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