Thursday, January 22, 2009

Why First Time Buyers are Hardest Hit by the Credit Crunch

By Troy Cruz William Engle Dawn Khoury James Nissen Robert Hill Chris Laning Janet Taylor Jack Enders Bruce Gross Rick Bean Keith Wood Ray Johnson Alex Velez Juan Hines Paul Holtz Kenya Rios Peggy Dye Neal Dawes Lucas King David Hebert Karl Howell Jarrod Lucky Ruth Coats Doris Lund Ryan Hudson Henry Bush Lonnie May Arlen Bell Wanda Kuebler Kevin Stiles Nick Horton Jorge Pina Frank Vera Chad Copp Fred Brod Jose Cruz Jeremy Stanley Mark Jones Barney Bernard Ailleann Alan

First time buyers who were getting their first mortgages were traditionally the golden goose for banks because once a bank had their business they usually had it for a long time and they made a lot of money off of them. However, first time buyers are now getting to be less and less important for banks because they are traditionally more risky than buyers who have established credit. So, how are first time buyers affected by the down turn in the economy?

The answer to this question is complex. The first thing you have to look at is what first time buyers got before. Usually, they were able to get a mortgage with a really good interest rate or a mortgage without needing to put a lot down for a down payment. The problem is that a lot of first time buyers who only put down five or ten percent of the price of the home ended up not being able to afford their homes when the economy turned bad. This ended up causing a huge headache for banks, and a lot of banks are reconsidering their first time buyer strategies.

You may be asking what is going to happen with your current first time buyer mortgage. If you have already signed the deal and have a low interest rate or other special, you don't have to worry about a thing. Those who are now looking for a first time buyer deal are probably going to be affected by the problems with the economy. Current mortgage seekers can expect to need a higher down payment, and if they do get approved for a low-down payment on their house, they are going to need to carry insurance to protect the bank. This is going to increase the amount of fees that they pay every month, making this deal not so good of an option.

With the economy going south, you can probably expect to see fewer and fewer first time buyer deals offered by banks. Mortgages are also going to be getting more and more expensive overall, because the problems in the financial world are going to cause banks to be cautious with loaning out money. Before, banks gave a mortgage to almost everyone, but now, you are going to have to prove that you have good credit and are a good financial risk for the bank. This might actually be good for those with good credit, as it is going to weed out those who buy houses that are too expensive for their budgets. Those who lose their houses ruin it for everyone because we end up paying more in mortgage interest rates and bank fees. However, if your credit rating is less than stellar, these changes might sound discouraging.

Those who are looking for their first house are going to find getting a mortgage now is more difficult due to the bad economy. There is really nothing that you can do now, so if you already have your mortgage, consider yourself among the fortunate.

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