The New Age of Mortgages: Current Specialty Programs Are Helping More People Afford to Buy

Despite the strength of the stock market, the economy is still lagging, and homes for sale are still hitting records for a number of days on the market. The problem, however, does not necessarily lie with the number of homes available, but the availability of affordable mortgages Hanover. Limited availability is where professionals step in and provide solutions.

When the housing bubble burst a few years ago, many were left with adjustable rate mortgages that they just couldn't afford. 

Getting into a home was easy then: no interest for the first few years, loans with low adjustable rates, low-payment loans with high balloon payments, and no-documentation loans that required no proof of income whatsoever. It was downright ridiculous the kind of loans that were available. People were convinced they could make them work. Most couldn't.

As the housing market gradually moved into a new phase, lenders no longer offered the ease of obtaining a loan as they once did, but they also hindered the market's recovery by going in the complete opposite direction. Hindered, in part, by new government restrictions on lending, what once was a simple process became much more difficult. And, not only did it hurt buyers, but it hurt the financial institutions as well. The increased number of bank-owned properties (REOs, or "real estate owned") obtained through foreclosures cost lenders a lot of money, but this also gave the banking and lending industry a wake-up call that forced a more viable solution to come into play.

Now, affordable mortgages are available with a reasonable amount of down payment. Adjustments to lending requirements and special programs have also been implemented by both the government and private parties to not only help people buy homes, but help them stay in them as well.

Those looking at homes for sale Hanover now have more opportunities to obtain good mortgages than they have in the recent past. Still, it isn't the same as it was for qualifying, nor should it be. People need to be able to afford their payments, and a professional mortgage broker or loan officer can help provide a number of reasonable solutions for those looking to buy a home.