So What's Going to Happen With the American Home Mortgage Industry?

I've been involved with mortgages and real estate for almost twenty-five years. But honestly, I've never seen a market or even a government response like what we're seeing in the United States. I don't care which side of the political fence you're on, these are nerve wracking times...especially for homeowners and would be homeowners who need to get on with their lives, sell their houses, and finance the purchase of new houses. The big question is...what does the future hold?

Well, every time I've tried to predict anything, I've been partially right and partially wrong. So, check back with me in a year or three and we'll see how well I did. But here's what I think is going to happen to the American mortgage scene.

In the sort run, banks are going to be bailed out, and some homeowners are going to benefit from more easy, government backed, money. Not as many as touted by the politicos, but more than usual. If you're paying attention to what's happening, you can already see where banks (and other industries) are taking their bailout money and not really applying it where it was intended to be applied. Just because banks get money from the government doesn't mean they are going to save everyone from foreclosure.

But let's say that at least a large percentage of the homeowners who are currently in foreclosure care helped through reduction of their principals, renegotiation of their payments, or some sort of subsidy. Well, there are only so many times this can happen, and Americans are already getting "bailout weary". So, unless forced to by government, I can't see lenders getting themselves in this fix again, any time soon.

In other words, loans are going to get harder to get, probably much harder. At least until the dust settles. What does this mean to you? Well, it means you need to be squeaky clean to get a home loan today or in the next year or two. What if you're not?

What I would do if I were thinking about getting a loan today would be to pull my credit report from the three credit reporting agencies and see what problems, if any, it might have. Also, I would take pains to raise my credit score by always being on time for my payments, and also by lowering my outstanding principal on my credit cards and other loans. This will go a long way to making sure you're one of the folks who can get loans in the future, instead of one of the ones who can't.

To learn more about finding the best mortgage for you and your needs, visit my blog, Best Mortgage Guide [best-mortgage-guide.com/].

Patricia Pearce [best-mortgage-guide.com/] is a consumer advocate and educator. She runs several online sites devoted to empowering consumers to keep more of their money.