During the real estate boom of the last few years prices were rising like crazy and mortgage money was easy to come by. But as things started cooling off most banks and lending institutions began to tighten their lending practices.



Perhaps most important, interest rates have been rising slowly for a number of months. This may not seem like a big deal if you are new to the home buying market. But on a large home mortgage even a small interest rate increase can make a very big difference to your payment.

In fact it is usually the interest rate that determines how much you can borrow, so it is the interest rate that often makes the difference between being accepted or rejected for a home mortgage. The reason is simple. To qualify you for a home mortgage the lender determines what payment level you can afford. And since a big part of your payment will be interest, a higher interest rate could easily put the payment out of reach.

**Your home mortgage advisor is important**

One of the first things you should do before making home mortgage decisions is to find a professional advisor who has a lot of experience in the home mortgage business. Look for an advisor who has in-depth and current knowledge of real estate and mortgage trends and can make use of many different sources of mortgage funds.

Often your best choice will not be your regular banker. Banks almost always recommend their own products and are not very interested in suggesting other products - even if they are a better deal for you.

Look at it this way: if you have a good credit rating you can probably get a better deal than the one your bank is prepared to offer. On the other hand, if you have credit problems or need some creative suggestions, you'll probably not get them from a bank. They want you to conform to their requirements and rules.

Yes, a bank is fine if you aren't interested in getting a better deal. However, if you want alternatives or creative suggestions you're better to go elsewhere.

But where can you go? You should look for a home mortgage advisor who specializes in personalized service - someone who knows the market from the inside and who has access to many different sources of mortgage funds.

**Good news in hard times**

Even in these times of tighter credit there are ways for people to get a good rate on a home mortgage. Often these good rates involve various government backed loans such as FHA loans. These loans allow people with even horrible credit to borrow as much as 97 percent of the value of their home - as long as they have the necessary income to make regular payments.

Home mortgages like these make home ownership possible for many people who might not otherwise qualify. So they are very good deals for many people. But many traditional lenders will not recommend them because there is not enough profit in it for them. Some traditional lenders are not even aware these alternatives exist.

In fact Even many mortgage brokers will not recommend these loans because they involve some extra work. However, from the borrower's point of view it is worth finding a mortgage broker who will put together the best deal for you. It could make an otherwise impossible mortgage a reality, and it could save you literally thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage.

**An ARM works for some people**

There is also another type of loan available called the "option adustable rate loan", commonly referred to as an ARM. This kind of home mortgage allows a person with very good credit to pay as little as 1% interest against a "real" rate of about 7.25%.

But you must be careful with plans like this. The unpaid interest is added to the principal of your loan, so the amount you owe is actually increasing. Eventually you will have to start making payments against the increased principal amount. So your payments will no doubt be higher than they otherwise would have been. After two or three years your payments could end up being more than you can afford to pay.

What this approach offers is the opportunity for a borrower to make drastically reduced payments for a short period of time. Its most common use is for people who have short term cash flow problems, or when a borrower sees his or her financial situation improving in a year or two.

**The right mortgage makes a difference**

While it is becoming more difficult to qualify for a home mortgage, and more expensive to afford one, there are still money saving deals available from many different sources. But you have to know how to find those sources, and that's why it is so important to deal with an experienced professional advisor you can trust. Look for someone who has in-depth knowledge of the current home mortgage situation and who is experienced in dealing with situations like yours.

The best advisor is a broker with a great deal of experience and many different lenders to draw on. That kind of broker can find an affordable home mortgage for almost everyone.