If you have not been keeping up on the news then let me bring you a little closer to the current reality that is the real estate loans market. Millions of borrowers have already defaulted on their home loans, causing lenders more grief than they ever imagined possible. And at the same time, the rising costs of oil, food and a slowing economy have contributed to one of the more lackluster real estate markets and mortgage banking markets that has ever been seen in the US.

One of the main contributing factors is that many of the banks who lost their butts in the mortgage crisis have either gone under or been bought out by larger bank branches to avoid filing bankruptcy. At the same time however, one person's tragedy is another person's whole hearted opportunity—and thus the wheels of Capitalism keep on turning—which is why you can still get the best mortgage rates even despite a slowing economy and a nearly broken mortgage industry that is desperately trying to recover.

How hard is it to get approved for a real estate loan in today's market? The truth of the matter is that it really is no more difficult to get approved for real estate loans today than it was ten years ago, the mortgage lenders have just had to make some modifications to the way that they do business so that they can avoid experiencing the fallout that they did so recently, and so that they can continue to stay in business.

What caused the mortgage crisis was too many people taking out home loans that they could not afford and the banks in turn, approving too many people when they should have known better. But as the smoke clears, plenty of people are getting approved with some of the best mortgage rates ever, and the market only has a little bit of an impact on that; the banks still need to lend qualified borrowers money; that is how the banks make money.

Why did banks have to raise their rates? Some of the mortgage lenders out there have raised their rates or fees, but only slightly from what they once were. This is for a variety of reasons. The slowing economy is one, which always contributes to banks having to raise their rates so they can sustain the same income off fewer people. Another reason is inflation and the rising costs of fuel and gas, which all contribute to things being more costly, especially when running a business. The banks have also had to adjust their fees so that they can make back some of the billions of dollars in bad debt that they have had to write off due to the credit card crisis and the mortgage crisis, so that they can stay in business and make through this temporary financial impasse.

How do you find a good loan officer? The key to getting the best mortgage rate on real estate loans lies in the mortgage loan officer that you choose to originate those loans on your behalf. Looking for a good loan officer can be hard work because you need to assure that they are honest and reliable, and that they will safeguard your personal and private, confidential information from others. A good loan officer will have relationships with many good lenders and will be able to utilize those relationships to find you the best deal on a home loan as possible.