Bank officials say borrowers becoming more responsible
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"If all goes as promised and as planned right now we should see businesses beginning to reinvest in their companies. We should see inventories increasing. We should see jobs opening up and that leads to a greater economy." Flagstar Bank Loan Officer Mary Jane Dewey-Canfield says the government bailout plan should help the economy eventually recover from it's recent fall. But for right now she says mortgages are still available. "Renters right now can buy a house right now for less than they can rent. So this has been a good time to start shopping and looking at investing in a home." But Dewey-Canfield says the mass foreclosures started because borrowers got into mortgages they couldn't afford. "A lot of companies got into trouble because people got into loans that were way above their means. And when the market went down, they lost the equity in the homes, and then they were left with nothing. So our goal is to make sure we're getting the client into a house that's affordable."
Katy Huckle, the loan officer at Citizens Bank says all of the foreclosure horror stories have actually made borrowers more responsible. "I've been doing this for 12 years and for the first time in my career I actually have home buyers saying to me what do you think I can afford? I didn't fall in love with a house and then come to the bank. I'm coming to the bank to say what can I actually afford based on what I make and my existing debt? And that's so refreshing because we want to get people off on the right foot. We don't want to over extend them and we want them to be able to create a successful future right out of the gate with their first home."
