Five Reasons Why it Takes Forever to get a Mortgage

Just a list of a few things that are slowing up mortgage lending:

The first-time homebuyer tax credit:  The first-time homebuyer tax credit has been extended because it is a good thing.  It is getting all kinds of families into homeownership.  It is a classic demand-side strategy. After years of supply-side economics, isn’t it interesting to see how well demand-side policies can work? The homebuyer credit isn’t the only successful demand-side strategy.  Everyone was pretty happy with the cash-for-clunkers program, too.  Regardless, the homebuyer tax credit does come with some paperwork.  While it is bringing a lot of buyers to the table, banks are having to work through their applications on the credit.  A banker I spoke to today said this was the number one thing holding closings up.

Low appraisals:  Lenders can provide borrowers with conditional loan approvals, but until an appraisal comes (more…)