You may have, just maybe, heard a news story or two (thousand) about the economy. In broadcast journalism, the practice of coining a few catchy phrases and repeating them ad nauseum, has become the rule of the day. You know what I mean. One begins to wonder if certain words can be uttered without certain others. Try to say “downpour” without saying “torrential”, or “controversy” without “firestorm of”. Or “credit” without “meltdown”.

Go ahead. Just try.

But the thing is, there can be downpours that aren’t torrential and not all credit is in meltdown.

There is mortgage money to be loaned. And the lenders want to make you these loans. They don’t make money unless they loan money. (Commercial credit, now that’s another creature and is not to what I refer here.)

The catch is that you have to have a job, a decent FICO score and some money to put down, none of which is unreasonable if you want to borrow money. And it’s the way it always was up until things got wacky in the lending world, what with the “no doc” loans, borrowers with FICO scores lower than their bowling scores and 0% down.

But things are mostly back to normal in regards to lending requirements. And rates are great. My friend and colleague, Christie Caldwell, sent out these rates a couple of hours ago.

Assuming a purchase price of $250,000 rates looked something like this, using the FICO/LTV/Interest Rate model:

• 680/95%/5.50%
• 680/90%/5.50%
• 680/80%/6.00%

• 700/95%/5.50%
• 700/90%/5.50%
• 700/80%/5.875%

• 720/95%/5.375%
• 720/90%/5.375%
• 720/80%/5.50%

• 740/95%/5.375%
• 740/90%/5.375%
• 740/80%/5.50%

If your FICO is below 680, you can still get a loan, but you’ll be looking at paying more for ‘points’. And a gold star to the first one to see where things may seem a bit odd in this. [HINT: put down more, pay higher rate?]

Keep in mind that rates can change frequently. As in, several times a day. But these are good guidelines for where things are in general. Also, a borrower’s rate will be impacted by the amount financed, debt/income ratio, etc.,

Again, these numbers are a guide for today. Around noon. Before I go get another cup of coffee.

Just know that the torrential downpour of news items covering the firestorm of controversy about the credit meltdown may be missing some of the facts regarding mortgages.

Tags: Christie Caldwell, down payment requirements, Elm Street Mortgage, FICO score, Greensboro mortgage lender, Greensboro real estate, interest rates, LTV, mortgage rates, qualify for mortgage

The following is a list of vendors, shops, restaurants, service people, etc., with whom I personally have had good experiences. With a nod to Angie’s List and Craigslist, this is my own little corner of the world, recommendation-wise….

Home Repair & Improvement:Durango Home Repair Only the best, that’s all. And this is a vendor I REALLY love. He’s my cute husband!

Mortgage Lender: Very simply, if you’re getting a mortgage in Greensboro, NC, or anywhere near here, Christie Caldwell of Elm Street Mortgage is the best there is. No question. She is a mortgage banker, not a broker. She doesn’t make cheesy loans. She has been doing this exact thing for over 25 years. If that’s not enough to convince you, I sent my own wonderful son to her when he was buying his first house in Raleigh. When she says you’re good to go. This is no time to mess around. She’s the only lender to use. Period.

Auto Repair:Webster’s Imports Owner Roger Webster seems a bit grumpy (really just an aridly dry sense of humor) but he runs an impeccably clean shop and stands by the work done there.

Appliance Repair : A & B Appliance Repair. They show up when they say and have always found a way to make things work in the least expensive way possible. They’ve repaired my fancy-shmancy fridge, my old dryer and my high-efficiency washer. We’ll probably start the rotation over soon!

Tags: AP, Christie Caldwell, Elm Street Mortgage, Greensboro