THIS IS A REAL MORTGAGE MELTDOWN

It's becoming an all to familiar scenario. Another victim of the mortgage meltdown. Another homeowner that I can't help. Another borrower that doesn't qualify for a mortgage refinance. Yes. Those are the ones that hurt. It doesn't feel quite as bad telling someone that doesn't already own a home that they don't qualify to purchase a home. It's a whole different story when you have to tell someone that is already in their home that you can't help them get refinanced. You can hear the pain in their voices. The homeowners tell you they don't know how much longer they can hang on. They're out of money, out of home equity and out of gas. They've used up their savings.
The saddest part is that I am not just talking about borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages. Oh no, I'm talking about your average homeowner. A homeowner that is having a hard time making their monthly mortgage payment. Their homeowners insurance has sky rocketed here in South Florida. It's doubled or tripled for some homeowners. And Florida real estate taxes are out of this world. In Broward County they are 2% of the value of your home. On a $300,000 home your taxes would be $6,000 per year.
It's crazy but the mortgage meltdown is something that has been brewing here in Florida for quite some time. It wasn't just Florida that the mortgage meltdown was brewing. It was brewing in any area that was hot. Phoenix, Los Angeles and of course Las Vegas. Properties were appreciating so fast that lenders were doing crazy mortgages. How about a $800,000 mortgage with no money down? That's 100% financing. And this was a stated income/stated asset mortgage. All you needed was a good credit score and you were the proud owner of a brand new home. The best part. You invested none of your own money. Sweet, wasn't it?
When homes were appreciating mortgage money was loose and mortgage lenders were practically giving money away. You didn't have to have good credit. You didn't have to prove your income and you didn't need any assets.
Homeowners found themselves suddenly property rich. They wanted to get at their home equity and lenders were only to happy to oblige. It really was a bubble that had to burst.
Now that properties are losing value the mortgage money has dried up. Mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers are going out of business everyday. Credit is tight right now in mortgage lending. The subprime mortgage market is all but gone. Homeowners that had maxed out on their cash out thinking that home appreciation would go on forever were suddenly in over their heads. The difference now is that they don't have the equity in their homes to use as a life preserver.
It's sad, but true. We are in a mortgage meltdown.