David Lentz

Pulse of the U.S. Housing Market

First time home buyers should focus on building up quite substantial down payments, MUCH more than they ever dreamed of having to provide.

If they cannot do that, lenders will not give them the time of day, even after these terrible times in the housing market are behind us, as the memories of it will linger on.

No more zero-down (or 5 per cent down, or even 10 per cent down) mortgages should be expected until a new generation of lenders arrives, eager to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.

Cheap mortgage money is not the answer -- a robust economy and different mindset toward buying a home is.