Here are some comments people have made to me over the past few weeks:

• Are you still in business?

• How are things, are you okay?

• Are you only lending money to people who don't need it?

• Do you have to put more than 20 percent down to get a mortgage?

• Can anybody qualify anymore?

Do you get my drift? Mortgage news is every day news, with foreclosures on the rise and delinquencies an everyday item. "Lenders Tighten Credit Guidelines!" blare the headlines.

The fact is that lenders didn't tighten guidelines in as much as they just got rid of the loan programs that started all this mess. What hasn't gone away are the traditional, make sense mortgage programs that have been around for decades.

Can you say Fannie Mae, FHA and VA? Perhaps those loans simply became too "boring" over the past few years when the rage was the all-too-chic "stated income, interest only payment option ARM with negative amortization possible." Wee-hooo! Let's party!

These conventional and government-backed mortgage programs were the staple of the mortgage industry for years until the phoenix-style rise of the "alternative" and "subprime" offerings.

But those stalwarts haven't gone away and they're still there. I know for a fact because I just closed an FHA loan yesterday that had a 3 percent down payment with a 5.75 percent interest rate. Heck, by combining that same FHA loan with a government down payment assistance program one can still get a no money down loan.

And did I mention VA loans? They're still around for the picking for those who qualify.

Conforming loans are still here and as healthy as ever with competitive rates to match and no, one doesn't need 20 percent to be approved.

These loans didn't tighten their guidelines. And lenders who offer such programs are certainly still in business and in areas where real estate is still moving (yes, there are such areas despite the headlines) mortgage companies are enjoying a nice little boom in business these past few months.

The concern is that homebuyers, especially first timers, are sitting on the sidelines mistakenly believing they can't qualify because they don't have 20 percent down or that their credit isn't up to snuff due to all the "credit tightening" going down.

Nothing could be further from the truth. If you've got a job and you've established some credit then go buy that house. There are plenty of tried and true mortgage loans just waiting to be had. Go get one!

Published: March 7, 2008

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, a veteran Mortgage Banker, successful Real Estate Consultant and author of Your Guide to VA Loans, Mortgages 101: Quick Answers to Over 250 Critical Questions About Your Home Loan, Who Says You Can't Buy a Home!, and Mortgage Confidential: What You Need to Know That Your Lender Won't Tell You, is a former columnist and Contributing Editor with San Diego-based Mortgage Originator Magazine. Reed is President of CD Reed Mortgage Bankers, Austin, TX and is a Past President of the Austin Mortgage Bankers Association.