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Clay's Blog

In Defense of ARMs

With the recent credit crunch, commentators have rushed to blame whomever they can find: borrowers, lenders, the Federal Reserve -- anyone who deals in dollars.

But perhaps no one has taken more blame than those lenders who dealt in adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). Some media coverage has even suggested that if it weren't for ARMs, the market would still be booming.

Yes, there have been problems. A few disreputable lenders extended credit beyond their borrowers' ability to repay their loans. Some borrowers deceived themselves into buying more home than they could afford. Income and assets weren't verified. And credit was extended where it should not have been. Often, it was a combination of these factors.

But the key point is the problem wasn't with adjustable-rate mortgages, per se. Rather, it was with

The Truth About the Mortgage Market

By Clay Edwards, Mortgage Advisor
Fireside Mortgage

Subprime mortgages have now been credited for bankrupting well over 110 lenders and seriously damaging operations at many major mortgage firms. They've reportedly wiped out 5 hedge funds, tens of thousands of jobs, and have led to millions of foreclosures with millions more on the way. And, as if that weren't enough, subprime mortgages are also blamed for massive volatility in the stock, bond, credit, futures, and real estate markets here in the US and around the globe. Some say losses in the mortgage securities market alone could reach hundreds of billions of dollars this year.

This means that, for any Americans looking to buy, sell, or refinance a home, they are confronting a very different market from the one that ..

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