Realtor/Lender Frustrations!!

After the Feds made it easy for the banks to make buttloads by loaning to people who didn't qualify, the economy crashed when the bubble burst, leading the Feds to spank the banks for making bad loans (that the government, under Clinton, told them to make).

The pendulum has swung back to where it's really hard to qualify for conventional loans.

Your other option is hard money until you get your credit score up, but the interest rates will be a lot higher (10%-12%), probably interest only, 30 due in 3 - 30 due in 5 (so you re-fi as soon as you can get approved for a conventional loan to get your interest rate down to a competitive rate).

Oh yeah, the government, making student loans readily available caused tuition to rise to meet the increased amount of money available to be spent on college, which is part of why your student loan payments are so high.

BTW, the Fed lowering interest rates had a similar impact on the housing market - suddenly people could qualify for a lot bigger loan so, guess what, prices went up. (Happened in the 70s when banks started counting the wife's income toward the loan payment - prices went up 50% - 60% in pretty short order).

Don't blame capitalism - blame government corporatism