If the U.S. government is going to be so incredibly involved in mortgages, should we just cut out the middlemen and have the government make mortgages directly to home buyers and save home buyers some money?
Or, at least, transition the current system to make the standard mortgage 20 years, portable, and with a Lower-Only Adjustable-Rate (LO-ARM), at least for government-supported mortgages.
And if the government (Fed) is going to own 1/3rd of all mortgage-backed securities in the country, why not require them to buy safer mortgages which would lower rates on those safer, sustainable mortgages? Why support higher-foreclosure mortgages that can destabilize households as well as the national economy?
Or should we get the government out of the mortgage business altogether and simply regulate the private, free-enterprise mortgage industry to ensure safe, sustainable mortgages that maximize free-and-clear home ownership? Emphasize safe, wealth-building mortgages, not more home sales and more mortgage debt.
It looks like the mortgage systems in some European countries, are more free market than in the U.S. The mortgage system in the U.S. seems more “socialist” than the system in Denmark, Sweden, and Hungary.
If the U.S. government is going to continue to direct the U.S. mortgage market, Americans should get a better deal.
76 Secrets of U.S. Home Ownership – Table of Contents