As of March 1st, there are stringent guidelines in obtaining a mortgage loan.   The news indicates there are a large number of foreclosures and those in that predicament fit into certain categories.   They have a couple of things in common.   For one, most had a credit score below 580 and received some type of down payments assistant. In other words they had a zero down program, didn’t have anything invested in the property and now are foreclosing.   So now there are no, no money down programs available. If you want to buy a home in today’s market, your credit score better be above 580 and make sure you have 3% of the loan to put down. So if you are buying a $100,000 house then you need at minimum $3,000 to put down plus closing costs. So you could be looking at about a total of $5000 at closing.   New builders are offering incentives like paying for closing costs but if you are going with a pre-owned then your real estate agent plays a crucial role. He or she  needs to go to bat for you and negotiate the seller pay some of the closing costs dependent on the type of loan you are working with. So make sure you keep up-to-date with all bill payments and put some money in the bank, and with a little discipline you can be in a better position when you go to buy your dream home.