Less regulation, more calculators

Now that the horse has long since left the barn and Ben Bernanke and the crew at the Federal Reserve have come under increasing scrutiny for a mortgage lending industry that was healthy as a horse a couple years ago but now appears more sickly everyday, the Fed comes out with ... online mortgage calculators.

Surely, this will be the cure for the mess of bad loan products and incomprehensible disclosure statements that permeate the home loan business - potential home buyers will be able to compare monthly payments for different kinds of loans and make informed decisions including all-important options for "building equity" by ... paying down the principle?

That sounds sooo last century - doesn't home equity just "build up" by holding onto a property and making the minimum possible monthly payment?


This is so confusing.

It was much simpler when the lender just provided the answer that the home buyer wanted to hear - that the half million dollar home they sooo desired could be theirs for only $1,600 a month with no money down.