Tell Congress: 20% Down Payments Put the American Dream Out of Reach

Could your clients afford a 20% down payment? The 20% down payments will put the American Dream out of reach for most families. Could you afford it? Can you envision what your prospective client pool will look like if new regulations governing Qualified Residential Mortgages (QRM) take effect this year?

Neither can we. And neither can many elected officials in Congress who did not intend for these regulatory provisions to be so narrowly defined. We must continue our efforts to explain how detrimental the new QRM rules would be to the ongoing housing and lending crisis in America.

According to NAR Research, 60% of recent home buyers made less than a 20% down payment, and it would take 14 years for a typical person to save up a 20% down payment to buy a median-priced home.

I am not in favor or returning to the no or minimal down payment loans that got us in to trouble in the past, but a reasonable downpayment of say 10% or 12% would at least make it feasible for the great majority of individuals looking to buy a home. For more information about this read QRM and Risk Retention (the Dodd Frank Act).

If you agree that this would damage an already fragile real estate industry, then take action now! Go to the NAR Call To Action and let your congressmen know what you think.