ST. PAUL, Minn. - As Minnesotans slowly move out from under the housing crisis, more and more experts believe the worst is behind us.
Which begs the question: Have we learned from what we've left behind?
"There's no question we've learned from the mistakes that we made," said Tom Musil, D.P.A
Musil, a real estate expert and University of St. Thomas professor, sure thinks so.
"We've learned from all quarters about disclosure, better financial literacy for housing consumers and understanding what they're getting into," he said.
He believes tighter regulations have helped and understanding the risks have too. Years ago, it seemed anyone could give a loan and anyone could get one, he said.
"The idea that someone could get a mortgage without verification of the income, without verification of credit-worthiness, without verification obligations is insanity," said Musil.
The standards now for lenders as opposed to four or five years ago are a lot higher. But some wonder if they are too high and void of common sense.
"The regulations have over corrected us," said Kristin Wilson, a loan officer.
For nearly 30 years, Wilson has been helping homeowners get loans.
She is all for tougher regulation, in fact, she says it got rid of most, if not all the incompetent and predatory lenders that she believes contributed to the housing mess.
But now she believes we are committing another mistake by making it too difficult to get a loan.
She points to a recent client who was 45 cents off on what he said was in his bank account.
"And (it) almost blew a $700,000 closing for 45 cents. This happens," she said.
So while things have gotten better, most experts believe the learning continues.
"I'm proud to say as an American I don't think we'll make the same mistakes, I think we'll make others," said Musil with a smile.
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