Dear Jan: I imagine that loans are hard to come by right now. We are thinking about buying a piece of land. Are there any lenders who will still do land loans? DE

Dear DE: Good question. Loans are still easy to come by – for the right borrowers. Just like in the good old days, what is important today is the borrower’s credit score. If you have pretty good credit you can still get home loans AND land loans. Land loans do require a bigger down payment than homes, typically 10 percent.

I have many great land listings right now and in the last two weeks, I have had two of them written up with financing contingencies where the buyers are already pre-approved for the land loans. We will close as soon as the feasibility studies are complete.

Try to remember the news you read and hear is the national picture. Yes, it is scary. But so far over here in Kitsap County, we are doing OK. I am seeing the market pick up and have just closed on several sales. Call your agent; they can tell you which lenders are doing land loans.

If you have a real estate question you would like answered, e-mail Jan Zufelt at janzufelt@telebyte.com; put KCN in the subject line.