Another Bank Giant in Trouble?

The government just can’t rescue everyone, which is evidenced in Lehman Brothers Holdings bankruptcy filing.  Lehman is the fourth largest U.S. investment bank filed for bankruptcy Monday.  This is the largest ever bankruptcy filed since Lehman held $600 billion in assets.  The government has already had to bail out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as well as take on some of the risks of pushing Bears Stearns into the arms of JPMorgan Chase a few months ago.  Lehman has taken a huge impact on the market leaving the Dow down 500 points on Monday.  Let’s not forget to mention Merrill Lynch’s problems.  Bank of America is bailing them out with a $50-billion all-stock deal.  This just goes to show everyone is vulnerable.  Do not go over the FDIC insurance limit of $100,000 for a single person, $200,000 for a married couple on the same account because you run the risk of never recovering the overrage.

What does this mean to homebuyers in the Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg real estate market?  I don’t think it will make a big difference because there are still many banks that are willing to give home loans to qualified candidates.  Candidates are going to need a good credit rating so a potential homebuyer really needs to order their credit reports and make sure there are no mistakes.

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Tags: home loans, homebuyers, mortgage, Tampa Bay area real estate