Hang on, young man, things are bound to get better

Q: I have been following this story (about the national credit crunch and the proposed bailout of Wall Street financial firms), and I am having trouble seeing how this is going to affect me.

I am transferring to Texas A&M next year into the Air Force ROTC there and I will be living on campus. I already own my car outright and I have never even had a credit card.

Is this even going to have any immediate effect on me? And eventually I am going to need to start building credit and buy a house. How is this going to affect me then? -- Matt C., Las Vegas

A: Unless you're one of the lucky few in this country who only pay cash for the things you buy, I'm afraid the so-called credit crunch will eventually impact you as it does all of us.

You mentioned that you're moving to Texas to attend college and plan to live on campus.

When that changes, the turmoil we're seeing in the national economy will almost certainly affect the price and availability of the housing you'll need when you go looking for an apartment, condominium or single-family home.

As you suggested, the credit crunch will certainly impact your life when you start building credit and look into buying your first home.

Of course, if all goes well and if the unprecedented measures proposed by Congress and President Bush offer the help they are intended to provide, maybe things will be different by the time you're ready to buy a home.

Generally speaking, the tightening of the national financial markets is making it harder to get loans to buy homes, cars and just about anything else that most people want to finance.

It's also contributing to the ongoing slowdown in our local and national housing markets and the overall economy.

This, in turn, causes more people to lose their jobs and have less money to spend, which then has an adverse effect on homeownership and on the rest of the economy.

I'm a Realtor, not an economist. But, I tend to agree with some of the top local and national economic analysts who are now saying that this current downturn is one of the most significant economic challenges we've faced in generations.

For example, Jeremy Aguero, who runs the Las Vegas economic analysis firm Applied Analysis, has been quoted as saying it could be three years before the credit markets loosen.

Until then, he and other experts say, expect banks and other lenders to continue to tighten their lending standards.

Of course, that means it will be harder for would-be homeowners, especially first-time buyers like you, to get a mortgage loan to buy a home.

That's not to say that all hope is lost.

Nationally, our counterparts at the National Association of Realtors are urging Congress to pass legislation as soon as possible to address the credit crisis, especially in the financial and secondary mortgage markets.

Realtors believe the government's takeover of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, combined with a purchase of billions of dollars in distressed mortgage securities on Wall Street, will ultimately make it easier for home buyers to get a mortgage.

In a Sept. 23 letter to congressional leaders, NAR President Richard Gaylord wrote:

"It is crucial that Congress act immediately to restore confidence in the mortgage markets so non-government mortgage lending returns as an option for a full range of qualified borrowers.

"NAR supports responsible government intervention focused on restoring reasonable, market-based pricing of mortgage assets because it will benefit current homeowners, potential homebuyers, financial institutions, the economy and ultimately taxpayers."

Gaylord said the bailout legislation proposed in late September by President Bush will help more homeowners avoid foreclosure.

"Failure to pass legislation this session would be disastrous for homeowners and America's housing market," he said.

For more information, go to realtor.org, or contact an experienced local Realtor, who can help you work through these issues.

Patty Kelley is the president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors and has worked in the real estate industry for more than 30 years. To ask Kelley a question, e-mail her at ask@glvar.org. For more information, visit lasvegasrealtor.com.