Everywhere you go people are talking about how credit availability has dried up — people can't get loans, people can't get Home Equity Lines of Credit. You'd almost think that it's true.

Credit is tighter, to be sure. In order to borrow money for a home these days you'l need a decent credit score and a down payment, probably 20%. That's the way it was before the foxes started guarding the henhouses. People saved up for years to buy a home. Maybe their parents pitched in some money to help with the down payment.

Unfortunately, in the last few years 80/20 or 80/10/10 home loans became popular. That simply means you borrow 80% of the price of the house for the regular mortgage, nothing unusual there, then borrow 20% to make the down payment so you will qualify for the 80% you just borrow. Or instead of one 20% loan, you might have two 10% loans.

Any way you slice it, that's 100% financing. People who got those loans thought their mortgage broker was very clever. "Out-foxing the system."

Why did lenders used to require 20% down? So you wouldn't be tempted to walk away and leave your $80,000 there if things got tough! Over a million buyers have walked away in the last year, either willingly or unwillingkly. About 1.2 million homes are in foreclosure.

So when people call and ask, "Will I be able to get a HELOC to do the equity cycling thing you talk about?" my answer is simple. "If you have good credit, and equity in your home, there should be no problem." (One other consideration is total debt load.)

What the collective consciousness seems to have forgotten is that not everyone has bad credit. Not everyone is over-extended. Not everyone in the middle class has three cars, a truck and a motorcycle. About a third of homeowners own their homes free and clear. And the percentage of people who want to be debt free, including free from mortgage debt, is growing.

They'll have perfect credit and no debt.