It has to be said to those who have not been listening to any news on the TV, or reading any papers or to those people who have been living like an utter recluse, getting a mortgage today is just a little bit harder than it was 12 months ago. Oh and is that the understatement of 2008!

125% loan to value has disappeared so far away it just seems like it was only a dream in the first place. 100% mortgages are a complete no no. 95% are difficult, to say the least, and to get one of these you have to have the credit file of a financial virgin.

Self certification! Well don't get me started on that one. Most financial analysts feel that self certification mortgages have actually got us, in part, into this credit crunch in the first place. That is not to say that self certification can't be done, it is just to say that it is quite difficult to get it. Let's say, if you want it you probably can't have it, the only people that can have it probably don't want, or need it. This is a classic hard time lender principle, they only lend to people who don't want or need it, if you want and need it you don't qualify.

So all that said you are probably reading this thinking "I don't really want to know what I can't have", you are probably thinking "What can I have and how?" Good question and one I will endeavour to cover in this article.

Mortgage advice has always been a very complex process but it has to be said that since the credit crunch and the demise of 80% of the mortgage products available, it has become somewhat easier. This is because with fewer products to chose from the whole process is that much simpler.

The first thing you need to know is Equity is King, long live Equity! The less you have to borrow against the value of the house the easier you will find it getting a mortgage and that even means a self certification mortgage. Yes, even these can be easy mortgages to obtain if you have enough equity.

The second major element to getting a mortgage in this economic climate is income. OK we have talked about self cert, but ignoring that for a minute, if you have a very good income then lenders will lend to you, simple as that. The better your overall income is, the better you will find your chances are of getting a mortgage.

The third and final piece to this complex jigsaw of obtaining a mortgage is your credit file. A good credit file is all that stands between a lot of people and a good low rate mortgage. No missed mortgage payments, no missed loan payments and no defaults it is all key. You can have credit, that is not a problem but make sure it is "A paid". If it is not you will find that if you get a mortgage at all it will be loaded and that will cost you dearly well into the future.

So if you can meet the above requirements you may be in luck, you may just be able to buck the market conditions and get yourself a decent mortgage in a market that is getting harder and harder to do what essentially a year ago was as easy as riding a bike, good luck.

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