First time home buyers, borrowers with less than great credit scores and people looking to avoid a down payment are all going to find it's getting harder to get a home loan these days. Robyn Volbrecht, a real estate loan officer at First Interstate Bank says, "There were a lot of programs, maybe even a year ago where you didn't have to put a lot of money down. They still based stuff on credit scores, but for the most part it was pretty easy to get a loan. You may not have even had to have a job."

Even though Billings and Montana are fairly insulated from the national housing crisis, if you want to buy a house here, your credit score is going to count more than ever and you're going to be pressured for that down payment.

"They're steering people more towards FHA type loans. Conventional loans are the ones cracking down on credit scores and down payment. So they're pushing people towards FHA type loans where you can get away with 3% down." says Robyn. Federal Housing Administration loans generally have less rigid requirements than conventional loans.

The less you want to put down, the better your credit has to be. It's very difficult these days to get away with not making any down payment. To put just 3% down, you'll have to have around a 680 credit score. But don't put away the American dream of owning a home just yet. "You definitely want to get with a lender to begin with. Get pre-qualified. Make sure your credit score is going to be okay. Talk with a lender about your different down payment options." suggests Robyn.

And if you're still having trouble, these stricter standards are supposedly just temporary. It also appears a lot of these lending standards won't tighten up until June 1st.