Bob Duquette is the owner of Adirondack Funding Services in Plattsburgh and president-elect of the New York Association of Mortgage Brokers. He has been in the business for more than 30 years and can match customers with loans from more than 30 mortgage companies.

"Like any business, there are cycles you go through," he said, adding that only 20 percent of his business is in the subprime area. As a result, the impact hasn't been severe.

"The impact on my business initially, we saw about 20 percent of our business decline," he said. "However, the conventional side went on fairly well."

Others across the nation haven't been so lucky. "A lot of companies popped up that a majority of their business was in the subprime," he said, explaining that most were in large metropolitan areas, and many of these have been hard hit. "The housing industry in the North Country is much more stable."

In this area, he said, the role of a broker is to match people looking for houses to an available product. This has become more difficult, especially with new federal regulations designed to tighten lending requirements.

It's been a challenge mastering all these new rules. There have been so many changes on what the lending standards are, it's more difficult to fit the potential homeowner into different kinds of financing. "The lending standards have been raised considerably," Duquette said.

A second problem, Duquette said, is that the economy, with the increased cost of food, fuel and other commodities, has put a strain on homeowners trying to keep up with their payments. And, because many of the more creative loans are no longer available, there are fewer financial products available out there now for them to turn to if they need to refinance.

It was late in 2007, he said, that the declining economy and the mortgage crisis combined to form a perfect storm that now has adversely affected mortgage writers, realtors, appraisers, lawyers and has left many thousands of people in the financial community out of work.

"It was like Hurricane Katrina in a way," he said, when the flood waters came in and the dykes started breaking. "This was the effect on a national basis, but mostly in areas of high-priced homes."

This had a ripple effect across the country, but "by the time it gets to the North Country, the ripples are smaller."

A third component of the problem, he said, is because the economy on an overall basis was affected in so many areas, consumer confidence began to suffer. "Potential homebuyers decided to wait and see what happens," Duquette said. "There are a lot of people sitting on the fence waiting for the bottom."

Now, he believes, if things aren't at the bottom, they are very near it. "I know that in our market, values are stabilizing," he said. "I think it all comes down to consumer confidence."

In fact, he said, with an abundance of housing inventory and low interest rates, it's a good time to get back in. He said there are still good financial deals out there, many of the government-backed variety, that offer low down payments, closing-cost assistance and don't require perfect credit.

While not a big fan of government regulation, Duquette does see one plus coming from government legislation designed to help assist the housing market. More education will be required for mortgage originators, which is something the New York Association of Mortgage Brokers has been advocating for, and Duquette is certified to be an instructor.

He said this will ensure more consumer protection, more professionalism in the industry and "more knowledgeable loan originators to give consumers better advice."