Troubles on Wall Street are finding their way to Main Street.

Tom Smith, DeKalb resident and owner of confectioneries in both DeKalb and Sycamore, remembered when his company first started in 1982, during another tough economic time.

“People didn’t think we would survive but we’re still here, 26 years later,” he said.
Smith said his business has currently been seeing a downturn but he thinks his business will survive.

“We can deal with it,” Smith said. “I’m not worried.”

In DeKalb, interest rates and loan availability will likely be affected for everyday consumers. Local mortgage loans can be affected in different ways due to Wall Street’s happenings, said Dan Smith, president of Source 1 Mortgage Inc., 1430 DeKalb Ave., in Sycamore.

Since the recovery of the housing market has slowed, many decisions made by the federal government have a large effect locally.

The federal government is looking to spend $700 billion to buy all mortgage-related debt, which is expected to stabilize the market and bring interest rates down, Dan Smith said.

However, the government will need to print money to buy all of the debt, which weakens the dollar and causes inflation that has the potential to raise interest rates, he said.

DeKalb resident Becky Beck said she knows the economy is at a very severe point and she’s angry but not panicking.

“We haven’t been told how it’s going to be handled,” she said, adding she hasn’t done anything with her money in response to the struggling economy.

The availability and cost of loans at local banks has the potential to be changed by the everyday consumer.

On Sept. 17, banks stopped trading with each other because they feared customers would withdraw money invested in the banks, said Bob Schroeder, president of Illinois Community Credit Union in DeKalb. When customers pull money out of their investments, it raises the interest rates of many loans.

The Illinois Community Credit Union, 1500 Barber Greene Road, is a small community bank with 8,000 members who deposit and invest money. Both the money from members and that borrowed from other institutions are used to give out loans.

Since customer money is a large part of what is used for loans, banks can run out of money for loans. With a smaller supply of money, banks will likely increase interest rates paid by the bank to attract more customers to deposit money, Schroeder said.

When the cost to get money increases, interest rates of loans are likely to increase too, he said.

The whole country is equally affected, said John Lake, a licensed mortgage broker and mortgage consultant at Home Mortgage and Loan Consulting, 533 E. Lincoln Highway, in DeKalb.

The consultation company advises customers on the details of loans and whether or not they are being overcharged.

Lake said business used to be strong, with plenty of competition and customers trying to get the best possible loan. Now, with few deals available, customers are less concerned about the actual loan details.

“They’re just ecstatic to get a loan,” he said.

It appears that DeKalb residents won’t be affected, yet.

“There’s too much going on to see how it all will actually pan out,” Lake said.

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