For homebuyers, mortgages are safer but tougher to come by

Keri Weishaar lives in a spacious, four-bedroom house near Tampa, Florida, thanks to the easy financing that prevailed during last decade’s housing boom. “It was basically nothing to get into this house,” said Weishaar, 48, who bought the house in the spring of 2003 after obtaining a no-money down, adjustable-rate mortgage. Then again, Weishaar and