According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Condo buyers who sat out last year’s real estate market, waiting for prices to bottom out or their own financial footing to improve, find themselves in an enviable situation.

Prices have plunged, and mortgage interest rates, while slowly rising, remain near 5 percent, creating the best home affordability in decades for consumers who qualify for loans.

There’s just one problem. It’s not just the borrower who has to be up to snuff; it’s the building, too, and there are buildings that lenders won’t touch.

Among the deal killers: too many renters in a building, pending litigation, inadequate association reserves and delinquent assessments. Those are some of the criteria lenders must look at in order to sell the loan toFannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the troubled, government-sponsored entities, and the Federal Housing Administration, the first choice for many first-time homebuyers. Combined, the three agencies account for about 90 percent of the secondary loan market.

“There’s a lot more due diligence,” said Brandon Beswick, Richmond regional manager for C&F Mortgage Corp.

“We’re seeing some backlash from the days when money was loosey goosey,” said Bill White, president ofJoyner Fine Properties in Richmond.

The average down payment on condos is 20 percent of the loan amount, compared with 10 percent or even 5 percent on single-family houses, White said.

What’s more, lenders are taking into consideration homeowner association fees and including those fees with mortgage payments to determine whether borrowers qualify. “It’s tougher to qualify for condominiums.”

Also, a majority of units in a condo complex needs to be owner occupied to get the best interest rates, Whitesaid. That requirement can be tough for newer condo buildings.

Agents and lenders say they are seeing more developers, condo associations and individual owners in economic distress, and, as a result, so are buildings.

“Anybody who can’t hang on anymore, that stuff is starting to come out,” said Eric Rojas, a PrudentialRubloff agent in Chicago. “We have people who want to buy units and sellers who want to sell units, and it’s not going to happen.”

Added Gail Lissner, a vice president at Appraisal Research Counselors: “Someone told me it’s called mortgage jail because you just can’t get out. That’s a scary problem.”

Real estate agents have learned from experience what buildings to steer buyers clear of, and in other cases they are investigating a building’s health before they schedule showings. Meanwhile, some lenders maintain a frequently updated list of “blackballed” condo buildings, where they know a loan won’t get approved. They also are working with homeowner associations to improve their building’s lending potential by improving financial reserves and limiting the number of condo units that are turned into rentals.

The situation is slowing any recovery of the condo market, often the housing of choice for first-time buyers. Owners in troubled buildings aren’t able to refinance, and sellers who want or need to sell find thin ranks of buyers.

The requirements are thwarting the plans of some potential purchasers, who have abandoned their searches and remain renters.

Others continue to pore through real estate listings after finding that the condo they thought was perfect for them isn’t so perfect after all.

Some lenders will look past a problem in a building and still offer to take the loan and hold it in their own portfolio, but that acceptance comes at a price. The borrower’s credit has to be stellar, they have to make a sizable down payment, and the loan will carry a higher interest rate.

Goodbye to the armoire and the dining room (in many cases, the living room, too). Hello to the home office.

Repurposed rooms, recycled materials and an increasingly relaxed decorating style characterize the end of a decade that began as a party on a grand scale.

These are among the home décor trends cited by experts as the 2000s drew to a close.

In the past 10 years, the formal living room in most homes has been reinvented — it’s now a library, workspace, perhaps a music or game room. Many are now willing to buy a new home without a living room at all, according to a survey this spring by the American Institute of Architects. What we want is some combination of kitchen and great room where the family can interact. Homes are more laid-back and user-friendly.

The most well-liked rooms now are the home office, mud room and media room, the survey indicated. What we don’t want so much anymore? Three-car garages, guest rooms and formal living rooms.

While the economic downturn has caused people to scale back their dream-home wish lists, “households are using their homes as intensely as ever,” AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker noted in the group’s newsletter this fall.

Technology has continued to transform the home. At a recent housing industry conference, Steven Bomberger of Delaware-based Benchmark Homes said, “Ten years ago, baby boomers didn’t know how to program their VCR. Now they want computers, structured wiring, programmable thermostats and security systems.”

We’re also getting comfortable with terms like low-VOC paint, sustainable flooring, home energy management and wireless telecommunication.

Some trends in the past 10 years:

McMansions

At the start of the 2000s, many jumped on the real estate thrill ride. McMansions, gobblers of space andenergy dollars, became ubiquitous. Now, we’re rethinking how we live, says Jennifer Boles, founder of The Peak of Chic design blog and contributing editor to House Beautiful.

“Some homes had five or six rooms dedicated to living and relaxing, despite the fact that most of us really only spend time in two or three,” she says.

Oversize furniture like sectionals and big coffee tables, popular at the start of the decade, are being scaled down.

However, one oversize space remains popular. “Spa baths have staying power,” says Tampa, Fla.-basedkitchen and bath designer Jamie Goldberg. “They tie into several current trends: creating comfortable environments for aging, bringing back the luxuries of travel and spending more time in our homes.”

Homegoods’ Philip Tracey adds, “The spa bathroom is the new two-car garage — a must-have if you ever want to sell your home.”

Living al fresco

“The outdoor room’s really been one of the biggest changes. Everyone has an outdoor space now, even if it’s tiny,” says Elle Decor’s Cheminne Taylor-Smith. “With seating, dining, even kitchens and sleeping pieces, these rooms are treated like their indoor counterparts.”

Firepits, weather-resistant fabrics and furniture, and commercial quality heaters extend the outdoor season.

Green living

After a long fallow period, gardening took off in the past few years. From containers to victory gardens, we’ve got our hands back in the dirt. We’re concerned about the provenance of produce, and about our carbon footprint — how many thousands of miles did that tomato travel? Renewed interest in environmental stewardship starts literally in the backyard. We’re digging up the lawn and planting native greenery that requires little maintenance or water. We’re putting down less pesticide. More of us are composting.

Indoors, notes Boles, “being green moved from the fringe into mainstream design.” We started demandingpaint and other home products that were enviro-friendly. Sustainably harvested wood became a selling feature. Many designers embraced the trend, giving us beautiful art and furniture made of recycled materials. Now your kitchen counter may have once been a truckload of soda bottles, your sheets may be bamboo, and solar panels can power everything from hot water heaters to patio lighting.

Creative living

We’re spending about $260 billion a year on home-improvement projects, according to the Housing Industry Research Council. That’s up about $90 billion from 2000. Empowered by informative blogs, magazines and TV shows, the DIY boom continues.

We’re turning linen closets into offices, embellishing IKEA stock furniture, and repurposing what we already own in clever, practical ways. Designing on a dime, or close to it, has become a hobby.

With more creative freedom now to express our personalities at home, the world became our inspirational marketplace. Global crafts found a wider audience. Mainstream stores like Target and Pottery Barn brought decorative pieces from every corner of the planet to our doorstep, and design became more eclectic than ever before.

The relaxing life

We’ve loosened up. It’s OK to have the computer and TV in the heart of the home. There’s been a shift toward a more practical, casual lifestyle over the past decade.

As designer Mark Hampton says, “Real comfort, visual and physical, is vital to every room.”

Suites of furniture? Passé. Untouchable formal rooms? Over. We’re comfortable mixing and matching — a major shift from the’80s and’90s, when people mostly picked one style for the whole home.

Other hallmarks of the decade include: stainless steel appliances, granite counters, mid-century modern furniture, media furniture, Wi-Fi, home theaters, organics, Scandinavian design, Craftsman style, ottomans, wallpaper, cherry cabinetry, low-profile home-entertainment systems (flat screens, mini speakers, integrated components — many of them standing free, released from the 1990s media armoire), less-is-more window treatments, high pigment one-coat paints.