How to refinance your mortage at just 2%

I recently received a fascinating inquiry:

What are the odds that the Fed could share the love with us? Home mortgage loans are still up at 5.6%-6.5%; isn't the Fed offering loans down at around 2%? I could afford a whole lot more house at that rate! Somehow I'd like to benefit from this recession.

Indeed, the Fed has devised several ways of loaning money since the onset of the current financial slaughter. In December the Fed created the "Term Auction Facility" to give out cheap loans -- the going rate in the last auction, March 24, was 2.615%. Unfortunately, you need to be a "depository institution" to participate, you only get to keep the money for 28 days, and you've got to fully collateralize, which means you can't just take the money and run.

Similarly, all the other recently-introduced methods of getting cheap money are irrelevant for common folk. That's why the Fed is sometimes referred to as the "banker's bank." Your best bet at getting access to cheap credit is to start your own bank.