Last week I went to another overpriced open house and there on the couch was a representative from Countrywide who basically told me I had to come up with 10 percent down to a buy a house now. (I know, quelle surprise to me!)

I kind of felt the seller was a bit presumptuous having a loan consultant there (who just had a financial bailout or two.) I guess she was trying to justify asking $100,000 more than her house was worth.

But it turns out it’s part of Countrywide’s new plan to expand business:

In an effort to help home buyers better understand today’s home financing options, Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., will enlist more than 7,000 home loan consultants to visit residential open houses across the country over the next six weeks to provide an array of mortgage financing options for customers.

Dubbed “America’s Open House,” Countrywide’s sales team will join forces with local real estate agents at weekend open houses to educate home buyers about the basics of the real estate market and give them the tools they need to shop for a home.

Countrywide’s home loan consultants will offer mortgage options for specific open-house properties. With a pre-approval in hand, home buyers will know how much house they can afford and, perhaps more importantly, can shop with increased confidence.

Because we all know it was the lagging confidence that was keeping us from buying, and certainly not the price.