Mortgage interest rates as low as 2% ... if you can land the loan

Here is a gift that can keep on giving. But it may be as elusive as landing a Zhu Zhu toy for your kid by Christmas.

If you're struggling to make home-mortgage payments and losing your home is a real possibility, some banks are offering sweet deals on loans, some with rates as low as 2%, according to CNNMoney. About 80% of loan modifications in the second quarter of this year resulted in lower payments, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Three months ago that number was about 50%. Unbelievably, only 4% of all homeowners in need of so-called "workouts" are getting them.

Why? One reason is that not all banks are on board the loan-modification train. Also, many people are unaware of programs to help struggling homeowners, and some prefer to just walk away, thinking they can't possibly get a new loan, brokers say. That's a shame, because borrowers who lower their monthly payments by 20% or more re-defaulted only 34% compared with the 63% who didn't.