With the Real Estate crisis going on in our country today many families need help. If you have a Adjustable Rate Mortgage, Option Arm, Owe more than your Home is worth, Are behind in your payments, a Loan Modification may be the answer. Loss Mitigation and Loan Modification is a program that allows homeowners the chance to get better terms on their mortgages.

Not all Loan Modification Companies are the same though. If you are looking at this as a possible solution to your problem be careful. There are companies out there that charge a non refundable deposit even if they get you no result. I would recommend you stay away from those firms. Deal with a company that gives you a 100% money back guarantee if they do not produce a positive result for you. There are a lot of loan officers who got into Loan Modification because the Mortgage Financing Industry has just about dried up and our now proclaiming they are loss mitigation/loan modification experts that charge a fee even if they don't get you results just to make some cash. There are also attorneys out there charging fees and do not have the staff or expertise to deal with the large number of lenders out there.

A good loss mitigation/loan modification company will underwrite your file for no money and will offer a money back guarantee to you if they can not produce a positive result.

Loan Modification is simply negotiating with the lender on your behalf to get a better term than you may currently have on your mortgage, which would allow you to stay in your home instead of facing fforeclosure, They work on your benefit to find the best solution to keep your home and help the lender see the big picture of what is best for the lender and the homeowner. 

Can you do this yourself? YES you can try and negotiate a better deal with your lender. I have found on many occasions though that most lenders take a long time to help and often times simply say they can not help because your situation is not grave enough yet. This is where a professional company that has contacts, and the expertise in Lending and Underwriting that may be your best course of action. I look at like trying to defend yourself in a court of law instead of hiring a attorney to represent you. Would you do that or hire the expert in that field of law to help.

Beware of people who want to charge you a upfront fee if you have been given a Notice of Default or Notice of Sale. It is illegal to collect fees upfront or to do business with anyone other than a attorney if you have already been given a NOD/NOS. NEVER PAY ANYONE UPFRONT FEES IF YOU ARE IN THIS SITUATION.

Do you have a system for becoming debt free. Americans currently are 12 trillion dollars in debt including mortgages. The consumer division of the Federal Reserve said consumers have hell to pay. Debt as a percentage of personal income has never been so high. What do we do to fix this problem. Loss mitigation and loan modification will only help a small percentage of these people. What about all the folks that don't qualify for those programs. How great would it feel to be 100% debt free including your home. You can be with a new way of thinking. It is imperative that people get a handle on how they spend their money, and where they stand in relationship to their income. How many people use a budget today? With the proper budget people can track their current cash flow and discretionary income so they can make better financial decisions. People Do you have a amortization schedule on all your debts. Do you know how long it will take to pay off each of your debts and do you know how much interest you will pay on each debt you have. It is almost impossible to become debt free without looking at these details and creating a plan to accelerate the debt pay down. There is a system I have found called the Lifestyle Equity Builder that does all this and more. It is a cash management, budgeting, financial forecasting, Debt crushing program that tracks all your income and expenses, re budgets every year and forecast your budget 30 years into the future. It provides you with over 22 detailed financial reports that give you the information you need to make better financial decisions on how and what you spend your hard earned money on. If interested in learning more please let me know and I will send you a invitation to a upcoming Webinar so you can learn how to be debt free in as little as 8-12 years including your home without changing your lifestyle or obtaining a new loan.

I have been comparing the different Software programs using a HELOC 2nd and a Software designed to help you accelerate your mortgage and debt pay off period.The concept originated down in Australia over a decode ago. It uses a Heloc as a checking account. You put your income into the heloc and pay your expenses out of it each month to pay your bills and meet your needs, the rest of the money sitting in your account reduces the interest charged on the heloc.  I have to say after looking at about 8 of them I feel there is one that stands above the rest. It is the APlus Accelerator program, IMO.  It combines the benefits of a Heloc a, and a complete Cash Management Budgeting tool that truly tells you where your money is going and how to best use your available funds to pay your bills and in what order you should pay down your debt.  The real secret here is the budgeting device. Most people have no idea where all the money they spend each month goes. With this software you will no where every penny goes and the Immediate effect it has on you and your debts. It does take some work on your part for it to succeed. You have to enter your income and expenses, All of them and if you do it 1-2 times per week it will take you about 15 minutes to do this. At the instant you input any data your numbers change to reflect any new information.

I am a big fan of the Home Ownership Accelerator loan that allows you to use a HELOC as a 1st mortgage and also use it as your checking account. It is simple, easy to use and if you are a disciplined person who makes more than you spend monthly is a great way to accelerate the pay off of your Home. I prefer this program over the software programs because it is so much more seamless and simple to set up.

The problem with the HOA loan is it is only available for A paper borrowers who have at least 15% equity in their property. You can not get the loan for rental property or if you are less than a A paper client. This is where the software and cash management program come into play. This program works for all debt. You still have to make more than you spend and be able to get access to 1-2 months take home pay in a HELOC or other line of credit. Now that you have an extra 1-2 months take home pay available the software will help you and teach you how to Accelerate your debts and in what order.

Imagine if most Homeowners could be totally debt free in as little as 8-12 years without CHANGING THEIR SPENDING HABITS A SINGLE PENNY.

I hope more lending professionals learn about these programs and go out and TEACH them to HomeOwners. Than we can make a difference.

Let's face it, Americans spend to much of the money they make. We are in a society that teaches people to spend money not save it. Due to this we are a nation of ageing baby boomer's and most do not have 50k saved for retirement. Why, one of the biggest reasons is  a lack of knowledge about financial fundamentals especially when it comes to Debt, Compound Interest and how it works, and most importantly not knowing what it really takes to retire on a decent income. Statistics show that the median income for older Americans is only a bit over 26k per year. We have the greatest opportunity for wealth of any country in the world and yet only a few 4 out of 100 retire on incomes of over 45k per year. Tragedy is what that is.

How can we fix the problem. One way is to teach people how to use their money like the banks do. How to become their own bank so to say. Let's take the biggest debt people have, Their Mortgage, with todays home prices and people chasing rates, they refi about every 5 years with a new 30 year loan and they will most likely never pay off their home.

Why do people always chase interest rates? Answer they want a Lower Payment or they want to pay less interest right, What if they never had to chase rates again and never had to refi again and could be debt free in about 10-15 years on a traditional 30 year mortgage, How, you say. With the HELOC 1st mortgage program that combines your checking and savings account and your mortgage all into one account. All money made goes in the account and immediately reduces the interest charged and when you need to take money out for daily and monthly needs you simply take it out like you would with a normal bank account. The big difference is each day your money stays in the account until it is actually used you are reducing interest on your balance. HELOC loan interest is computed daily based on the balance of the account. Over time this could save you HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of DOLLARS and YEARS off your mortgage. Think of how much you could save for your retirement if you could pay off your 30 year loan in 10-15 years and HAVE NO CHANGE in your spending habits.

After 20+ years in the money business I can say that for millions of Americans this could be a Tremendous tool for those that still Make more than they Spend, Have some discipline, and get more educated about money and how it works.

I market this and other programs for Mortgage Acceleration and feel very strongly about them. Why because for the right people they are a terrific way to reduce debt and increase savings in a time when it is so desperately needed

Tim Turbeville is committed to helping people win the money game.