Palm Beach County Short Sale: WHAT'S THE HIDDEN RISK OF FORECLOSURE?

What You Should Really Think About When It Comes To Foreclose On Your Property.

In hard times, people tend to just give up, they just wait until it's too late to do something.  It's a common mistake we all do, because we don't know how to solve the problem ourselves.

So, your economic picture changed, you might have lost your job, are underemployed, maybe you have been sick, or maybe you still are sick so you can't pay your house payments, or maybe you got a divorce and you have to pay your ex-spouse a lot of money.  There can be several reasons for why you cannot pay your mortgage.

Whatever reason, it stresses you out and you feel helpless, your future seems to be ruined.

There are ways that can make your future a little brighter, but you have to take action.

First off, you can try Loan Modification

It can be a long process, but in some cases, the bank will try to help you out.  It requires some work on your part, but if they approve it, it's well worth trying, if you can afford to pay the payments they ask for.  Get the Free loan modification kit and deal with the bank itself.  DO NOT PAY ANYBODY TO DO IT UPFRONT, that's against the law.  There are free services out there.

If you don't think you can do a loan modification, the next best thing to do is SHORT SALE.

You need to find the right Realtor to do that for you, somebody that already has a few short sales under their belt.  The best thing about the short sale it doesn't cost you anything and in most cases the bank forgive you the deficiency on the outstanding balance.

If your economy get back to normal, it doesn't take very long before you can buy a new home again.  An FHA loan is the easiest way to go.  Your credit score need to be 640 and you can pay as little as 3.5% down.

The last and most dreaded option is Foreclosure.

A lot of home owners get mad, which is understandable, when they get foreclosed on, but you don't have to go that far.

Many people think that, "Oh, well, I'm going to stay here for free until the bank takes it."

Yes, you can have a couple of years with free rent, but you have to understand the hidden risk in doing so.

Recently I heard about this guy that used to live in a house worth more than $500,000, but the guy had lost his job and got so far behind on his mortgage, and he didn't see any way out other than foreclosure.

So he lost his home, and moved into a one-bedroom trailer in a scruffy neighborhood.  Months after the bank had taken over the home, the bank won a $151,461 deficiency judgment, the claim is what he still owes on  the loan for a home he's already lost.

He says they are still trying to get money from him, but he does not have anything, so what can they do.

Well, there are other situations that are not as bad as his, where people actually are making money and have moved on with their lives after a foreclosure.  Some people have just walked out because they owe more money on the house than what it's worth.  So, the hidden risk is, that the bank, at least here in Florida, have 5 years to file for a deficiency judgment and up to 20 years to collect.

So here you are, let's say 4 years after your foreclosure, things are going good, you haven't heard anything from the bank, you think they have forgotten you.

But, when things are settled down a little bit with all these foreclosures, the bank will have time to go through their papers again, do a little research on how the people they foreclosed on are doing.

In some cases they sell the outstanding debt to collection agencies, and as most people probably know, they will be on you all the time.

The highest risk are for people who could actually afford to pay their mortgage but chose not to because they owed more than what the house was worth.

It doesn't help that you move out of the State of Florida, banks can seize assets you might have in other states in order to satisfy a Florida deficiency judgment.

A deficiency judgment is the difference between the value of a foreclosed property when it si sold at auction, or the appraised value, and the outstanding debt.

Be also aware that they can garnish your wages.

So my best advice to anybody who is struggeling, try loan modification, if that's an option, or do a short sale on your home before the bank takes it from you.

If you need a loan modification kit please visit my blog at http://palmbeach-shortsale.com

If you need help with a short sale, go to my website, http://verahanck.com or send me an email at vera@verahanck.com or give me a call:  561-891-1141