"One call can save you hundreds a month on your mortgage!"

I know, it sounds like a cheesy television slogan but that's exactly what happened. A neighbor approached me about putting his place on the market. He purchased the townhouse 2 years ago for $410k. Well, the real estate market has changed significantly since then. He was shocked to find out what townhouses in our neighborhood were going for. Basically, he was upside down $50k in a best case scenario. Imagine sitting at the closing and writing a check for $50k in order to sell your house. To top it off, his adjustable rate reset to 9.25% from his comfortable teaser rate. After running down his options, he decided we should pursue a short sale with the lender.

I spent a good part of my day talking up the hierarchy at IndyMac Bank and finally left a message with a supervisor in their Loss Mitigation department. 2 hours later my neighbor calls to say, "I don't know what you said but the bank is going to switch me into a fixed mortgage with a 10 year interest only option at 7%, saving me $700 a month!" All I did was talk to a half a dozen people and told them about his situation in hopes of coming up with a solution.

Banks are cooperating with borrowers that are in similar situations. All anyone has to do is find the right person, the "Decision Maker", and explain one's situation. He had talked to someone (not a decision maker) at the bank prior to seeking my assistance, but they just "couldn't do anything for him". People that find themselves in situations like this sometimes will keep quite and not ask for help, in the end voluntarily walking away from their property. Banks are not in the real estate sales business. They do not want to foreclose. Open up an honest dialogue and work on a mutually beneficial solution. Who knows how long my neighbor was dealing with this before he asked for my help. I'm sure it was a lot of sleepless nights.