How bad do you want to avoid foreclosure? What do you think it should cost you? Right now, you are just in default and may only have had the home a few years and don't have any equity, but in other cases you may have owned the home for many years such as the person I'm about to tell you about.

Recently I called a person on the phone that was in default. They only had about 30 days until foreclosure to see if I could help them sell their home. I saw that they had owned the $600,000 home since 1979. I assumed they didn't owe much on the property.

I was correct. They didn't owe much on the property. They only owed $17,500, but they also owed taxes, electric, and gas and a few other liens on the property, totaling about $25,000 for all debt against the house.

I have to admit I thought, "Finally someone that I can really save from foreclosure and put some money in their pocket." That is when they told me that they had already sold the property. I said, "Great, that is awesome, when do you close?" They said, "We closed today and it was an all cash deal!"

"Nice, how much did you sell it for?" This is when I heard what shocked me and saddened me at the same time. "I sold it for just what was owed plus the liens and they even paid my closing costs for me." HUH? "You sold the house for $25,000?" "Yes, we did, but we won't have that foreclosure on our credit and now we can move on"

I am saddened to say, that the person has moved out and the neighbor now has a home that he bought for $26,478 from a neighbor who was in distress. The worst part about it was this person was excited to have been out of the debt and to not be getting any more phone calls, letters, or knocks on the door at 9pm. But, should you really throw away $575,000 to avoid foreclosure?

If you are in a situation and want some solid advice on avoiding foreclosure, please don't be afraid to ask. It may just save you from foreclosure and save you from throwing away $575,000.