Categories: Short Sales & Foreclosures,
When job loss occurs, the effect on families can be absolutely traumatic. I feel I'm taking a risk by discussing this so openly because its such a sensitive, personal topic to so many people but I don't think I could live with myself unless I get this information out there to people who may need it.
If job loss has affected your family, its important that you examine the answers to these questions:
1. Check your monthly expenses against how much money you have in savings.
2. How many months can you live in your house at these current monthly expenses?
3. What is the likelihood of finding the same paying job? And to take that a step further, how long could it realistically take to find another job?
4. Have you called your mortgage company? As long as you can prove hardship, today banks are often modifying mortgage balances and mortgage interest rates. But is this the best long term solution for you?
Let's say that you bought your house 2 years ago for $1,000,000. You got a mortgage of $800,000. The market for your house bears about $850,000 now, and you have about 6 months left of monthly expenses without going into your retirement funds. If you wait 2-3 months to put your home on the market, then your risk is that you could be putting yourself in a distress situation if the market comes down further or you can't sell your house or both. At that point, without employment it will be hard to find a rental if you can't show proof of funds for the term of the lease. This is another reason waiting is not a good idea.
I can't stress enough how important it is to seek advice right away from a GOOD realtor or attorney you trust to advise you properly before you find yourself in this position. The biggest eye opener to me is how quickly things can change and most people don't realize this.
If you can no longer make your mortgage payments, get your house on the market right away and submit your financial hardship package to your bank. The LAST thing you want to do is let your house go into foreclosure. You can avoid this by selling during the "short sale" or "pre-foreclosure" period!
Here are the MAJOR differences between foreclosures and short sales. Differences that can greatly affect your future:
See rest of this article: http://njexperts.com/2009/02/04/ive-lost-my-job-now-what/
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