Fannie Mae launches new website, www.KnowYourOptions.com, to help homeowners make hard decisions regarding their home and mortgage, many of whom are "under water" and/or consistently missing mortgage payments.
I admit, it's a little tongue-in-cheek, comparing the choice between Foreclosure and Short Sale to those classic "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. My grandmother, Dorothy Galde, was an accomplished author who wrote several books, one of which was a CYOA story about a family on a trip to the snowy mountains. Throughout the book, the reader chose between two or three different directions or paths to take the family members, and each unique decision had a new page to turn to. For example, when faced with whether to eat Grandma's spinach casserole, little brother Joey could either 1) eat his portion while grimacing (turn to page 31) or, 2) dump little bites on the floor for the dog to eat (turn to page 54). Of course, if you chose #2 the dog ultimately threw up all over Uncle Bob's new Italian Leather luggage... not a pretty sight. The premise of the book was that our decisions ultimately determine our fate in life, and how important it was to make wise and responsible decisions.
Now, here we are in 2011, and tens of thousands of families are faced with the hardest decisions of their lives, what to do about their home that has dropped in value so much that they now owe significantly more on the mortgage than the home is worth. Many of these families have been hit with financial hardship, such as job loss, medical emergency, or an increase in their monthly payment. They now must decide upon only a few paths available, such as foreclosure, selling the home, or working with the bank to modify the payment and/or balance.
Fortunately, there is help. Fannie Mae recently launched a new website to help homeowners with this challenging decision. At first glance, it's a fantastic website. Easy to navigate, easy on the eyes, and chock-full of great resources for homeowners. Dig down deeper, though, and it becomes even more amazing! The site contains the usual suspects that you'd expect from a site devoted to helping distressed homeowners: Explanation of options for homeowners, both for those wanting to stay in their home and those who know they can't stay; Resources, like counseling services, understanding your credit score, and frequently asked questions.
The truly unique element of the site, though, is an interactive video simulation that allows users to role-play, choosing between different directions they can head and choices to make. The WaysHome feature allows you to choose between different characters whom you, the user/homeowner, most identify with: Richard Lane, behind on his mortgage; Jackie Williams, struggling to make ends meet; or Miquel Gonzalez, who feels he is drowning in debt. These three characters are in various stages of distress, and whom many people today will relate to.
The premise of the interactive video and really the website as a whole, is that the most important decision a homeowner can make is, well, to decide. Decide to learn more, decide to take action, decide to seek help. The sooner homeowners realize that life isn't over just because they have to sell their home, or seek help with a loan modification, the sooner they can get on with their lives and get back to living.
All in all, it's a great site for homeowners, and I highly recommend spending some quality time online with it.
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