Don't let foreclosure be your lender's last step!
There is a lot of information out there on foreclosures. We are adding our suggestions too.
Life has become very complicated these days. One casualty is losing your home. There are a number of reasons that many are facing foreclosure such as:
• Going to work, only to find out that you will be going home. You lost your job.
• A medical emergency. Having to pay for medical treatment.
• Finding one
• Refinancing your home up to the hilt to pay for necessary bills such as a new motor or your car, non-functioning water heater, furnace plumbing, etc.
You are falling behind paying your mortgage because of situations as above. What outcome are you facing by falling behind? Your lender can foreclose your home and then become the owner of your home. To what purpose? The lender would like to make some money back on their loan to you.
You are now facing a crisis, what steps can you take to keep your home?
Don't let anxiety choke your ability to think and we do not like the fact that we are in such an embarrassing position. We do indeed need to swallow our pride. There are many avenues before you, keep in mind that it is best for you not to have to foreclose and your lender does not want to foreclose either. Why? They have a large inventory of foreclosed homes and their staff is overwhelmed in trying to keep up with the wall of papers to foreclose. It is not in your or your lenders best interest to foreclose. It is far better to not foreclose and work with you to a point where you can keep your home and be able to make your payments.
First, find the telephone number for your lender and as soon as you can see that it is becoming harder to make those mortgage payments, CALL them! There is nothing to be ashamed of - you have been doing the best you can, but now your situation has become overwhelming. It is in your best interest to contact your lender the sooner and not later.
Second, when the letters start coming in warning you of the danger you are in because of falling back in your payments DO NOT INGNORE THOSE LETTERS, give them a call to let them know about your dilemma. DO NOT IGNORE YOUR LENDER'S PHONE CALLS, only makes it look like you are hiding from them. Where is your mortgage payment going to come from? Are you going to make your responsibility disappear by ignoring it? Remember, your lender is not your enemy!
Put together all details about your financial situation such as:
* An explanation of your current financial circumstances.
* Details about your current income - pay stubs, alimony or other income
* A list of your household expenses with the bill statements
You can put your home up for a short sale or your lender may require you to do so. What is a short sale? You are trying to sell your home before foreclosure and it will be sold at or below the appraisal value of your home.
The lender will have a BPO company contact an agent that does BPO's to conduct one of your home. A BPO is a broker price opinion of your home. The agent(s) are well qualified to give their opinion of the value of your home in today's market. They may be requested to do an exterior opinon or an interior opinion based on the current market the value of your home.
They first get as much information about your home from resources such as MLS listings, tax reports, etc. Your home is compared with homes in your area that have the same number bedrooms, baths, garage(s) or with the homes that have features similar to your home. These are compared with homes that have been sold within the last 90, 180+ days and homes that are currently active plus the living area square footage. The opinion may include what would the house sell for within a specified time period, or are repairs required, how much it would cost the bank or mortgage company to repair the homeand whether the house should be repaired, should the market price be along with the as-is market price among other questions.
If you are selling your home as a short sale your agent can also do the comparisons to guide you with your asking price. When an offer comes in your agent(s) will go over the contracts and have you sign them for ratification and forward the contracts to your lender to select and process it.
Always have good communication with your lender and work to keep it open.
There's more you can do and we will do a part II
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