My phone rings daily with the same question, "Marc, I can't afford my house and I have no equity, what do I do?"
Well, there are several options available to you. The main thing is to take action! 60% of North San Diego Homeowners, and all homeowners for that matter, will do nothing. This leads directly to a foreclosure!!! A proactive plan of action can often times help keep a homeowner in his home!!
It's important to note, that 80% of homeowners want to KEEP their home, so you must make some changes and take intelligent action IMMEDIATELY!
When I meet with a client in this situation, here are a FEW of the things we cover:
1) Do you want to keep the home? Can you afford the home? Are you willing to make changes?
2) Let's look at your expenses and look for places to save money! We can normally find $1,000 - $3,000 a month that people are wasting. Simple changes here and there allow the seller to increase their cash flow, make their payments and keep their home.
3) Look for creative ways to increase a part time income. I know numerous people that make $1000-$10,000 a month on auction sites like eBay! Start a home based business and make the tax code work for you, and create a second income.
4) Look to do a loan modification. Work with the lender to have them freeze or reduce your interest rate. Banks will often do this IF you present it in the right way!
5) Short Sale: If you cannot work out a loan modification or make the payments; a short sale is often the best solution. This is a far better scenario than a foreclosure.
Short Sales require a specialist and should not be handled by an untrained agent! The average agent has approximately a 10% chance to get the short sale approved and closed. Trained short sale agents often have success rates over 90%!
I recently read that only 1 agent in 250 have had at least 10 hours of training in short sales! The days of calling your neighborhood friend/Realtor are over if you want to successfully negotiate a short sale. A few designations to look for are the CSP: certified Short Sale Professional, CFS: Certified Foreclosure Specialist, HREU Short Sale Professional or a graduate from Short Sale Genius!
The main thing is you must TAKE ACTION if you know you are falling behind on your payments! Call a professional!
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