Foreclosure Options For Homeowners

When you’re about to lose your house, the stress can be pretty overwhelming. You already have financial problems, the debt collectors are constantly calling, your family is getting stressed out as well, and you find yourself wondering where you will live when they take the house away from you. Your main goal in life becomes getting rid of the stress.

If you know someone who has been through foreclosure, you might already know what could happen. Did you know there are several options available when you get a notice of default? It might seem easier to just move out, but you have to think about your financial future. For instance, when you move out, will you be losing your ability to ever own another home?

Whether you’re a homeowner, a real estate agent, or an investor, you need to know all the options for someone facing foreclosure. As a homeowner, your best bet is to get enough information to make an informed decision. As someone who helps homeowners, you need to make sure they understand that information. You need to set realistic expectations for the loss of their home.

Let’s look at the deed-in-lieu option and loan modifications first.

A deed-in-lieu means that the homeowner agrees to simply hand over the property to the bank. It helps the bank make the repossession easier, but it still hurts the homeowner’s credit as if the foreclosure had actually taken place.

What about loan modifications? The government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) promotes mortgage loan modifications as being a viable way to deal with the foreclosure crisis. Yet the current rate of success for those loans to go from trial to permanent modification is 4 percent. Using California as an example, roughly 140,000 trial loans have entered into the modification process; however, only 5,600 loans will be modified based on their current success rate (4 percent). California filed over 450,000 notices of default for 2009. Those being helped are few and far between given the current numbers.

Let’s look at some more probable options.

1) Option one: stay in the house as long as possible, using bankruptcy procedures to stall the courts until the foreclosure auction date. It doesn’t prevent the foreclosure, but it does let you stay put at the lowest cost.

2) Try to sell the house for the amount owed on the mortgage, hoping that a buyer will pay the asking price before the auction date. Obviously, it isn’t likely that someone will pay more than the home’s fair market value, so this strategy often fails.

3) The homeowner can list the property with a real estate agent who is willing to wait out the short sale process and encourage buyers to do the same in order to get a discount on the property. The buyer may get a great deal on the house, and the real estate agent may still get credit for the sale, but it doesn’t always work that way.

For instance, the buyer usually has to agree to wait two or three months before they can close on the house and move in. Most buyers need to purchase a property that is ready to close in less than a month.

Several roadblocks can come up during the process of negotiating a short sale if the seller and/or his agent don’t completely understand how to manage those negotiations. Lenders are very careful to train their loss mitigation department in debt collection, so sellers and agents who aren’t as well-trained in short sale negotiation skills can be easily sidelined.

Here’s one example: did you know that it is possible to avoid having to pay the leftover debt after the home is sold for less than the mortgage is worth? Wouldn’t that be a useful thing to know how to do? There is more than you might think to managing the short sale process.

4) The real estate agent could list the house as a short sale, while arranging the purchase by a short sale investor who doesn’t mind handling the paperwork, negotiating a successful short sale on the seller’s behalf, and waiting for the lender’s approval before closing on the house. The homeowner would avoid a foreclosure, the agent would still get the commission, and the buyer would get the home as an investment property to sell or rent.

Here’s another reason why the homeowner would rather work with someone who coordinates short sales on a daily basis. Did you know that there’s more to the BPO process than just being there when the bank appraiser comes to the door? Do you have any idea how to use the process to maximize the short sale outcome in your favor? A good short sale investor does.

As a real estate professional, you should be able to explain these four options to a homeowner who is facing foreclosure. They can let it go and file bankruptcy, they can sell for the amount of the debt, they can apply for a short sale and wait for a buyer, or they can apply for a short sale with a buyer already waiting for them.

My partners at Strategic Real Estate Coach specialize in educating people about short sale solutions for homeowners in trouble. We offer a free Silver Membership in the coaching program, and the benefits include several reports to help you learn everything you need to succeed!

Attorney Jeff Watson has some great commentary on the legal side of real estate investing. You can find that and more on his blog. Just visit topshortsalelawyer.com.

When you help people learn the truth about foreclosure and how to avoid it, you give them a chance to overcome one of the most difficult times in their lives. Educate each homeowner about their options, and watch them turn a bad situation into a fresh start.

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