You may be one of many folks who find themselves either behind in your mortgage payments or upside down in your home (meaning that your home value is less than the amount you owe to your lender/s). We at Myer Realty would like to offer some helpful information to guide you through this complicated and confusing time and help you avoid a foreclosure.
If you find yourself in one of these situations, you have a few options. You can call the bank to work out a temporary solution, call an attorney, call a new lender in some situations, consider short selling, call a HUD approved housing agency to help facilitate a mortgage modification, or call one of our trained agents at Myer Realty to help you sort through all or any of these options that may be available to you.
If you decide to call the bank, ask if they would defer or reduce your payments for a short time. Making a reduced payment, or deferring your payments for a period of time may be all the help you need to get you back on your feet.
You could call an attorney (although this can be quite expensive and they can’t make any guarantees).
As another option, since values have gone up considerably in the last couple of years in our area, you may now have enough equity to lower your payments by refinancing your home. We work with several lenders who may be able to help secure you a loan that could turn around your payment situation, enabling you to stay in your present home. Rates have been at an all-time low. Whether you can refinance depends on your credit rating, appraised value, and other such things.
You can also short sell your home to get out from under the debt. Because you’ll need approval from your lender to short sell, any late notices or requests to contact the bank that you may have received should be answered right away. You will want to be careful to contact the right firm or office for the expertise to navigate through this process, as you can end up with what is called a deficiency judgement and end up having to pay back to the lender any shortfalls between the sale and what you owed them. Navigating these waters requires knowledge and experience. Or short sell experts can help help you determine whether a short sale is your best or only option.
A HUD approved housing agency may be able to help you work with your lender to obtain a loan modification. This is a lengthy process and some have had success with this route.