Posted on: 22nd Jun, 2008 07:34 pm
We live in Florida and my husband was transferred with his job several hours away (each way) back in April. Anticipating this would require a move on our part, the house has been on the market since mid-april with no takers. We've lowered the price twice, it's currently at $315K and we owe $267K. Our next move will be to lower it to 299K which will probably happen this week. With my husband's commute, he's had to rent a place over there which has put us in the hole. We're behind by one mortgage payment now. What do I do? We need to move to his place of business so he can continue with his job since he is the main breadwinner. We can't afford two places. We realize we'll make nothing off this house, but would like to just be able to leave but with no one biting on our house, I feel like we won't even have a chance with a short sale. Several homes in our neighborhood that are larger homes than ours but are listed anywhere from $25K to $100K less than ours that are in foreclosure or short sale are not moving either. It feels hopeless. Can someone give me an idea of what I should pursue? I plan to call my lender this week to see what my options are, but would like to be prepared on what my options might be....thanks....
Welcome Sbertram,
I thought you'vce called up the lender and then gone for a short sale? but when i read your entire post, i find you haven't. But that's the very first thing you should do when you're behind in payment.
Anyway, just give him a call and try to explain your situation.The lender may not be willing to allow for a short sale; rather he may suggest an alternative plan and something even better so that you may not need to leave your home.
Prior to calling him up, just glance through a number of options available at http://www.mortgagefit.com/foreclosure/17ways-avoid.html for anyone to try out when he's behind in payments.
I thought you'vce called up the lender and then gone for a short sale? but when i read your entire post, i find you haven't. But that's the very first thing you should do when you're behind in payment.
Anyway, just give him a call and try to explain your situation.The lender may not be willing to allow for a short sale; rather he may suggest an alternative plan and something even better so that you may not need to leave your home.
Prior to calling him up, just glance through a number of options available at http://www.mortgagefit.com/foreclosure/17ways-avoid.html for anyone to try out when he's behind in payments.
Hi Sbertram,
Welcome to the forum.
If the lender approves you to sell the property in less than what you owe to him, it is called short sale. But you don't owe less than the home price. So if you don't want this home any more then you can simply sell the property and pay off the lender.
In case you cannot sell the house then you should try to talk with the and look for options available for you. Deed in lieu id also a option available for you but if the lenders sells the property in more then what you owe, then you will not get the excess money but it is true that you will get away from this mortgage obligation :) Now you will have to take the decision.
Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
Best of luck,
Larry
Welcome to the forum.
If the lender approves you to sell the property in less than what you owe to him, it is called short sale. But you don't owe less than the home price. So if you don't want this home any more then you can simply sell the property and pay off the lender.
In case you cannot sell the house then you should try to talk with the and look for options available for you. Deed in lieu id also a option available for you but if the lenders sells the property in more then what you owe, then you will not get the excess money but it is true that you will get away from this mortgage obligation :) Now you will have to take the decision.
Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
Best of luck,
Larry
thanks for the info. I didn't know my alternatives until I found this site. I'm definitely going to try to work it out with the lender. I'm just afraid I'm headed towards the short sale route IF I can even find a buyer. With us lowering the price this week, I'm approaching my minimum I can take with closing costs, RE agent fees&comm. It was the high$280K's that was my cutoff. With us going to $299K, I feel I'm in that territory since even if I can find any buyers out there, they will probably offer lower than the $299K and I'd want to take it since an offer would be better than nothing. So, do I try to proceed with a short sale now and get the paperwork underway since that looks like it can be time consuming? And, at what point would I throw in the towel for a deed in lieu? We cannot afford the mortgage here and the rent payment there any longer. I'd like to just get away from the mortgage as we figure we're not going to make anything on it at this point anyway and we just need to out from under this stress. thanks, sbertram
hi sbertram,
welcome back.
i think this is not short sale as i have also mentioned above because you are not selling the property in less than what you owe to the lender.
you can request the lender for deed in lieu of foreclosure as you have said "not going to make anything on it at this point anyway and we just need to out from under this stress". but deed in lieu will affect your credit and it will be shown for 10 years on your credit report. not only that, your credit score will be dropped by 200 to 250 points.
deed in lieu has just similar negative affects on your like foreclosure. as you don't have negative equity, i don't think deed in lieu will help. so i would suggest to try and see if you can sell the property to pay off the lender. you can take help from a broker to sell off the property.
hope this helps. feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
best of luck,
larry
welcome back.
i think this is not short sale as i have also mentioned above because you are not selling the property in less than what you owe to the lender.
you can request the lender for deed in lieu of foreclosure as you have said "not going to make anything on it at this point anyway and we just need to out from under this stress". but deed in lieu will affect your credit and it will be shown for 10 years on your credit report. not only that, your credit score will be dropped by 200 to 250 points.
deed in lieu has just similar negative affects on your like foreclosure. as you don't have negative equity, i don't think deed in lieu will help. so i would suggest to try and see if you can sell the property to pay off the lender. you can take help from a broker to sell off the property.
hope this helps. feel free to ask if you have any further questions.
best of luck,
larry
hello sbertram,
the first thing you need to do if you have not done so, is contact your lender now. you stated that you are currently only 1 payment behind, so there are some good options open for you with requesting a workout plan with your lender. you did not state if your lender has begun the foreclosure process. some lenders choose to place you in foreclosure right away. so it is very important to contact your lender immediately and let them know your situation.
i am suggesting you request a workout plan with your lender as an option to help keep you from becoming further delinquent on that mortgage while you are attmepting to sell it. and the property certainly doesn't need to be foreclosed on while you are trying to sell it.
when you contact your lender, be sure to reach someone who is within the loss mitigation department or foreclosre department if you have already been placed in foreclousre. a representative in other departments is usually not the one who is trained or authorized to qualify you for a workout plan.
you may request a loan modification with your lender. be prepared to tell them what hardship has occurred and be specific about it. be sure to let them know that you need a lower payment, etc. be sure you let them know that you are willing to cooperate with them because you do not want your home to foreclose. also have your monthly financials and expenses available to go over with them. they will need this information to pre qualify you for a workout plan.
just try to get some type of workout going with your lender, to keep you out of foreclosure while you are going for the sale of your property.
a deed in lieu is only used as the extreme last resort. most lenders require that you must have a foreclosure eminent, that you are unable to sell your property, and that you did not qualify for any workout plan, before they will even consider accepting a deed in lieu. and yes, the deed in lieu is even more harmful against your credit. and the lender does not have to accept a deed in lieu.
i certainly hope that you have a better understanding of all options that are available to you. and please be sure to communicate with your lender! visit home-buddies.com and review the free step by step foreclosure guide.
good luck.
the first thing you need to do if you have not done so, is contact your lender now. you stated that you are currently only 1 payment behind, so there are some good options open for you with requesting a workout plan with your lender. you did not state if your lender has begun the foreclosure process. some lenders choose to place you in foreclosure right away. so it is very important to contact your lender immediately and let them know your situation.
i am suggesting you request a workout plan with your lender as an option to help keep you from becoming further delinquent on that mortgage while you are attmepting to sell it. and the property certainly doesn't need to be foreclosed on while you are trying to sell it.
when you contact your lender, be sure to reach someone who is within the loss mitigation department or foreclosre department if you have already been placed in foreclousre. a representative in other departments is usually not the one who is trained or authorized to qualify you for a workout plan.
you may request a loan modification with your lender. be prepared to tell them what hardship has occurred and be specific about it. be sure to let them know that you need a lower payment, etc. be sure you let them know that you are willing to cooperate with them because you do not want your home to foreclose. also have your monthly financials and expenses available to go over with them. they will need this information to pre qualify you for a workout plan.
just try to get some type of workout going with your lender, to keep you out of foreclosure while you are going for the sale of your property.
a deed in lieu is only used as the extreme last resort. most lenders require that you must have a foreclosure eminent, that you are unable to sell your property, and that you did not qualify for any workout plan, before they will even consider accepting a deed in lieu. and yes, the deed in lieu is even more harmful against your credit. and the lender does not have to accept a deed in lieu.
i certainly hope that you have a better understanding of all options that are available to you. and please be sure to communicate with your lender! visit home-buddies.com and review the free step by step foreclosure guide.
good luck.
you just got some good advice from Cliff. contact your lender right away and see what arrangements you can make for the time being, but also prepare them for what might happen given the soft market.
you did not mention the involvment of a realtor. do you have one? if you do, then you need to sit down with that realtor, who can be a big help in your dealings with the lender. you're going to have to convince your lender that things are that bad in terms of how much you might be able to sell the home for, etc.
you did not mention the involvment of a realtor. do you have one? if you do, then you need to sit down with that realtor, who can be a big help in your dealings with the lender. you're going to have to convince your lender that things are that bad in terms of how much you might be able to sell the home for, etc.
