If you are like most people you may think this is the time to panic. The trouble is panic is a stong emotional anxiety that clouds your thinking. The second emotion is usually guilt. You ask yourself, what terrible thing did I do to get into this mess, and why couldn't I have done things differently. Both emotions will paralyze you and the foreclosure becomes a sure thing. I don't want to tell you don't worry it will be okay and yes acting sooner would have been better, but there are ways you can possibly avoid a sheriff sale date and still do a short sale but we do not have a moment to lose so here are a few suggestions.
List it with us. Yes this sounds like a shamless plug and it is, but we have a track record with getting homes removed from the sale list. In order to do this you need someone like us that knows how to do emergency pricing to get you a contract, and what buttons to push to work with the lender to get them removed. Now our success rate is not 100% but it is very high. There are some lenders who are extremely difficult to work with but the majors like BOA and Chase for instance are ususally receptive to a complete packet with contract. Again it is imperative that I emphasize that you need a short sale team that knows what they are doing.
Ask for a loan modification. I am not a huge fan of loan modifications but they can stop a sheriff sale. Loan modifications have a high rate of default because once the grace period is over your payment is higher becasue they add on all your late pays and the difference in what you should have been paying onto the principle so your loan is reconfigured to the higher amount you owe. That being siad it is still better to buy some time to either get your income level back if that was the problem, or if you know that it will not save you in the end, it still gives us time to work your short sale.
Final Thoughts. We want what is best for you and your family. What ever the route is it should be based on overcoming the hardship and doing what will serve you in the long run. The worst thing for you is a foreclosure. If this happens your credit go down further, qand you can't get another home loan for 5 years or more. Please call us if you are an Oklahoma City area homeowner in distress. We will meet you for a private and confidential consultation and discuss what options are best. We can talk to you about a short sale, a loan modifcation, a refiance, or a deed in lieu, and give you are the pluses and minuses to those choices. Out job is to help you build a better future rather than have you dwelling on past mistakes, We are here to help.
Joe Pryor & Charlene Humphreys, Distressed Property experts
joe@joepryor.com
chumphreys2@cox.net