With millions of homes across the country going into foreclosure, it’s important for both buyers and mortgage holders to understand the process.
So what is a pre-foreclosure?
Many homeowners across America and Springfield are struggling to make their mortgage payments every month.
After missing 3-6 months of mortgage payments, the lender will issue a warning, notifying the homeowner to pay or lose their home. This is called “pre-foreclosure.”
Banks and mortgage lenders typically provide 3 months for the homeowner to catch up on their payments. Of course this varies from lender to lender and state-to-state.
If payments are not made as required to the bank or lender, the bank will then foreclose on the home. Thankfully, during this stage of the foreclosure process, a mortgage holder has the opportunity to take advantage of several options to prevent losing their home.
Pre-foreclosure Options for Borrowers
If you’re behind on your house payments, you’re likely to receive a “notice of default” from your mortgage holder/bank.
This notice will state that you have not made mortgage payments for the last 90-180 days and that you must pay to keep the loan current.
It’s important not to panic and to think through your options.
You have options that can delay or even prevent losing your home:
- If you have equity in your house you may be able to refinance your mortgage, receiving lower monthly payments. Check with your local Springfield lender.. or contact us and we can connect you with a credible and honest lender who can help you out.
- You may be able to quickly sell your home to a real estate investor that’s reputable in Springfield like us at Overlook Real Estate, using the cash acquired to pay the months of back-payments owed (or we *may* be able to work out something with the lender that relieves all or part of your back payments.We can buy your Springfield OH area home quickly, often in only a week or two, and will pay in cash.
- You can contact the bank and ask them to permit a short sale. With this option, you’ll sell your home for less than it is actually worth, but bank will take the loss (often for tax purposes). Keep in mind, though, that in some short sales you might still have to pay the difference to the bank if the house doesn’t sell for what is owed on it.
- You may be able to declare bankruptcy, which can buy yourself some time to pay your debt off. Bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for years, and can cause significant damage so this option is not to be taken lightly.
Lenders are very much aware of the widespread financial troubles across the country and they’re willing to work with borrowers much of the time so always consider reaching out to your lender directly as a first line of defense.
It is important to be open and honest with your lender and by discussing this with them, you’ll often find that there are options that will allow you to remain in your home, or at least salvage your credit rating to help you out in the future.
A foreclosure can often negatively affect your credit score tremendously by hundreds of points which can later make it very difficult to get any type of loan for years to come so be very dutiful if you’ve received a Notice of Default from your lender.
But if you’re not able to find a solution with your lender working directly with them… connect with us. We may be able to help.
Ways We Can Help If You’re In Pre-Foreclosure
- We can potentially help with a short sale – Submit your information on this website so we can evaluate your situation to see if we can help. We can’t always guarantee we can help but we are always open and honest about your options.
- We can buy your Springfield area house – We buy houses in Springfield and would love to make you an all-cash offer on your house too. Just fill out the form here to get started >>
- You can ask us questions and we can provide you FREE guidance and resources so you can make a well educated decision. This costs you nothing, there’s absolutely no pressure, no obligation… just free guidance without a catch.
If you’re in the pre-foreclosure stage… you’ve still got time to fix this situation but acting with urgency is still of the utmost importance.