How are typical Americans to navigate the current foreclosure crisis and come out unscathed in the real estate market?
Residential real estate values have slid fifty percent or more in many places from their values at the peak of the market and unemployment in states such as California is getting into the double digits. Throughout the country, more than thirty percent of home owners owe more than their properties are worth. About one in every eight of all mortgages are behind on payments, says the Mortgage Bankers Association.
If you are in the position of defaulting on your mortgage, you basically have three options: a short sale, loan modification or a foreclosure. The pressure these days is toward short sales, due to the fact that they offer an upside to real estate agents, lenders and buyers. But is a short sale really your best option when looking at a potential default?
Usually, it really is not the best option to pursue, although others involved in the process may want you to believe it is.
Let?s look at this in more detail. The first question is what to do when you realize you can no longer pay your home loan. What will happen if you quit making your payments?
First, it will really hammer your credit score. That score is a key point to future lenders who will decide at some later point whether they want to lend you money, and may require you to work with private money if you should need a loan. Also, it’s also being used by employers and landlords, to name a few. It’s not a figure to be taken lightly.
Your FICO, or credit score is created with old and patented formulas using information collected throughout your life as a borrower. The people in charge of these scoring systems say that they are supposed to be an indicator of how likely someone is to stop paying on a debt or loan during the first two years.
There are a number of companies other than the big three that have their own scoring models, most running numbers between 400 and 990. If you stop making payments on all of your loans, most of these formulas will drop your score below the 600 mark.
If your credit is in under 680 based on one of the major credit reporting agencies in today’s lending environment, finding a loan of any kind can be very hard (unless you are looking at going with private hard money lenders). When sitting down to make your decision on which way to go, doing a short sale of your property will not keep your credit in pristine shape, contrary to what many may want you to believe. So is there really a beneift to going through a short sale?
The main benefit is getting the debt you owe forgiven (be sure to read the fine print), and keeping your credit report foreclosure free. A short sale can impact your credit about the same as a foreclosure, but with a short sale, you will be allowed to get another conventional type loan after about two years, rather than 3 or more with a foreclosure.
You may want to consider looking into loan modification. This can be a long process to deal with, but if you need to stay in your house and save your credit, a loan modification may be a good avenue to consider.
You have to do your own research before you choose which direction or option you are going to pursue. It will also matter in which state you live, as there will be different ramifications for the various options. Seek out a good real estate professional and/or real estate lawyer, sit down, and go through all your options before you make a choice. Making this decision is a big deal, and it is important to surround yourselves with professionals who will help you make the best decision possible!