With the foreclosure rate at an all time high, how are people managing their options in this complex real estate market?
Residential real estate values have decreased forty percent or more in some areas from their 2006 peak and unemployment in California is above the ten percent mark. Nationwide, more than thirty percent of individuals who own their homes owe more than their homes are worth. About one in every eight of all mortgages are behind on payments, says the Mortgage Bankers Association.
If you are in danger of defaulting on your mortgage, you basically have three options: foreclosure, a short sale or a loan modification. The pressure these days is toward short sales, because they offer an upside to Realtors, agents, lenders and buyers. The question then becomes, is a short sale truly your best option as a consumer?
Usually, it really is not the best option to pursue, although others working with you during this time of need might like you to believe otherwise.
Why might this be? Let’s take a look. So you are struggling to make mortgage payments. If you should stop making payments, what will happen?
Right off the bat, it will damage your credit. Your credit score is crucial to lenders you may work with down the line who will decide at some later point just how good a risk you are, which might mean you have to turn to private money loans down the road. Also, your credit score is also being used by potential landlords and employers. It’s not a figure to be taken lightly.
This important figure is calculated with secret and guarded methods that use information compiled over time from your credit files. A spokesman for Fair Issac Corp., which maintains the FICO scoring system, says its purpose is to predict how likely the borrower is to default during the first two years of a loan.
There are a number of other companies out there other than the big three reporting agencies 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 these days, putting together a loan for any purpose can be very hard (except, of course, if you are talking about private hard money lenders). If you are concerned about loans for the future, a short sale of your property will not keep your credit in pristine shape, despite what many in various industries might tell you. So are there any benefits to short selling your house instead of walking away?
The largest benefit is getting the debt you owe forgiven (be sure to read the fine print), and keeping a foreclosure off your credit report. A short sale usually will impact your credit about the same as a foreclosure, but by short selling your home, you will be allowed to get another conventional type loan after about two years, rather than the three or more that a foreclosure will require.
What you may want to consider is looking into loan modifications. This can be a difficult process to work with the banks on, but if you need to stay in your home and save your credit, a loan modification may be a good avenue to consider.
You need to be sure to do your own due dilligence before deciding on what direction or option you are going to pursue. Also remember that different states have different laws and there will be different ramifications for the various options. Seek out a good real estate agent and/or real estate lawyer, sit down, and talk about all your options before you make a decision. When making this decision, make sure you are comfortable with the direction you choose, good luck!