Upside-Down Mortgages Archives

Being a distressed homeowner is a very difficult situation. Understanding your mortgage situation and the options available to you is important. Here are some ways to save your underwater home and your upside-down mortgages. Working with an experienced realtor who knows the St. Charles Home market and the St. Louis County Home market can really help.

Factor in all the variables — legal, financial, credit, tax, personal, lifestyle, family, etc. Consult with a reputable real estate broker, mortgage broker, local attorney and local tax professional — at minimum.

Here are six alternatives to walking away from your mortgage

1. Get rid of your credit card debt. Call your creditors and make an effort to settle your debt; many will take a lump sum payment much lower than your balance. While this might have tax and credit score implications, it might also help you keep your house. Or work through steps No. 2 and No. 3, below, to just eliminate those balances, by any means necessary.

2. Get a second job. Take pride and emotional defeatism out of the equation. Taking a second job can help you bring down debt and catch up on mortgage payments.

3. Start a side business. Monetize spare time, quirky hobbies and special skills buy using sites like Etsy.

4. Rent a room out. There are plenty of places to post to rent short or long term.

5. Apply for everything. Applying for everything for which you might possibly qualify, and don’t make assumptions about what programs might work for you, including the federal HARP program and the Home Save program.

6. Short-sell it. If you list your home for sale with a local agent who has experience closing these transactions right this moment, your chances of selling it and having the short sale complete in time to qualify for the income tax exemption that expires Dec. 31, 2012, are actually better than your chances of qualifying for the exemption if you stop making your mortgage payments right now.

Work with professionals to help you make the right decisions as anything you do might impact your ability to qualify for various programs.

Fortunately, your options for avoiding a foreclosure are not so limited as they might seem at first glance.

Read the complete article 6 ways to save your underwater home by Tara-Nicholle Nelson.

This is the time of year for buying and selling real estate. There are large numbers of homes at below-market prices & the Interest rates are hovering below 4%!! The home sale numbers have been increasing every month this year since June. It is never too early to start getting your home for this Spring also. Contact Sandra Meranda for details today!

The federal government and attorneys general have announced agreement on a landmark joint state-federal settlement with the nation’s largest loan servicers, including Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. The Settlement, estimated at $25 billion, will provide payments to distressed homeowners and to both the federal government and individual states. It is the largest multistate settlement since the Tobacco Settlement in 1998.

The settlement provides assistance for homeowners in need of loan modifications; borrowers who are current in their payments but “underwater;” and borrowers who have already lost their homes through foreclosure. The Settlement requires servicers to work off up to $17 billion in loan modifications and up to $3 billion in refinancing relief. $1.5 billion is earmarked for payments to foreclosed borrowers.

But don’t look for any immediate relief. Negotiations to settle on an administrator to handle the settlement will likely take up to 60 days. Then it will take from six to nine months to identify who may be eligible. Those in line for relief will then receive such notification. The actual payouts will take up to three years.

Here are some links where detailed information can be found:

News: Read the national news release and find links to your state Attorney General’s Web site for state-specific news.

About the Settlement: Learn about the settlement, who is affected and what claims may still be pursued against the banks. Find links to your state Attorney General’s Office to find state-specific information and contacts.

Help for Borrowers: Learn how to find out if your loan is affected by this settlement, the timeline for relief, how you will know if you are eligible. Find links to your state Attorney General’s Office to find state-specific information and contacts.

The busy Spring real estate season is here! This is the time of year for buying and selling real estate. There are large numbers of homes at below-market prices & the Interest rates are hovering below 4% !! The home sale numbers have been increasing every month since June. It is never too early to start getting your home for Spring also. Contact me for details today!

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