Ask for help!

Part of our listing prep these days is to check the foreclosure activity around our clients' properties. As I look at the bank owned homes, I see a fair number of properties whose numbers don't add up. Now, I don't know the specific situations of these homeowners, but in a fair number of cases, sellers appear to have allowed their home to be foreclosed upon when they could very likely have arranged a short sale. Short sales are a pain to negotiate and can take forever to close, so why not just let the bank take the property and have done with it? In a word: credit.

Why should you care that a foreclosure will ruin your credit rating? The list is long, but here are a few examples. Do you enjoy having a credit card with a limit above $500 and an interest rate below 20%? Is it possible that you might need a car loan in a few years? Would you prefer to get a reasonable rate for your homeowners/auto/etc insurance? Might you want to buy a house or condo again some day? If your answers to any of these questions is "yes," then don't accept a foreclosure as inevitable.

No matter how bad your situation looks and how mean the bank rep is acting on the phone, call a competent real estate professional and ask them to look at your situation. Find out how much money you could net from selling your home and compare that number with the amount that you owe. Now - even if you owe more than your house is worth - discuss your options with someone who knows the real estate and finance markets. It's not fun to be in a foreclosure situation, but you can make a difference to how things will be when you come out the other side. So don't give up - ask for help!