Avoid Foreclosure - Keep Your Home!

Are you facing possible foreclosure of your home mortgage? 1.5 million homeowners in the U.S. are facing that problem. If you are one of them you need to quickly learn all you can about how to avoid foreclosure. Yes, certainly, it can be done. Many thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people have already done so. This article shows you the right track to avoid foreclosure yourself...

If you are about to miss a mortgage payment on your home, you already know that you are in a bad position. It happens to people for many different reasons. Maybe you lost your job, had large medical bills, had your interest rate increased, face payments higher than you can make... whatever. These things happen.

If it happens to you, you have two options: 1. you can educate yourself, learn how to avoid foreclosure, to navigate the rough waters that are coming and learn how to stay afloat. Or, 2. You can do nothing and expect to get washed away by the tide of coming events.

So life has handed you a crisis. Well? That happens to people all the time. Some go under, some survive. Which do you want to be? You are at a critical time in your life. The choices you make, either by doing something or by default, will make a tremendous difference in your future. Your problem won't go away. Face it squarely and deal with it.

The good news is that it's now much easier to negotiate solutions. There is an old saying that goes, "If you owe the bank $100 and cannot pay, you are in trouble. If you owe the bank $100 million and cannot pay, the BANK is in trouble!" That is very true today. That works to help you avoid foreclosure.

How's that? You say you only owe the mortgage lender $300,000 so how does that help you? Well, there are 55 million home mortgages in the U.S.; 2.8% of them (1,540,000) are in default. If your mortgage lender has another 350 or so loan clients like you with $300,000 problem loans, then in total the lender has a $100 million+ problem!

Your lender is in trouble too. He wants to collect his money. He doesn't need another house to sell. That makes it easier for you to negotiate a workable solution and to avoid foreclosure.

Your key to finding a good solution to your problem will be to get out in front of it. Be PRO-active, take charge. Don't just RE-act to outside events. This is your problem and your home. Take charge and make sure YOUR interests are protected with the best deal possible.

First, you need to do all you can to educate yourself, learn all about the various options you have to avoid foreclosure. You have the most to lose or to gain. It's YOUR home. No one is going to be more concerned about your success, your financial survival, than you will be.

Learn the provisions of the laws in your state regarding foreclosures. How does it work where you are? What legal options do you have? How much time do you probably have?

Survey your local home market. How many foreclosed houses are on the market? Are they moving, being sold? How many foreclosed homes are for sale in your neighborhood? Knowing that will be a tremendous help in negotiating a new deal to avoid foreclosure.

Make it your business to become familiar with all of the various options, all the ways to avoid foreclosures.

Second, talk with your lender. In actuality, you are both in this situation together. You may have different goals but you share common interests. Neither of you wants you out of your house and that house up for sale in a weak market. There is a strong mutual interest basis for re-negotiating, finding something that will work.

Going to the mat and going through a foreclosure is the LAST option you want to permit. If that happens your credit is ruined for 7-10 years. The easy money situation that got your lender into their present problems is not likely to be repeated anytime soon.

Much tighter loan requirements are coming. Expect lenders to require loan applicants to have: A. Excellent personal credit, B. 10-20% cash down and C. Secure income with disposable after-tax income of 2.5-3 times annual mortgage payments.

Anyone with a foreclosure on his credit record is not going to be able to meet the requirements. It could well be nearly impossible to get a home mortgage for years into the future. This makes it imperative that you take the steps to avoid foreclosure now.

You have many options. There are many alternatives. Get started as soon as possible, educate yourself quickly, find the best option for you, and take it.

For more on how to avoid foreclosure, and how to learn what you need to know, follow the links below...