With millions of homes across the country going into foreclosure, itโs important for both buyers and mortgage holdersย to understand the process.
So what is a pre-foreclosure in Seattle anyway?
Many homeowners across America and Seattle are facing difficulties making their monthly mortgage payments.
Whenย a homeowner misses 3-6 months of mortgage payments, the lending institution will issue a warning, notifying theย homeowner to pay or lose their home. This period is known as โpre-foreclosure.โ
Banks and mortgage lenders typicallyย provide three months for the homeowner to become current. ย Of course this number can vary by bank and situation sometimes.
If a homeowner fails to make the necessary payments, the bank will foreclose on the home, assuming ownership, andย evict the homeowner. Thankfully, during this stage of the foreclosure process, a mortgage holder has the opportunity toย take advantage of several options to prevent losing their home.
Pre-foreclosure Options for Borrowers
If youโre behind on mortgage payments, youโre likely to receive a โnotice of defaultโ from your mortgage lender.
Thisย document will state that you have not made mortgage payments for the last 90-180 days. Itโs important not to panic.
You have options that can delay or even prevent losing your home:
- If your mortgage is โabove water,โย (meaning you have equity in your house) you may be able to refinance your mortgage, receiving lower monthly payments. ย Check with your local Seattle mortgage broker… or contact us and we can connect you with a reputable one.
- You may be able to quickly sell your home to a real estate investorย that’s reputable in Seattle like us at Puget Sound Home Buyers, using the cash acquired to pay the months ofย back-payments owed (or we *may* be able to work out something with the lender that relieves all or part of your back payments.Weย can buy your Seattle area home quickly, often in just a week or two, will pay inย cash, and takes the stress out of trying to find a buyer.
- You can contact the bank and ask them to permit a short sale. In a short sale, youโll sell your home for less thanย itโs worth, and the bank will take the loss as a tax write-off. ย In some short sales you may still be required to pay the difference to the bank if the house doesn’t sell for what is owed on the loan.
- You may be able to declare bankruptcy, which can buy you time to pay your debt. Bankruptcy will remain onย your credit report for years, and can cause significant damage.
Lenders are very much aware of the widespread financial troubles across the country and they’re willing to work with borrowers a lot of the time.
If youโre honest andย communicate with your lender, youโll often find that there are options that will allow you to remain in your home, or atย least salvage your credit rating.
A foreclosure can often negatively affect your credit score by 200-400 points and canย prevent you from obtaining a loan of any sort for 5-7 years, so be very dutiful if youโve received a Notice of Default fromย your lender.
But if you’re not able to find a solution with your lender working directly with them… connect with us. We may be able to help.
Ways We Can Help If You’re In Pre-Foreclosure
- We can potentially help with a short sale – Submit your info on this website so we can evaluate your situation to see if we can help.
- We can buy your Seattle area house – We buy houses in Seattleย and would love to make you an all-cash offer on your house too. Just fill out the form here to get started >>
- You can ask us questions and we can provide you FREE guidance and resources so you can make a well educated decision. This costs you nothing, there’s absolutely no pressure, no obligation… just free guidance without a catch.
If you’re in the pre-foreclosure stage… you’ve still got time to fix this situation.
Just connect with your bank to see if they’re willing to work with you… or contact us if you’d like to see what we can buy your house for or to tap into our free foreclosure foreclosure resources.