Know Your Options!

If you are facing foreclosure I’m sure your head is spinning. Maybe you don’t know where to turn for information, what the process is or where to start. Because of this stress we see a lot of people just walk away from their home, not realizing what options they may have had or how this will affect their future.

We tell all our clients to at least make an educated decision, don’t just walk away. See what options you have and then when you know your possibilities make a decision that best suits you and your family.

Fannie Mae just launched a new interactive website called KnowYourOptions.com. This is a great place to start getting information about Foreclosure and the process. If you are in this situation take a look and start learning what options you have. We are always here as a resource as well. It’s a bit overwhelming but in the end knowledge is power!

The Madness

It seems the harder we try to fix the foreclosure mess, the uglier it becomes?

Recently, several of the nations largest banks suspended all foreclosures to investigate potential paperwork legality issues.

This is not good folks, really not good at all.

Here’s what’s going on:

People aren’t paying their mortgages. They’re underwater, with difficult payments, perhaps unemployed or under employed, or some combination of the above.

The problem is that these situations need to be resolved. Resolution is either foreclosure, short sale, loan modification, or get current on the payments. Most likely one of the first two. Just freezing the process is NOT a solution.

Tomorrow morning these people will still be in trouble. You won’t be sober in the morning.

Twenty-three states have foreclosure laws that require a court case to foreclose on a property. These are the so-called “judicial” states. These laws are designed to “protect” homeowners. In other states, the foreclosure process is much quicker. The people with cash to buy homes are much more likely to buy in states where the deal is less likely to get held up in court – sometimes for years.

As a result, the unintended consequence of heavy foreclosure laws which delay the inevitable, most likely will be a slower recovery.

We’ve seen it many times, when the government artificially props up a system, the system does not have a chance to work. We’ll watch this one closely but we’re not hopeful.