Pinetop White Mountain Blog

Good Morning Everyone!

I had the sad duty this morning of withdrawing one of my listings because it is being sold at a Trustee's Sale tomorrow morning.  I felt so bad for the folks that owned that home.  We had tried and tried to find a buyer for the home for almost a year.  It was priced right for the area and it did get a lot of activity.  Just no offers. 

The problem was that when the sellers ran in to difficulty and couldn't make their payments, they never told me.  In today's market with so many homes going back to the bank for nonpayment your lender will work with you.  They would rather get something rather than nothing on the sale of a home and the last thing they need right now is another foreclosure.

So if you are getting into difficulty, don't be embarrassed, call your lender and your Real Estate Agent, if you have one, and let them know what is going on.  If you do this soon enough you may be able to renegotiate the terms of your loan to make the payment more affordable or even refinance to better terms.  These days lenders are literally buried under homes going to foreclosure and if you can show hardship and a reason why you are getting behind, they will work with you rather than have another file to add to the thousands they already have on their desks.  They may be willing to work out terms for a "Short Sale" (selling the home for less than is owed against it) or they may work with you to extend the terms of your loan to lower your payments.  There are a lot of options out there to help you but you must start working with them right away.  Don't wait because if you do it may be too late to do anything.

Such was the case here.  I had no idea my sellers were in trouble until I saw the notice of the Trustees Sale in the local newspaper.  By the time I knew what was going on it was simply too late to do anything to stop it. 

Don't let this happen to you.  If you don't know where to start, call your lender.  Do your very best to get through to someone who can make a decision or at the very least get you to someone who can answer questions.  Find out what your options are and if you have a Real Estate Agent let them know what is going on.  They may be able to help you over the hurdles with your lender.  They are seeing a lot more of these situations than you are and are more familiar with the procedures to get something done to help.  

Just don't walk away thinking it is your only option.  It isn't, and there are people out there who can help.   It isn't the easiest situation to be in and it can be hard to admit you are in trouble.  But there are resources to help you and you just need to ask for the help before you are going to find it.  

Have a wonderful Monday and let us know if we can help you with any of your Real Estate needs.  

----REMEMBER----

"WE WORK FOR YOU!"

SANDRA & BRUCE PAULOW, REALTORS®