As a Harford County Maryland (and surrounds) homeowner who is falling behind on mortgage payments, your instinct will be to avoid foreclosure. Regardless of whether you want to sell your house or keep it to avoid foreclosure, you need to take quick action before it is too late!
Homeowners who are behind in mortgage face imminent foreclosures. If you don’t foresee any improvements in your financial situation, it is logical that you have an overwhelming feeling. Guess what? If you are reading this, you will learn more about your situation and how you might be able to move forward or avoid foreclosure altogether.
Typically, the foreclosure process starts once you lag in paying your mortgage. When you miss a single payment, you may begin to get foreclosure notice in the mail. As soon as you miss more than four months of payments, your lender has the legal right to repossess your home and sell it to recover their money.
This basically means you will be forced to move out of a place you see as your home. This also implies that it might be very challenging for you to qualify for a second mortgage, auto loan, cell phone plan or credit card because a foreclosure goes on your credit report and reduces your score by a very significant amount of points, which can be more than 300 points in some cases.
If you are in this situation, you might think the only option is to sell your house to avoid foreclosure. Actually, there are alternatives to selling your home and we will dive into them as follows.
Alternative 1- Mortgage Forbearance
This alternative enables you to reach a consensus with your mortgage company/lender to temporarily decrease or put off your monthly mortgage payments for a definite duration, so as to recover from a temporary hardship. Such temporary hardship includes illness, recent disaster, disability, divorce, job loss, loss of a breadwinner or other special situations.
If any of these is your situation and you want to keep your house, you might want to consider mortgage forbearance and talk to your lender to see if you qualify for mortgage forbearance.
In addition, it is worthy to note that your lender will require that you give them a proof of hardship as part of prerequisites for qualification as well as pay any missed mortgage after the expiration of the aforementioned “definite duration” under which you are covered.
Alternative 2- Loan Modification
Loan modification is a process where your mortgage servicer allows you to alter the terms of your loan, such as lowering your interest rate or missing payments for a specified period of time, if you are experiencing a temporary hardship, such as job loss. This is another option you might want to consider as a Harford County Maryland homeowner, if you are behind on mortgage payments, have a stable source of income, and able to provide proof of hardship.
However, just like in mortgage forbearance, the caveat to this alternative is that loan modification is not a “magic wand” you can wave to get out of your situation free of charge. For example, if you choose to modify your mortgage and your mortgage company lets you miss payments for a definite period of time. Those missed payments will be added to your principal; and you will need to pay this later on.
Furthermore, it is essential to take into account that mortgage forbearance and loan modification involve an extensive negotiation process, which is usually frustrating. As a matter of fact, it is not unusual for mortgage companies to misplace paperwork and subject homeowners to delays. So, you need to buckle up for this!
Considerations for selling a House When Behind on Mortgage
Homeowners’ situations are different when they fall behind in their mortgage payments. Therefore, it is only logical to find that mortgage forbearance or loan modification is not going to work for them. If this is your situation, what can you do instead to avoid foreclosure?
There is a bright side and the simple answer is that you can sell your home before the date scheduled for foreclosure. However, how you sell depends on how much you owe on your mortgage and the fair market value of your house.
If the amount you owe on your mortgage outweighs the fair market value of your home, you would need to sell your house as a short sale to circumvent foreclosure. What does short sale mean? Before we look at short sales with aa bigger lens, it means you will be required to reach a consensus with your lender for this type of transaction.
On the other hand, if the amount you owe on your mortgage is less than the fair market value of your house, then you can either sell in a traditional fashion by listing your house on the market with a realtor or to sell to a real estate investor like Easy Outs Homes that buys houses as-is, pay all closing costs without you having do any repairs or pay any real estate commissions or fees.
How Does Short Sales Work?
As mentioned before, short sale is a significant consideration, if you are owing your lender an amount that is more than what your house is currently worth, and you want to avoid foreclosure.
Short sale requires that you submit some paperwork to your mortgage lender to obtain an approval to sell. This paperwork will include your offer letter and a “hardship letter” clarifying the reason why you can no longer continue to pay your mortgage, along with financial documents, such as medical bills and income statement to support your claim.
While short sale offers a “get-away” from your mortgage debt because you’re not obligated to pay back the outstanding balance, most servicers will require that your house is appraised to ascertain that you have received a fair offer.
As a result, there may be specifications (that you’re responsible for every repair, notary fee, etc.), which may make it very challenging to obtain your lender’s approval because lenders lose money in a short sale and they want to minimize their loss. However, since lenders are not in business of owning and selling real estate, some of them actually prefer short sales to foreclosures.
As a home seller, the decision you make is totally up to you. While both foreclosure and short sale damage your credit scores, it is worthy to note that foreclosures force homeowners to vacate their home and short sales enable homeowners to stay in their homes until short sale transactions are completed.
On the bright side, if you decide to do short sales or you are not able to secure a permanent loan modification and therefore cannot avoid foreclosure, there is bountiful government financial assistance for relocation that you may be eligible for. You can learn more about the government financial assistance that you may qualify for here
Selling Your Home to a Real Estate Investor
In some cases, loan modification, mortgage forbearance, or short sale might not be a viable option for homeowners who are considering selling their houses. If this is your situation, a more prudent option is to sell your house “as-is” to real estate investors like Easy Outs Homes. If you choose to sell your house to us, we can help in a lot of ways that could save you from damaging impacts of foreclosure.
If you have outstanding mortgage on your house, some of the benefits of selling to us is that we can work out specific terms that will enable you sell without having to deal with the hassles of listing your house on the market, doing extensive repairs, hiring real estate agents, paying real estate commissions of about 6 percent of the sales price, sourcing for contractors, engaging professional home inspector who nitpicks every single item for further repair.
For homeowners facing foreclosures in Harford County Maryland (and surrounds), time is of the essence and it is extremely important to address your situations immediately. If you ascertain that you are possibly going to end up in foreclosure and your option is to sell to a real estate investor, why not sell to us, to wriggle out of the mortgage contract and prevent your house from being sold at sheriff’s sale? If you need to resolve your situation, contact us today to obtain a fair offer!
When you sell your house to a cash home buyer, it’s a fast, easy process. Your house doesn’t need to be listed, and you won’t have to wait for months to sell your home. The housing market in Maryland and all over the United States is unpredictable. But when we buy your home for cash, you’ll get a straightforward and fast solution without the usual hassle.
Whether you have liens, the house is in probate, you have a mortgage you can’t pay for, or any other issue, it doesn’t matter. We can buy your home with cash. You don’t have to worry about anything except handing over the keys and the title. In fact, we’ve helped many clients who were in your situation.
We guarantee a fast, convenient, and streamlined process.
We Buy Houses In Maryland In All Situations
There are plenty of reasons to sell your home for cash rather than go through a realtor and list your home. You might want to downsize to a smaller home, for example, or there are too many mortgage payments. You may need to sell your house fast. Let’s take a look at six reasons why you may want to sell your home or business quickly.
Avoiding Foreclosure
If you can’t refinance your house, then you should sell your house fast for cash to avoid foreclosure. we are here to help!
Too Many Repairs
If renovating your house is going to sink you financially, then sell your house to a cash for houses company.
Leaving Town
If you need to relocate for a job, or you’d like to be closer to family, sell your home to Easy Outs Homes. We offer hassle-free cash Offers.
Dealing With Divorce
Need to sell your house fast after a messy divorce? We’ll buy it, and you can settle your divorce early!
Tired Of Tenants
Tired of having tenants who can’t make their monthly payments? sell your house fast and Ease your burden, we’ll buy it for cash fast!
Inherited A House
If you inherited an estate or a house that you don’t want or can’t afford, sell it to us, a cash home-buying company.
We Buy Houses For Cash In Harford County Maryland
As cash buyers, when we buy property for cash in Harford County, MD, we offer a different route. The difference between our process and the traditional route isn’t just about speed. There are more benefits. Here are some:
No Repairs
When we buy homes and pay cash, we don’t ask the owners to do any fixes. Most homes that go on the market are renovated, and homeowners have poured lots of money to make upgrades. This not only takes time, but it also takes a lot of money – cash you may not have. When you sell your house to us, you don’t have to worry about leaks in your pipes or cracks in your walls. Concerned that your house may need an exterior paint job or that it’s showing its age? That’s okay. We’ll buy it from you as is.
No Agents
Another benefit when we buy your property is that you don’t have to work with agents. An estate agent has a wealth of information and resources about the housing market. However, working with an agent to sell your home takes longer. You have to schedule showings, get inspections, get a valuation, put up a “for sale” sign, wait for home offers, do some marketing to sell your house, and more. However, when you sell to us, you’re dealing only with one company. There’s no middleman, no waiting, and no appraisals. We give fair cash offers and close the deal fast – within days or weeks.
No Fees
One of the most discouraging parts about selling houses via an agent is all the fees homeowners must pay. There is a laundry list of expenses – from renovations to commissions to closing costs. If you want another option, we have one! When we buy properties, you don’t have to take out a government or private loan to renovate your home. Nor do you have to worry about listing fees or hidden costs. Most, if not all, of our cash offers go straight into our clients’ pockets. With no fees to worry about, you can sell your house fast, with confidence and peace of mind.
How Do I Sell My House Fast For Cash In Harford County, MD?
When you want to sell your home fast for cash, there are three simple steps.
Contact Us For An Offer
Contact our team, and tell us about the home you want to sell. We’ll get all the details and make an appointment to see it.
Evaluate The Offer
Next, we’ll take a look at your house. After seeing your home, we’ll make you a no-obligation cash offer that’s fair and transparent. If you like it, you can accept it. There are no obligations
Pick Your Closing Date
Once you accept our offer, you – the customer – pick the closing date. After you’ve signed the papers, we’ll pay you cash, and you hand us the keys and the title. It’s that simple and that fast!
