Option 1: Negotiate with Your Lender
Depending on what stage of the process you are in, you may be able to negotiate with your lender. If you have a relatively solid payment history before the recent past, consider calling up your lender and talking to them about refinancing or a payment plan. It’s important to remember that your lender likely doesn’t want to go through foreclosure, either: it involves a lot of time and money for the bank, too. With this in mind, talk to them about your options: ask if it would be possible to set up a payment plan in addition to your monthly mortgage payment so that you can catch up on the outstanding balance. If possible, look into refinancing. If this is your first time having trouble with mortgage payments, chances are you can come to some sort of agreement with your lender. With that said, this is the least likely course of action out of the ones we’re talking about today.
Option 2: Sell Your House on the Market
When your home is in pre-foreclosure, you have some time – usually about thirty days – before the bank officially takes ownership of the property. During this time, the house is still yours. This means that you have the right to sell the house yourself in order to avoid foreclosure, then use that money to pay off your remaining mortgage balance, outstanding payments, and any late fees. Your first instinct might be to sell your house on the traditional market, working with an agent to get the best deal possible. This could be a good option, but it’s important to be aware of a few realities first:
- The average real estate process in Florida takes about three months, which is likely to be longer than you have before foreclosing.
- Buyers might be skittish about buying a house in pre-foreclosure.
- As the seller, you’ll have to do a lot of negotiating – and potentially still have to pay for some closing costs or repairs.
Selling a house by listing it on the traditional market is a great option if you have plenty of time to spare. Because of the restricted timeline and urgency of a foreclosure, however, this might not be the best option for you.
Option 3: Sell Your House for Cash
Selling your house for cash means reaping all of the benefits of avoiding foreclosure without having to risk entering a long negotiation process. When you sell your house to a trustworthy cash buyer, you get an offer that’s based on real market numbers, meaning that you can count on getting a fair deal. On top of that, you get to carry out the process on your timeline. At PlacePitch, that means that your home sale can get done in as little as one business day.
Our three step process is designed to be easy for home buyers: all you have to do is request an offer, and we’ll take care of the rest. We will set up a quick in-person tour of the property (you don’t have to clean, repair, or stage anything) so that we can make sure we’re giving you the best offer possible. Then, we run some numbers and provide an offer that’s based on the latest market figures. From there, all you have to do is accept, close, and get paid. Then, you can use that cash to pay off your remaining mortgage balance and save your credit score. Depending on how much equity you have in the house, you can still walk away with thousands of dollars to help you move forward into your next steps with peace of mind.
