Financial hardships are a very real problem that you may have to deal with. You might have lost your job, been unable to keep up with your bills or have hit rock bottom in other ways that have led to foreclosure looming on the horizon. It is important to keep calm and assess what you can realistically do to prevent losing your Columbus home. If the risk of foreclosure is immediate, you should address the problem as soon as possible or take the proper steps to avert the problem.
If you relate to this problem, we have a few foreclosure tips for Columbus, Ohio residents that you may want to hear.
What is Foreclosure?
You may have heard of the term before or have a vague idea of what foreclosure is. The legal process through which a bank or mortgage company seizes ownership of a home after the borrower has fallen behind on payments or stopped making payments entirely is known as foreclosure.
In general, home buyers use mortgages to purchase properties for their primary residence. In typical contracts, the buyer is expected to make monthly payments to the bank or mortgage company until they have paid back the agreed upon amount. There are times when the home buyer encounters financial problems wherein they find themselves unable to keep up with the payments and are deemed as unable to pay the amount stated in the contract. This forces the lending company to recoup their loan by taking possession of the property and selling it to make back the money they loaned to the property owner. In the event that a home in Columbus is foreclosed on, the incident heavily impacts the credit score of the former property owner and their property is lost in the foreclosure process.
How to Avoid Foreclosure
At the first sign of imminent foreclosure, it is important to act immediately. The longer you put off finding a solution, the harder it will be to keep your home. Many homeowners find themselves being proactive way too late and eventually lose their home. Here are a few foreclosure tips that you can follow.
One common option you could try is contacting your lender about modifying the terms of your loan. If they are willing, your lender can help negotiate a new payment plan that you can afford based on your financial status. It is advisable to be up front and honest in your negotiations about your finances as lying about your income and assets will be a bigger headache in the long run.
Another choice you could make is that you can selling your assets. Selling assets, especially those you don’t particularly need, is a straightforward way to acquire the money you need to pay off your annual payments. You could downgrade your car and use part of the money to buy a cheaper model and use the rest of the proceeds to pay off your dues to avoid foreclosure.
Sometimes, your short-term financial problems become too much too handle. If you know that your current situation is only temporary, you could request a forbearance. If you are approved for a forbearance, the lender temporarily suspends your monthly payments for a short period of time. This is usually granted to people whom the lender thinks can recover from their financial problems during the given period. Do note that after the forbearance period ends, you will have to pay back the lender the full amount of the missed payments during the forbearance.
Ready to Sell Your Home?
In worst case scenarios, you may need to let go of your home in order to pay off what you owe. It may be a reasonable solution to your foreclosure problems as you avoid taking a massive hit to your credit score in the process. Foreclosure in Columbus, Ohio can not only damage your credit and take away your house, but it can turn up as a red flag for future loans and even future house purchases. You may ask yourself at this point how you can sell your house fast in Columbus, Ohio.
You can sell to a professional home buyer such as Offer Express. Offer Express is a trusted cash home buyer in Columbus, Ohio that can buy your house fast without all the headaches that come with listing on the MLS or getting a real estate agent. We buy houses and value them as accurately as possible to give you the cash to pay off your loans. Plus, we buy homes in any condition, including homes with liens, judgments, structural damage, or homes that are in danger of foreclosure.
Contact us for more information and take a step towards avoiding foreclosure!