When you fall behind on your mortgage payments, foreclosure is right around the corner. You might get discouraged and feel that all is lost. All that financial stress makes it impossible to think clearly and take action to avoid foreclosure. But there is good news. You do have options, all is not lost if you act quickly. In this article, I will show you how to stop foreclosure in Houston when you are behind on your mortgage payments.
Why Is It Important To Stop Foreclosure On Your Home
There are at least 3 good reasons why it is important to stop foreclosure in Houston before it happens to you:
- Foreclosure is very destructive to your credit. Once a bank has foreclosed on you, it is like they dropped a bomb on your credit. Foreclosure destroys your ability to use credit for at least 7 years.
- You can owe money to the bank even after foreclosure. When a bank takes back the house, that’s not the end of the story. They will try to sell the house and recover the amount they are owed. If they can’t sell the house for enough to cover what you owe them, they will sue you for the difference.
- Foreclosure is not inevitable. Sometimes when that constable posts that scary notice on your door, you think foreclosure is inevitable. But the truth is banks would rather avoid foreclosure as much as you do. While foreclosure can seem like an insurmountable challenge, it can be solved by better communication, knowing available options or selling your house before it happens.
Keep or Sell the Home?
The first step you must take to stop foreclosure in Houston is answer one important question. Can you keep the home or do you want to sell it?
Sometimes, the financial difficulties that made you fall behind on your payments were just temporary. Maybe you lost your job and couldn’t afford the mortgage for a few months. Now you have secured new employment and the income is coming in again. But you just can’t seem to catch up with the back due amount.
Or, maybe you were facing financial distress due to a medical issue and had to use your money to take care of that issue instead of paying the mortgage. Whatever the situation, if the situation is temporary and you can afford the regular payments, your best option is to keep the home.
But what if your financial situation has changed permanently and you can’t afford the home anymore? Then, the best solution is to sell your Houston home fast before the bank takes it at the foreclosure auction.
How To Stop Foreclosure In Houston And Keep Your Home
If you want to stop foreclosure and keep your home, the key is communication. When facing financial distress the natural reaction is to “clam up” and stop communicating with the bank. It’s not a pleasant situation and you’d rather not face it.
In fact, you’ve stopped taking their collection calls completely. In reality, the best thing to do is the exact opposite. Call your bank right away and explain your situation to them. It’s important to understand that foreclosure is not a great solution for the bank either. The bank would prefer that you stay in your home and resume making payments to them.
They might offer you several options to keep your home.
- Loan modification: The bank changes the terms of the loan to get you back or track. For example the bank can change the loan from a 30 year payment to a lower 40 year payment. Or, they will postpone the past due balance to the back of the loan and let you resume making regular payments.
- Payment plan: Instead of paying all the past due balance now, they can break it up and allow you to pay it over time with a payment plan.
How to Stop Foreclosure in Houston and Sell your Home Fast
If your financial situation has changed permanently and you can’t afford the home, the best solution is to sell. The timing is critical in these cases because you must sell your home quickly before the bank takes it in foreclosure. If foreclosure is right around the corner, a regular sale through a realtor just won’t do. Here are 3 solid reasons why:
- The average listing sits on the market 60-90 days before a Buyer makes an offer to buy it. In this case, that kind of time just isn’t available.
- Even when you find the Buyer, the majority of home sales through realtors require mortgage financing and can take 30-60 days to close.
- Finally, regular home sales need the home to be in great condition. Often, that requires thousands of dollars in repairs before the home is listed.
When foreclosure is just a few days away, the best option is a fast all-cash sale. You need a solid written cash offer from a reputable and professional house buyer within 24 hours and closing in 7-10 days.
Why Sell Your House Fast to Signature to stop foreclosure
If you need to sell your Houston house fast to stop the foreclosure process, you need a professional house buyer that you can trust. The risk is too high to sell to an investor that will not be able to perform.
Here are 7 Reasons why you should choose Signature House Buyers to sell your house fast.
We are direct buyers that will close fast
Many so called house buyers are just middlemen that tie up your property in a contract that they cannot close on unless they find a real buyer to take it over. Signature House Buyers is a direct buyer. That means we have the cash in the bank and we will close on time.
Signature House Buyers pays more for your house
Most investors that buy houses in Houston are “house flippers” or “wholesalers”. That means they are looking to quickly resell the home for a profit. We don’t do that. Instead, we renovate and hold our properties long term so we can afford to pay you more cash for your house.
We have impeccable reputation and integrity
Unfortunately, real estate investing attracts a lot of fly-by-night con men and pretenders. We buy houses in Houston for over 15 years and have kept an impeccable reputation during that time. Signature House Buyers is here to stay and you can count on us to deliver.
Signature House Buyers cares about the community
Even when you have to sell your home to keep it from going into foreclosure, you want it to be a good home for a friend or neighbor. That’s our mission. We are investors looking to improve the community one house at a time by providing safe, clean homes for our friends and neighbors.
We will buy your house as-is for cash
You don’t have to make any repairs or even clean. We take care of all of it. You just move on to the next chapter in your life
Zero commissions, fees or closing costs
When you sell to us, you won’t have to pay any real estate commissions or any other fees of any kind. We will even pay for all the closing costs.
Flexible moving arrangements
If you need a few days after closing to make arrangements to move, we will work with your timeline to make the move as smooth as possible.
You might be thinking: Don’t cash sales usually happen at a price below market value? Typically yes. But, a fast cash sale will stop foreclosure and you will avoid losing 100% the equity in your home. Wouldn’t it be preferable to recoup some of the equity so that it will serve you on the next chapter as you put your life back in order?
In summary, if you’re facing foreclosure you do have options. First, decide if you can keep the home or if you should sell it and move on. Regardless of the decision, timing is critical so you must act swiftly. If you decide to keep the property, communicate with your Lender at once, tell them about the situation you are facing and ask them for options. If you no longer can afford the mortgage, sell the property quickly AS-IS for cash. It will stop the foreclosure and you will avoid losing all the equity in the property.
