Local TX homeowners who are facing a financial challenge may find themselves in foreclosure.
Foreclosure is when the mortgage loan doesn’t get paid back and the bank begins the process to take ownership of the property.
If you find yourself entering the foreclosure process, you might ask yourself if there is anything you can do about it.
In this blog post, you’ll read about a few foreclosure prevention measures in McAllen that you can take to keep your home from foreclosure.
Foreclosure prevention measures in McAllen TX
These foreclosure prevention measures might not all work in your situation but we’re telling you about them so you can make the decision for yourself:
1. Pay off your mortgage / sell your property. The quickest and easiest way to end the foreclosure process is to pay off your mortgage. After all, this is all the banks wanted in the first place so they would be happy to let you stay in your home and they get their money back. Admittedly, this is not always possible, which is perhaps the reason that you’re in foreclosure in the first place.
2. Work out a deal with your bank. Sometimes you can work out a deal with your bank where you talk with a mortgage or foreclosure specialist and work out a deal where they restructure your mortgage. Perhaps your payments can be spread out so they are lower each month. Just make sure that the deal works for you — you don’t want to just repeat the process in a few months.
3. Do a short sale. A short sale is when you sell the property and use the proceeds of the sale to pay down or pay off your outstanding amount with the bank. This keeps a foreclosure from impacting your credit score and it gets the bank off your back!
4. Give your deed in lieu. Another option would be a deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure, which basically means that you will hand over the deed to your house to the bank and they agree not to put you through foreclosure. This will often only work if your house is worth approximately the amount owing on the mortgage. If not, the bank may pursue the difference.
5. File for bankruptcy. In some ways, a bankruptcy is far more dramatic than a foreclosure because it impacts many aspects of your life emotionally and financially. The foreclosure will stay in your credit record for several years and may affect your ability to get credit in the future. However, once you file for bankruptcy, the foreclosure process has to stop so it’s still a foreclosure prevention measure.
If you’re not sure which one to do, consider this: If you can afford payments and you want to stay in the house then a foreclosure workout arrangement (#2) is probably your best option.
If you want to put everything behind you and move on with your life then consider selling your home and paying off your mortgage with that money.