Foreclosures get talked about all the time on the news and on thousands of different websites all across the internet, but all of this talk is worthless if you do not understand the basic concept.
When you buy a home you are generally going to be getting a mortgage. After all, do you have 150-300k sitting in your bank account? People like to talk about how they own a house after getting a mortgage, but unfortunately most of the house is still owned by the bank, or whoever your lender was.
If you fall on hard economic times, like many have over the past 2 years, and cannot make your monthly mortgage payments, there is a good chance that your home will enter a foreclosure.
This is where the bank virtually kicks you out of your home and then tries to sell it to cut their losses.
Banks do not win in this situation, they have to sell an asset of theirs for less than it is worth. Homeowners obviously do not win either, they lose their home in most situations.
This process is the reason that I created this website. I want to do everything that I can to inform my readers about foreclosures and loan modifications as well as attempt to prevent foreclosures.
Foreclosures have hit nearly every area hard over the past 2 years because of the down turn in the real estate market and the economy in general. However certain areas have been hit the hardest:
- Michigan: Michigan’s economy has taken a huge hit overall. The unemployment rate in Michigan is around 15% which is 50% higher than the unemployment rate for the U.S. as a whole. The real estate market is still in turmoil. Although there are signs of recovery, it will not come in a day, week or year. Expect Michigan’s foreclosure and unemployment rate to stay high for years to come.
- Florida: Florida’s economy has taken a hit, but not any worse than every other state. What makes Florida’s situation so disheartening is its real estate market. Property values in Florida were consistently rising 20+% in the mid 2000’s which is not healthy or realistic. As they say, the bigger they are the harder they fall. The past 2 years Florida has experienced a surge in the number of foreclosures. Florida will recover eventually.
- Nevada: Nevada has struggled similarly to Florida, yet on a much smaller scale. Home prices in Nevada are roughly half of what they were when they peaked in early 2007.
I originally intended for this site to cover loan modifications only, but after much deliberation, I have decided that covering foreclosures as well would be the right move. After all, the whole idea behind loan modifications is to avoid foreclosure.
If you are looking for foreclosure help, use all of the free resources at your disposal first.
- The internet! Believe it or not, there are hundreds of websites that offer free foreclosure information for free! [This website is one of them.] Don’t believe everything you see on the internet and do not take any drastic actions because of anything you see on the internet, but if you just want more information about the topic the internet can be a great resource.
- Family and friends. Chances are, you know someone who has dealt with either foreclosures or loan modifications through their occupational or personal history. Talk to anyone and everyone that you trust about your situation, you are bound to get good, solid advice.
- Free help organizations. There are dozens of different charitable organizations out their today that would be willing to donate their time or expertise in order to get you the help that you need.
No one wins in a foreclosure, your best bet is to use the resources available around you to stop the situation from escalating.
Loan modifications are most prevalent in California. More prevalent in California than in any other state, the state’s population and dire economic straits is much to blame.
It is very important that you notice any and all of the loan modification programs in the state of California if you live their. You need all of the help you can get when you are in a do or die situation. You will either lose your house and your life will change dramatically for the worse, or you can keep your house, it is all about how your loan modification goes.
Unfortunately California as a state is in a pretty bad situation itself. The government had to issue IOU’s a couple of months ago. There is simply no extra money to go around. Therefore there are little to no loan modification programs their, they simply do not have the money for it. It is all up to you, you have to make your situation into what it needs to be.
I am going to begin to make every effort to show my readers that I have a deep distaste for loan modification software.
You pay hundreds, sometime even thousands of dollars for a piece of software that is not going to end up doing you any good. With all the money you are putting into a piece of software, you could actually hire a human being. Someone with experience in the field, someone who can can call and talk to you, someone who will be their for you… Why even bother with software, that is just a dumb move in my opinion.
I can understand why some would be tempted to venture into buying loan modification software. I realize that most are desperate when going into a loan modification, they simply do not want to lose their home’s and have to start off from square one again, but overpaying for software will not help your situation one bit, I promise. Don’t make your situation any worse than it already is.