The current economy has seen many people needing to cut back as they struggle with making ends meet. For many, this has led to financial hardship, which puts them at risk of foreclosure. If you don’t take steps to pay off your missed mortgage payments, your lender can proceed with foreclosure proceedings, which could end with you losing ownership over your Naples home.
While you haven’t received a notice of foreclosure yet, there are still some things you can do to avoid getting foreclosed. Foreclosure laws in Naples requires some amount of time after your first missed payment before your lender can pursue foreclosure. Here are some of the ways you can avoid getting foreclosed on.
Discuss Financial Hardship Options with Your Naples Money Lender
Many lenders understand that financial hardships can take a toll on your ability to pay. Foreclosure is actually a time-consuming and costly process for them, so it’s often used as a last resort on payees that appear to be evading their mortgage payments. So, if you show that you’re willing to work with your lender to pay off your debt, they could provide options to help make payments easier.
If your lender has been reaching out about your missed mortgage payments, ask them if you can freeze payment temporarily or renegotiate terms. The first option gives you a few months to get your finances in order before your mortgage payments resume. Renegotiations, on the other hand, restructure your entire loans so that they’re more manageable. This can mean lowering your monthly payments or increasing the number of years you have to pay off your loan.
These are just some of the solutions some lenders offer those facing financial hardship. However, keep in mind that not all lenders may be willing to provide flexible plans. And if you’ve been evading their attempts to reach out, they may be hesitant to work with you and may resort to foreclosure.
Hold a Short Sale
If over 120 days have passed since your first missed mortgage payment and you’ve received a notice of foreclosure, you’re already in a state of pre-foreclosure. In this stage, the market value of your property is lower than what you owe the bank. You can opt for a short sale where you and your lender will sell your property for below-market value, and then the proceeds from the sale will go to the lender as payment for your debt.
A short sale is the only way to sell once you’re in pre-foreclosure. You’ll need your lender’s approval to sell the property once you’ve reached that state. However, your lender may reject your request to hold a short sale as there may still be a remaining debt balance even after the sale. It’s up to the lender if they’ll forgive your remaining debt after the short sale, or if you’re obligated to pay the remaining debt.
Sell Your House
If you want to avoid foreclosure, you can choose to sell your house before you’ve entered pre-foreclosure. Depending on the equity you have, you might be able to earn enough to pay off your remaining debt.
However, this is a time-sensitive option. Most lenders can pursue foreclosure 120 days after your first missed payment. This means finding a way to sell your house in Naples fast. Listing on the real estate market can be tricky because of that short window of time. The average time it takes a house in Florida to sell is 77 days, and there’s no guarantee that you’ll get a good offer within that time. This gives you a very short timeframe to sell if you want to avoid short sales or foreclosure.
Your best option in this case is to sell to a cash home buyer. Instead of waiting on the market for an offer, a cash home buyer provides you with an offer within a fraction of the time it takes in the market. The closing process is also quicker, which means getting the money faster and paying off your debt to avoid foreclosure.
Need More Info?
Foreclosure can have challenging effects on your finances, so it’s best to consider all your options before getting foreclosed. At Alpha Properties, we’re here to provide you with solutions to sell your properties fast. We buy houses in Naples, Florida for fair prices, and we’re here to help you avoid the pitfalls of foreclosure, bankruptcy, and other issues that require fast cash.
Schedule your property viewing with Alpha Properties today.
