Behind on Your Mortgage Payments? Here Are Your Best Options.

It’s not uncommon for a homeowner to find themselves behind on mortgage payments. Most banks will give you a little wiggle room, but it ultimately doesn’t end well if you can’t keep up with your payments. If you are consistently behind on making your monthly mortgage payments or you are already several months behind, it’s important to do what you can to get ahead of the situation and explore your options before you are faced with foreclosure.

Here are some options you should consider according to PropertyLark:

1. Talk with Your Bank/Lender

The truth is, a foreclosure is the last thing that a bank or lender wants to see happen. People think the banks are just waiting to pounce on homeowners in financial distress, but that’s really not the case. They stand to lose a lot of money in a foreclosure or short sale situation. If you reach out to your bank or your private lender, they might be willing to help with special relief programs or other resources not publicly advertised. It is still a long shot. They are not going to give you free money to stay in your home, but they could be able to help in some way. You may have more options than you realize, especially if you have any equity in the home. This is one of those instances where it never hurts to ask!

2. Tap into Your Equity

Speaking of equity, it can be your best bargaining tool if you have some built up in your property. You can leverage it or even pull some cash from it when refinancing, you might qualify for a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or it may help you get a second mortgage. Just be wary about adding more debt on top of your existing debt. A straight refinance may be your best option to lower your mortgage payments if you qualify for a lower mortgage rate, whereas other options may just be burying you even deeper unless you expect your financial situation to improve significantly in the near future.

3. Sell Your House on the Open Market

Before you get too deep in the hole, you can try to sell your house. Again, this is a good idea if you have built up decent equity in the property. Selling the house will help you get out from under it before you get over your head in debt. Even if you end up losing some money, it may be best to simply cut your losses and move on. When selling on the open market, you have to consider the expenses of selling. These include repairs, Realtor® commissions and other closing costs that will cut into your final sales price. You also have to consider the time it will take to sell (usually at least 2-3 months), where you will still be responsible for property tax, HOA, insurance and, of course, mortgage payments.

4. Selling Your House to a Cash Investor

The final option is where PropertyLark comes in. Your best option may be to sell your house to a cash real estate investor who is looking for properties like yours to fix up and resell or rent out. A cash buyer will typically buy the house in as-is condition, meaning you don’t have to worry about making repairs or cleaning it up. You are also not paying any agent commissions, broker fees or home inspection fees. There will be some closing costs, but ultimately you won’t be paying anything out of pocket. The investor pays off your mortgage and helps you get out of the home as quickly as possible. At PropertyLark, we’ve closed in as few as 7 days, though you are free to set your own desired move-out date with us.

The key thing to remember is you have options when you are falling behind on your mortgage payments. The sooner you deal with your financial concerns, the more options you have.

If you are thinking of selling your house, get a free cash offer from PropertyLark. We’ll send you a cash offer within 24 hours and there is absolutely no obligation to sell to us. We’ll make our offer and you can decide if you want to take it or not while you take the time to explore any other options you might have.