We Buy Houses!

When you go to sell your home, you may very aware of what real estate agents always say:

Fix up your home to get the best price.

The recommendations run the gamut from fresh paint to a new kitchen.  Frontdoor.com suggests that you put up to 15% of your home’s value into improvements.  If you are selling your home to prevent foreclosure or for other financial reasons, putting a lot of money into the place may not be an option for you.  What you will want to do is invest your time and money in the improvements that will do the most good.  Ideally, you should get a home inspection so you know what problems your home might have.  Even if you do not have the resources to fix too much, you can work with your real estate agent to plan two things:

• Your course of action in making repairs with limited resources.
• The best selling price point for your home, given that you are unable to make the type of improvements needed to get the best price.

Need to move but have little cash to prepare your home for moving?

The common wisdom used to be that you could get a home equity loan to finance repairs.  With tightened credit requirements and falling home values, this is no longer good advice.  (Try for it, but it probably won’t work!)

Even if you have minimal funds to work with, there are a few things that will help you sell:

First, freshen up the home to make it look “cared for.” De-clutter all the rooms.  This step can both help your sale and help your moving plans.  If you throw out, sell, or give away what you don’t need or want to take to your new home, you will have less to move.  You can even start packing unused items in boxes, which you neatly stack in the garage or an out of the way place.

If you have lived in your home for a long time, the paint will probably need freshening up.  Repaint the rooms in neutral colors to please most buyers.  If you have wallpapered walls, at least make sure that all the seams and corners are glued down, unless you want to remove the old wallpaper and repaint.  Texture paint can do wonders on damaged walls.

Your carpeting is one thing that the buyers will notice immediately when they walk in. If it’s old, soiled, and rippled, it will deter most buyers.  Replace it if you can.  If you know the floors underneath are good hardwood, then you might want to at least have the carpeting removed.  If not, at least clean what you have.

Minor kitchen and bathroom remodels top the list of what will do the most to sell your home. If you can’t afford projects like this, make sure everything is clean, fix leaky faucets, re-grout tile where needed, and replace outdated light fixtures.

Outside your home, make sure bushes, plants, and lawns are neatly trimmed. Make any needed repairs to sidewalks, steps, railings, and porches.

When you are done, you home may not make it into House Beautiful, but if it is neat and clean, potential buyers are more likely to consider it. If it’s priced right, they are more likely to make an offer.

No money to fix your home? No time to do it?  Then perhaps you should consider the Express Homebuyers solution.  We will buy your home as is for cash.  You can work out most of the details in a phone call, receive a cash advance, and be on your way to your new home within a couple weeks.  Call 1-(877) 907-3232 or email info@expresshomebuyers.com.  We can answer your questions about a way to leave your troubled financial past behind you and move on to a better life.

Did you see the Dr. Phil Show the other day?  A guest recalled how devastated she was to find the sheriff on her front steps, with an eviction order in hand.  Her home had been foreclosed after months of notices and legal actions.  All this time, her husband had hidden the mail from her that warned how dire the situation was.  She knew the finances were bad as her husband had lost his job and both of them had hocked their rings to prevent their car from being repossessed, but she never realized how grave things were.  Now, she and their kids live with her parents, in view of the foreclosed family home.  He sleeps on his mother’s couch and is trying to repair his fractured marriage.

The saddest thing is in this situation is that the husband’s denial and deception turned a financial difficulty into a financial nightmare for the whole family.  The family may not have been able to keep the home, but failure to confront the problem closed the door to any alternative. (For the full story, see Is Charlie ready to deal with reality?)

According to investment broker Marilyn Logan, these unhappy former homeowners could have altered the course of events by following a few simple rules:

1. Admitted they needed help – and done it early.
2. Contacted their lender at the first sign of trouble
3. Resisted the temptation to deplete retirement savings
4. Sold their possessions

This is good advice.

Most people have not faced foreclosure, so have no experience in dealing with it.  Lenders, on the other hand, while not thrilled to hear of borrowers’ problems that will affect their ability to pay, have heard it all.  They are in the business of lending money, not managing property, so they would prefer to work with a delinquent borrower than take back the house.  Notifying the lender at the first sign of trouble, (and certainly by the time the man in the story recounted above lost his job) may have changed the outcome.  Ignoring the bills and not opening the mail doesn’t relieve the problem.

You Can Get Reliable, Honest Help

If you are in this situation and find your lender is not too sympathetic, there are many non-profit organizations set up to help.  Many times, they will deal with your lender.  Of course, not every organization that says it will help homeowners has your best interests at heart, so make sure to find a HUD-approved counselor, not someone you saw advertised on a telephone pole or late night TV.

When people are desperate, they look for any money they can make liquid, including their retirement.  Tempting as it is to tap the 401K, Logan says, distressed homeowners should leave it alone.  Her thinking?  It is easier to get another home than rebuild retirement savings.  Lenders might not be sympathetic to your not paying the back mortgage while you have money sitting in the 401K, but Logan’s advice is thought provoking:  sell off other assets you have, maybe even your possessions.  Or maybe it’s time to unload the house and start over.

The thinking here is clear.  You bought your home for your family (even if your family is just you and your cat.)  It’s more important to keep your family intact than save the home.  As much as you love your house, it’s your family that makes it a home.  If you are in troubled circumstances, choose your family even if it means moving.

Looking for a quick and trouble free solution from a reputable company?  Express Homebuyers can buy your home for cash.  We assess your home’s value in a phone call and make you an offer on the spot.  We will even give you a $2,500 cash advantage to help you move.  Within a couple weeks of accepting our offer, you are free and clear of any obligation to the property.

Wondering how this works?  Check out our Frequently Asked Questions for an overview of program, and then call us at 1-(877) 907-3232.

Many people see foreclosure as a final chapter in an unpleasant series of financial events, but the aftermath of foreclosure isn’t what you may hope for. If you no longer have the property, you no longer have the high payments, but there are other consequences that may await you.

Your personal feelings… Foreclosure might be a business decision for your lender, but for you and your family, leaving your home usually means leaving your neighborhood and your lifestyle.  Adults tend to feel depressed, disappointed, and angry.  For kids, this often means being uprooted from school mid-year and having to make friends and catch up in a new academic environment.  If the financial strains leading up to foreclosure have broken up the marriage, both children and adults have an extra layer of hurt and disappointment to deal with.

Your new residence… Maybe your game plan is to move back home with mom and dad after you lose a home, but if you want to rent somewhere, you’ll need to find a place to live where the landlord is sympathetic to your situation.  If you are jobless, this poses an obvious impediment.  Assuming you have enough income to pay the rent, you may have to come up with a larger-than-normal deposit to put the landlord’s concerns to rest.  Getting the deposit together, often a challenge for people anyway, is more difficult when you are cash strapped after a foreclosure.

Credit score implications… You are probably aware that your credit score will take a hit with foreclosure on your record, but be forewarned that other creditors may raise you rates, even if you are up to date with them.  Many people tend to be behind in many accounts, especially if they have let other things go in an attempt to cover the mortgage.  The resulting low credit score may make it hard to buy a car or get reasonable credit down the line.

Future home buying… Buying a home in the future will be more difficult with a foreclosure on your record.  Even if you have an otherwise good credit record, you will probably have to wait five years to be eligible for a Fannie Mae backed loan or three years for an FHA backed one. In either case, you might be able to speed things up if you can prove that there were extenuating circumstances that lead to the foreclosure.  You will still have to prove that you have been on time with things since the foreclosure.

Job consequences… These days, many employers get credit checks on new employees. If you are applying for position where you will be handling money, you might be turned down for the job based on your credit history.  Even for a sales job, the employer might think you’ll be under too much pressure.  You should address the subject in an interview to negate employer concerns. There are laws that limit the types of checks employers can do, but if don’t get the job after you’ve had a foreclosure, it’s hard to prove that the credit report was the reason you didn’t get it.

You may still owe… Once your home has been foreclosed on (or you’ve walked away) the lender may bill you for taxes on the amount they couldn’t recover from the sale, while the IRS may hold you responsible for debt on the property that was forgiven.  Recent laws may give you some relief but make sure to check with a tax adviser to gauge your liability.

When foreclosure looms, the best bet is to assess the situation and determine how to gain control of it.  For some people, this may mean talking to the lender or a financial counselor to negotiate a loan modification. For others, it may mean a short sale, where leaving the property will be more on your terms. There is another way:  you can sell your home outright for cash to a reputable firm.

Express Homebuyers, which has operated in the DC area since 2003, can make you an offer, give you an advance so you can find a new home, and wrap up the sale within a couple weeks. To explore this exciting option, which can limit the impact of financial turmoil, call 1-(877) 907-3232 or email info@expresshomebuyers.com.  We can answer your questions about a way to leave your troubled financial past behind you and move on to a better life.