We Buy Houses!

One of life’s biggest ironies is that there is more help available for those who don’t need it than those who do. The higher your credit score, the lower your interest rate. If you are doing well and have been able to keep your credit score high and your debt low, you will be rewarded with a lower car payment, for example, due to reduced interest even though you could afford to pay more. The person who might benefit from having a reliable new car for one of those $169-a-month car payments advertised on commercials often drives away with a used car and much higher payments. Of course, those who can qualify for the cars that are $169-a-month, seldom want those and opt for other upscale models they can afford as their interest rate is lower.

As there is no law that forces companies to grant credit, much less at a cheap price, the rest of us have to, first, use what it available for us, and then, plan for the future by improving our credit scores. As mentioned in a recent article, those who seek mortgage help by using a government or lender-sponsored program suffer a credit score blow. Those who file bankruptcy or lose their home to foreclosure are penalized for years. However, any of these things can make for a fresh start.

There are a couple of ways that people in trouble can initiate their own fresh start. Many times people cannot afford to be homeowners, even with mortgage reductions. This is why short sales and even deeds-in-lieu have become a popular way of divesting oneself of a home. If the lender agrees to go with either process, you, as a debtor, can put the mortgage behind you. Assuming that you live more frugally, you can work on paying off your other debt. The downside is that the lender can come after you for the difference.

Express Homebuyers offers a similar but often better option: we buy your home for cash.  Unlike short sales, which often take months to complete, you can have your deal wrapped up within a couple weeks. We even offer you $2,500 upfront so you can use to secure your new dwelling.

Want to get yourself a fresh start? Call Express Homebuyers today at 1-877-804-5252 or visit our website for more details. We can get you started on the way to financial freedom with one phone call.  Make today the day you take charge of your future. We will make you an offer on your first call, provide free reports to help you make your selling decision, and we even offer options to chat with one of our helpful consultants.

The obvious: Foreclosures have affected whole neighborhoods in areas that have been hit hardest by the housing bust. There are homes that have been left empty, abandoned and decaying beyond repair.

The not-so-obvious: We are seeing more deferred maintenance in light of the recession.

Many homeowners these days are putting off doing regular up-keep and repair to their homes. Maybe they can’t afford to replace the roof, or they’re underwater on the mortgage and don’t want to put money into seal coating their driveway when they might not be able to afford the home anymore. They might buy a $5 furnace filter but skip the annual service on the furnace.Whatever the reason, must-do repairs aren’t being done, to the detriment of owners, future owners, and neighbors alike.

We’re seeing the evidence at home improvement stores. Home Depot’s third-quarter 2009 net sales were down 8 percent from the previous year, and Lowes reported a 29.5 percent drop in net earnings in the same time period.  This is interesting as some people who might ordinarily sell their homes are renovating instead. Apparently, this remodeling trend is not enough to offset the effects of the recession.

The homeowner hopes to get by without incident. Sometimes this works out. Other times, something like a simple leak from a pipe in the wall can go from an inexpensive fix the homeowner couldn’t afford to a disaster he really can’t manage.  This situation is adding to the number of distressed properties on the market. Deferring maintenance will only make a home harder to sell and negatively impact its value.

Condo and apartment buildings are affected by recession-inspired deferred maintenance too. When owners don’t pay their condo or homeowner association fees, building maintenance doesn’t happen which brings down the prices of all units in the building. When renters don’t pay their rent in a timely manner, owners may not have the cash flow to do either preventive maintenance or make improvements.

Washington says the recession is over but homeowners with no jobs or shaky finances aren’t buying it. They certainly aren’t buying the goods and services necessary to keep their homes in tip-top shape.  This may be the reality of the current economy, but the resulting deferred maintenance will impact housing prices and neighborhood conditions.

If you need a break from the pressures of home ownership, Express Homebuyers can help you.

We will buy your home as-is and on-time – maybe even before another payment is due.  Contact us today at 877-804-5252 or visit our website to get the process started.  We can wrap up your deal in a couple weeks and even offer you a $2,500 cash advance to help you plan your move.



In trouble with your mortgage?  Feeling a bit desperate?  What to do, what to do?

Don’t fall for a scam that offers you quick and ready help.  Instead, call a counselor.

Counselors work, according to a recent study by the Urban Institute.  Since 2007, when the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program was founded to help distressed homeowners, $410 million has gone into the program.  Over 750,000 were helped through the end of 2008.  These borrowers were 60% more likely to keep their homes if they received counseling.  Their monthly payments were decreased to an average of $454.

Part of the counselor’s job is to help homeowners evaluate whether they can afford to keep their homes and then to help them gather the loan documents the lender needs to consider a modification.

This is an interesting finding in view of recently released statistics that 51% of loan modifications in the last year were in default by the end of 2009.  Did something change in the finances of those counseled?  Did counseling standards change as new federal programs encouraged more people to seek a counselor?  Were counselors too optimistic and those served so anxious to keep their homes that they agreed to a payment schedule that was still too high for their income?  Further studies into why re-defaults occurred in 2009 will undoubtedly reveal some needed insights.

The newest federal program announced that March 26 attacks the double-headed monster of negative equity and unemployment.  Most analysts of past housing remedies blame the failure of lenders to reduce principal and bring housing values and loan values more in sync.  The new program offers lenders incentives to offer principle reduction and provides temporary help to people who are unemployed.  Even though the program is only hours old at this writing, no one expects that this is the silver bullet that will “fix housing” either.

Counselors are constrained by available programs to offer their clients.  Regardless of the program, counselors link those who can be helped to ways to get help even if the help is not the final answer to their problems.  This stark reality does not undermine the findings from 2008: Counseling works!

Want to sell your house fast?  Your house worries can be behind you in two weeks by calling Express Homebuyers.  We buy homes for cash and can have $2,500 in your hands even before your deal closes.