With millions of homes across America and San Antonio going into foreclosure, it’s important for both buyers and mortgage holders to understand the process of what is a pre-foreclosure.
So what is a pre-foreclosure in San Antonio anyway?
Many homeowners across the country and San Antonio are facing difficulties making their monthly mortgage payments.
So “what is a pre-foreclosure” you say? When a homeowner misses 3-6 months of payments, the mortgage lender will issue a warning, notifying the homeowner to pay up or lose their home. This is what is known as “pre-foreclosure.”
Mortgage lenders and banks typically provide three months for the homeowner to bring their loan current. Of course, this number can vary by lender and situation sometimes.
If a homeowner doesn’t make the required payments, the bank will then foreclose on the home, assume ownership, and evict the homeowner. Thankfully, during this stage of the foreclosure process, the borrower has the opportunity to take advantage of s few options in order to prevent losing their home.
Pre-foreclosure Options for Borrowers
If you are behind on mortgage payments, it’s possible that you’ll likely receive a “notice of default” (NOD) from your lender.
The NOD will state that you have not made any mortgage payments over the last 90-180 days. This is not the time to panic, however.
You have several options that can delay or possibly even prevent losing your home:
- If your mortgage is “above water,” (which means you have equity in your house) you might be able to refinance your mortgage, resulting lower monthly payments. Check with your local San Antonio mortgage broker… or contact us and we can help you find a reputable one.
- You might even be able to sell your home fast to a real estate investor that’s reputable in San Antonio like us at Lone Star Real Estate Solutions, using the cash acquired from the sale to pay the back-payments owed (or we *might* be able to work out something with your lender that relieves all or part the back payments owed). We can buy your San Antonio Texas area home fast, often in just a week or two, will pay in cash, and take the stress out of having to try to find a buyer.
- You can call the bank and ask them to consider a short sale. In a short sale, you will sell your home for less than it’s worth, and the bank will take a loss they can use as a tax write-off. In some short sales the lender may still require you to pay the difference if the house doesn’t sell for what is still owed on the loan.
- You may be able to declare bankruptcy as a last resort, which can help you buy time to pay off your debt. However, bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for years, and can cause significant damage.
Lenders are very much aware of the widespread financial troubles across the country and many are willing to work with borrowers most of the time.
If you are honest and communicate with your lender, you will often find that there are options available that will allow you to stay in your home, or at least save your credit.
A foreclosure will often negatively affect your credit score by 200-400 points and could possibly prevent you from getting a loan of any kind for up to 5-7 years, so be very dutiful if you have received a Notice of Default from your mortgage company.
But, if you are unable to find a solution with your lender by working directly with them… connect with us. We might be able to help.
Ways We Can Help If You’re In Pre-Foreclosure
- We could possibly help with a short sale – Submit your information on this website so we can evaluate your situation and see if we can help.
- We can buy your San Antonio area house – We buy houses San Antonio and would love to make you a fair all-cash offer on your house, too. Just fill out the form here to get started >>
- You can just ask us questions and we will provide you with FREE information and resources to help you make a well educated decision. There is no cost to you and absolutely no pressure or obligation… just free guidance without no strings attached.
If you’re in the pre-foreclosure stage … you still have time to fix this problem!
Simply contact your bank to see if they’ll work with you … or contact us if you want to see what we will pay for your house or if you just simply want to tap into our totally free foreclosure resources.