Receiving a Notice of Default can be intimidating for a homeowner, but the important thing is that there are actions you can take to get back on track. Here is some advice from our real estate team, who regularly help people avoid the foreclosure process.
What is a Notice of Default?
This legal letter is the first step of the foreclosure process and it’s usually sent out by the lender in the event that you, the borrower, have missed three or more payments on your mortgage. However, this notice doesn’t mean that your home is now in foreclosure or that your mortgage is now necessarily in default. In fact, if you contact your lender and make an appointment to discuss your mortgage and your financial situation, you can often negotiate new payment terms or catch up on your payments.
Negotiate After a Notice of Default
The first thing you should do is contact your lender. When you do, be prepared with plenty of information on your monthly income, debts, assets and a clear explanation of why you have missed payments. This will help your lender develop a plan to solve the issue, which can include refinancing your home, loan modification, or applying to government mortgage programs.
Get Legal Advice
There’s a lot of misinformation about the laws around foreclosure and it’s important that you understand your rights as well as what your lender is allowed and not allowed to do by law. HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) approved counselors can be contacted on 800-569-4287 and will help you understand foreclosure law and even negotiate on your behalf with your lender.
Investigate Short Sales
There is a limited time period after you receive a Notice of Default and before your lender schedules an auction in which you are still in control of selling your home. Selling as is during this period is known as a short sale. If you get an offer for your home in this period, your lender has to consider it by law. Often, these offers are accepted even if they are a bit lower than what you’d want because auctions tend to bring in even less.
It is very important to consider a short sale for several reasons. Firstly, it keeps you in control of the process rather than letting a bank or lender take full control of your asset. Secondly, you are more likely to get a better price for your home than at auction. Since this amount will be used to pay off the remainder of your mortgage, it’s important to get the best possible offer. If the amount your home fetches at an auction doesn’t cover your debt, you’ll still have to continue paying it off despite having no rights to the property itself. The third reason why a short sale can be beneficial is that it won’t affect your credit status the way a foreclosure would. Unfortunately, once you go through the foreclosure process, it becomes part of a permanent record that every lender will then have access to. This makes it more difficult to get credit, to buy a new home or even rent a property, so it’s important to avoid foreclosure whenever possible.
The most important thing to remember here is that if you do decide to sell your home to avoid the foreclosure process, there is a very short time period in which to do it. After an auction is scheduled, you’ll no longer be able to sell it.
Sell Your Home Quickly with Cash for Houses in Dallas
Of course, a successful short sale means finding a buyer in a very short period of time, which is a challenge in itself. However, you don’t have to go through a realtor or estate agent who will take a fee if they do manage to make a sale. Instead, you can sell it yourself directly to a reputable cash for houses specialist in Dallas.
Rather than selling to a private buyer, you’ll get a same-day cash offer on your home from a company that will then sell your home on to a private buyer. This has several advantages for sellers, especially if you are in foreclosure. Firstly, you get an offer immediately, so there’s none of the stress and anxiety of hoping your home sells before it is filed for auction. Secondly, reputable companies offer a market-related price for your home, so the offer will be higher than anything the lender is likely to get at auction, so they should be happy to accept it – keeping your credit safe and minimizing or even eliminating your mortgage debt. Thirdly, it makes selling as is easy – you don’t have to paint, do repairs or anything else that’s recommended when you want to sell quickly, saving you the time and money.
Want Cash Offers Only? Speak to Real Estate Specialists in the Dallas and Fort Worth Area and Sell Your House
Our team can make you a cash offer on your home today, making selling as is easy, simple and quick! If you’re selling as is, we’re happy to buy it – and we offer a fair, market-based price too. Here’s how our process works:
- You enter your information on our website
- We’ll contact you directly to discuss an offer for your property (you can also get a free property evaluation from our website)
- You can accept or reject the offer
- You can also call us directly on 469-858-0088
Our team is compassionate and highly-motivated to offer you the best possible market-related price for your fixer upper in Dallas, inherited property or home you want to sell fast. With our process, you can sell your house in less than 24 hours.
At Shiny Key Properties, our trained consultants have years of experience in helping homeowners facing foreclosure or seeking cash offers only. To find out more about our cash for houses Dallas service or to look at homes for sale, please contact us today and speak to one of our friendly team members.