Lesley Lambert

There are many homeowners in Western Massachusetts who for a variety of reasons have fallen behind on their mortgage and are in a distressed home sale situation. Whether it is divorce or job loss or just a need to move, there are lots of people who need to sell their home, but fear that they can’t sell their home for enough to pay off the balance due to the lender.

Oftentimes these folks allow their fear to prevent them from asking for help or making proactive steps to work with their lender on a solution. Here are some tips that can help if you or someone you know is in a distressed home sale situation.

—Don’t ignore the lender’s efforts to contact you. Yes it is difficult to speak with them, open the mail and handle this terrible time, but sticking your head in the sand will not change what is happening. Staying in touch with the lender can help to gain some time that you can use to resolve the issues one way or another.

—-Call in the professionals. A good real estate agent with short sale, foreclosure and distressed sale experience is a priceless asset to you right now. They know what steps need to be taken and will act as your counselor and advocate.

—Speak with an attorney. There are attorneys in the area who specialize in helping with short sales, loan modifications and foreclosure delay. Reach out and ask questions.

—Don’t wait. If you are a candidate for a short sale it can take some time and the lender will not allow the time for you to try to accomplish the sale if it is too close to the foreclosure/auction date is.

This is a scary and stressful thing, there is no way around that fact, but you can move past this time.

Walking away from your mortgage has serious credit impact that is difficult to recover from not to mention the stigma and personal disappointment that foreclosure entails. Loan modifications and short sales can help you to move on and experience a much smaller credit impact.

Reprinted from my Masslive.com blog. See more from that blog here.