Filed Under Homeowners, Housing Market, Selling · Tagged: Foreclosures · Print This Article
By Steve Habegger
AmyBSells Team Certified Distressed Property Expert
Short sales and foreclosures have become dirty words to the average person. But in my experience and education, I’ve found that there are many average people who are unfortunate enough to encounter these realities. Too many homeowners are making decisions without proper information.
That is why I have become a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) for the AmyBSells Team. A CDPE is a real estate professional with specific understanding of the complex issues that confront homeowners in distress. Through comprehensive training and market experience, CDPEs are able to provide real solutions for homeowners facing hardships in today’s market.
My goal is to help people make choices that can save them from foreclosures, primarily by using a short sale. A short sale is a process, predicated by a homeowner in financial distress, in which the mortgage with the bank can be negotiated. This helps distressed homeowners sell their property in a normal sale without foreclosing it to the bank: saving their credit, dignity and ability to be homeowners again.
A Growing Need
Our team has run into an increasing proportion of clients who are in financial crisis, primarily due to job loss, job transfer and divorce. Many circumstances leave families without the ability to afford their current mortgage, and facing the potential of foreclosure and/or bankruptcy.
Some of the statistics regarding distressed properties are truly unbelievable…
- 1 in 6 homeowners are behind in their mortgage payments by at least one month (this is the beginning stage of foreclosure)
- between 1/4 and 1/3 of all mortgages are underwater, meaning that the decreased current home value is less than what is owed on the mortgage (those getting 100% financing or selling their homes in 2-3 years after purchase are often in this situation)
- 28.5% of home sales nationwide sold for less than what the seller originally paid
There is no doubt that nationally, the statistics are staggering, and while our local area may not be affected to the same degree as hot-spots like California, Nevada and Florida, there is no doubt that local communities are seeing increased levels of foreclosure.
Saving Your Credit
As you may know, foreclosure can be devastating to a family for many years, hindering their ability to buy a car, cell phone (any good one that requires a credit check), get affordable health insurance, car insurance, an apartment, another home (up to 7-10 years), and could even cause them to lose their current employment or have trouble finding a new job. Read more about how short sales or foreclosures affect your family.
Many people in these situations often do not know their options, and feel that foreclosure is the only way out. It’s not, and my goal is to help people understand the consequences of walking into a foreclosure.
Helping Neighborhoods
Neighborhoods can be adversely affected by numerous foreclosures. When a home enters foreclosure, the bank owns it, and must eventually sell it back to the market to regain their losses.
Typically, the sales price at this point is much lower that it would have been had the home not been foreclosed upon. This is due to many factors, but mainly because the home has likely been abandoned and has damages as a result of lack of maintenance and care; water damage, unkempt lawns, smells, etc. As a buyer, you can imagine that you would not want to pay full market price for a home that has some of these deficiencies.
When enough of these depreciated foreclosed properties sell in a neighborhood, normal home values are negatively affected by the lower sales numbers.
Averting foreclosures helps to sustain our neighborhood and city home values; by counseling families to escape foreclosure, I feel that I can contribute to the benefit of our neighborhoods.
Together, we can find solutions that help families and communities.
Steve can be reached at his Cincinnati Foreclosure Help website, by email at Steve@AmyBSells.com or by phone at 513.549.2373
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