RE/MAX Professionals real estate agents Stephanie Fix and Jack O’Connor will offer their sixth free Internet workshop next Tuesday to help homeowners who are facing financial difficulties avoid foreclosure. Fix and O’Connor are Realtors who have earned their Certified Distress Property Expert designation. They have helped dozens of Denver-area homeowners this year.
The online workshop will help homeowners understand their nine best options when faced with an unaffordable mortgage. Homeowners will also get details on the new government Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program, or HAFA, which offers those eligible a $3,000 moving allowance after their home is sold.
Fix can help you fix foreclosure fears
“We often find that homeowners in a difficult financial situation will hesitate to reach out to a professional for help and end up losing their home and ruining their credit,” Fix said. “I believe we can help more homeowners avoid foreclosure, and that is very gratifying.”
The latest numbers on mortgage delinquency show that approximately one in every seven mortgages is in some stage of delinquency, nationwide. While they may not be facing immediate foreclosure, these homeowners are more at risk of foreclosure the longer they wait to do something about their missed payments. Even if a homeowner is two or three months away from losing their home, there is hope.
Nine options
The nine options that will be covered during the workshop are:
1. Reinstatement of your loan. Homeowners have the right to reinstate the loan by bringing the payments current.
2. Forbearance of the loan. The lender may consider partial payments to catch up.
3. Sell the property. You may have equity.
4. Rent the property.
5. Refinance the property.
6. Mortgage modification
7. Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure
8. Bankruptcy
9. Short Sale. This could allow you to sell your home for less than what you owe, and the bank may forgive the rest of your debt. A Short Sale can save your credit.
“Many homeowners may have bought or refinanced at the peak of the real estate market and were able at that time to meet their commitments,” says O’Connor. “But, so many families have had their finances turned upside down by this economy that they’re now in trouble. This workshop will help them find a way out.”
The free workshop is from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will utilize gotomeeting.com. To RSVP, and get more information on the event, call Stephanie Fix at (303) 885-4693, or email her at: sfix@remax.net.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.
