SunSurfer Blog “Ask Dave”

Welcome to “Ask Dave” my real estate blog at Sunsurfer.com, all about foreclosures, providing information on what you can do to empower yourself when faced with a financial hardship that forces you into foreclosure. There are many things you can do, but it is important to realize that doing nothing is the worst thing you can do. Simply, you can SAVE your home or SELL it.

To SAVE your home, you have to be financially solvent, bring the payments current, refinance into a better loan product, or use some some other means to reduce debt and expenses, while possibly acquiring more income at the same time. If this is not possible in your present situation, you need to SELL your house. If you have some equity in the house, but cannot afford the payment, list it and SELL it. Don’t delay or be indecisive. Take ACTION to research and find out what your options are. Then go to an attorney and verify the information to make an informed decision.

If you owe more than it’s worth in the present market, you will probably need to try to do a “SHORT SALE” in which the lender will agree to SELL the house to an investor or 3rd party at a reasonable price while forgiving your debt. Think of a SHORT SALE as a way to negotiate away your debt, similar to forgiveness of credit card debt. In a SHORT SALE, the bank will force you to SELL the house, but will forgive your debt. As a borrower in hardship. you cannot make any money from a SHORT SALE. Most people don’t realize that the house is collateral for the loan, but the loan is the loan- meaning, if the bank takes back the house, you may still owe them money, ruin your credit, and create a worse situation for yourself financially. A SHORT SALE takes the financial burden the house has created off of you, gets the house sold, settles your debt with the bank, and helps save your credit.

In my real estate blog “Ask Dave” here at Sunsurfer.com, we will continue to talk about foreclosures and give you the tools and information you need to help you make an informed decision about how to handle this important financial matter. A good financial decision in times of hardship is just as important as in the good times, maybe even more important. It will determine what your financial future will be and how fast you can recover and make a fresh start. With Sunsurfer.com it costs you nothing, and there is no obligation.

Call us today at 408-850-2815 or go to Sunsurfer.com for more information.

Thanks for reading.

Dave Plassmeyer,

President of Sunsurfer.com