I get this question more than you might think.  There simply isn’t a ton of State specific information on avoiding Foreclosure in Georgia other than, "pay your bill."  If you are facing foreclosure you might have other options.

• Loan Modification - There’s a lot of scams out there, but there are people who can help you modify your loan assuming your situation is "right" for it.
• Short Sale - if that doesn’t work, then you can do a short sale most likely.  If Foreclosure is imminent, then Short sale may be the way to go.
• Bankruptcy - Please consult your attorney on this one, but a Bankruptcy can usually halt the foreclosure proceedings.

Please contact me at 770-374-4667, should you be facing foreclosure and want to find out if there are other options.

It’s come full circle, I’m loving short sales from a seller representative standpoint due to the fact that it helps get them out of a situation that could devastating to them financially.  For a long time I’ve not enjoyed showing short sales to my buyers, simply due to the hassle.  Having closed several this year, I’ve got a new look on short sales.

So Why Should A Seller Short Sale?

First of all, you need to know what a short sale is.  GO here to read about what a short sale is .

So assuming you are a seller or home owner and have some sort of hardship and do not want to stay in your home, you can short sale.  But what is the difference between just giving the home back to the bank (Foreclosure) and a short sale.

• Foreclosures Stay with you for 7 years
• A foreclosure on your credit report will cause you to pay significantly higher rates for your next home, but also cars, credit cards, even insurance.
• A foreclosure on your credit report will require you to put more money down on your next home, but also cars and some apartments.
• Once the notice is given, the home owner will only be so for 30 days (in Georgia) and could face eviction as soon as 30 days.

A short sale on the other hand,

• A short sale stays on your credit for only 2 years
• Does not devastate your credit score as much.
• Can allow the home owner to stay in the home for up to 6 months in some cases without a payment.

So if you or someone you know is in financial distress, please call me at 770-374-4667.  If I cannot help you directly I can direct you to someone who can.

NOTE: Please consult with an attorney or accountant regarding your own financial matters.

Short sales are listed on the MLS, and you can search for all the homes in Georgia by going here.

I recently had a question from a seller in a neighborhood with a lot of foreclosures on how to help improve the situation. I thought would share the response with you:

Communities that have high involvement of neighbors tend to have a slightly lower rate of foreclosure.  Get organized and get involved with the HOA.  You can get the word out that there are other options.

CNN recently stated that every foreclosures is 1% hit on your property’s value.  So you have incentive to help out.

You can direct them to good connected Realtors who might refer them to loan modification programs, or short sales (which hurt everyone but not as bad as a vacant foreclosures).

Some things are inevitable, but keeping up your home and helping others is a great way to build your community.

You can search for all the foreclosures in Georgia at my website.

In a sort of odd Christmas Present to some home owners, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has post-poned foreclosing on about 16,000 homes until Jan 09.

"This is another news item that the government is hoping will stem the tide of foreclosures," said Walter Schmidt, head of mortgage strategy at FTN Financial Capital Markets in Chicago. "But I don’t know it helps, it could put off the inevitable" because falling home prices give homeowners incentives to walk away, he said.
The move by the two government-sponsored enterprises comes a week after their regulator unveiled a plan that could cut payments for hundreds of thousands of borrowers by easing terms on their loans. Homeowners facing foreclosure who are spending more than 38 percent of their income on mortgage payments could have payments reduced by the companies, under the program.
The "streamlined modification" program of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is slated to begin on December 15. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac estimated their foreclosure suspensions may affect about 16,000 borrowers if the homes are occupied.
"We felt it was in the best interest of both borrowers and Fannie Mae to take this extra step to ensure that homeowners with the desire and ability to prevent a foreclosure have an opportunity to stay in their homes," Herb Allison, Fannie Mae’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The foreclosure moratorium also appears to lend credence to speculation the government is pushing the companies to operate more in a public policy role, perhaps at the expense of profit. That has some investors concerned since the government has not defined the roles of the shareholder-owned companies after the conservatorships are lifted.

To Search All the Georgia Foreclosures Click Here

As many of you know the real estate market is flooded with foreclosures.  However, there seems to be some misconceptions about what a foreclosures is.  Some mistakenly think that all foreclosures are HUD homes.

HUD homes are not the only foreclosed homes out there. Foreclosed homes are often mis-categorized. There’s Pre-Foreclosure, Auction and Post-Foreclosure homes that all get thrown into the mess. 99.9% of all post foreclosure homes are actually listed on most MLS’s.

Post foreclosure homes are bank owned, corporate owned, HUD homes, and some estate property. These are properties that did not sell at the auction or were bought back by the bank.  In the case of HUD homes, these are properties where the seller had an FHA loan on the property and the insurance (our tax dollars) kicked in.

The county usually holds an  auction for CASH for ACTUAL foreclosures, these are listed in the local paper for the area.

Pre-Foreclosures are also called Short Sales in some cases. Most of these will be listed as well.  Short sales can be a great deal and opportunity but do require patience and a easy living arrangement in case the deal falls through. Not all pre-foreclosures are short sales, but most will be.

I’ve gotten several questions from new buyers and other from my previous blog post about short sales that I’d thought I’d right a little something about Short Sales.

A short sale is what happens when the bank takes less then what they are owed.   For example,  a buyer buys a home for $150,000 in 2007.  Unfortunately, they lose their job in early 2008 and cannot pay their bills.  They try to work something out with the bank on their late payments and their account rep suggests a short sale (not usual).  From there they put the home on the market with a Realtor and get and negotiate a sale for $125,000.  They avoid foreclosure, eviction notices and investors knocking on the door at all hours… well maybe.

The real world isn’t so clean.

What has to happen in order for a bank to consider a short sale:

• Some sort of hardship - job loss, death in the family, medical bills (KEY: MUST BE DOCUMENTED HARDSHIP)
• Must be "upside down" and owe more than the home is worth when sold through a Realtor

Some things that will absolutely help you if you are in this situation:

• Go look and get approved for an apartment or rental immediately
• Keep all documents for eveything as soon you know you’re falling into foreclosure
• Don’t be fooled, filing bankruptcy can help you stay in the home longer but won’t stop the foreclosure process.

Benefits of a short sale to owner

1. Get to stay in the home a little longer with no payments.
2. Some lenders look at it as slightly better than a foreclosure when purchasing another home.
3. Some banks will NOT make you sign a promissory note!
4. Avoid foreclosure process.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment or e-mail me.