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.

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.

There’s some great opportunities out there, as mentioned … almost sounds like we’re chanting, "buy, buy, buy!" In reality, there really aren’t that many good deals out there. Oh, don’t get me wrong there are great deals like this one that’s a resale in Lawrenceville , or some of the foreclosures. Saw one the other day for $105K that I could sell today for $175K after repairs - 2400 SQFT with a basement.

Short sales are great deal opportunities if you are patient as I write about in this article.

Foreclosures are still the way to go for most lower end buyers as the response time from the banks and agents are usually more pallatable.

After talking with some key people on my team, I’m no longer singing the short sale blues. I found out that they are more than willing to help me hunt down the loss mitigator and get the ball rolling. What a relief it is to have good people. These people are part of my concierge service that is offered by the Jarvis Team.

In addition to helping us facilitate the short sale, they can give you legal and practical advice about your situation.

It used to be that if someone wanted to be in the home by the end of August, they could start looking in July. Not so anymore with the current market conditions.

With the sheer number of homes on the market, it’s taking longer to find that perfect home. What’s not intuitive is that if you have found that perfect home then it’s highly likely that someone else has their eye on it as well.

So in essence there are a TON Of homes on the market, but not many great deals.

The other thing that is causing longer “start to finish” times is that there are so many foreclosures and short sales on the market. Obviously, everyone wants a deal, but these things can be ridiculous. In many cases, it may take up to 6 weeks just to have an accepted contract on a short sale home… assuming that the bank and the seller are willing.

Foreclosures are a bit different, but the biggest problem with them is the multiple offer scenario. This scenario could add two weeks to the process. In addition, the banks generally want the buyer to close at an extremely inconvenient location with unheard of precision. What do I mean? I mean they would like you to have everything you need to physically close the property up to 5 days before you actually close.

Finally, with the “mortgage meltdown” there are loan officers and lenders running around trying to make deals and create deals. Some of them are not used to the new market conditions. Not only are they wasting client’s time but they can also cost them money, to the tune of $100 a day.

So if you’re thinking of closing at the end of August, you might just want to start looking… THIS WEEKEND.