Step 1: Who owns my Mortgage?

Take a look at your mortgage statement. Who do you make payments to? This may just be the Servicer. But is your mortgage owned by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae? Search Tool to help determine if Fannie Mae owns your Loan Search Tool to help determined if Freddie Mac owns your Loan

Step 2: What options are available to you by your Bank?

Don’t avoid calling your lender. Many of them have options available to help you keep your home. But, don’t wait to long! If you wait too long into the foreclosure process, it may be harder to get these options worked out. (In other words, don’t wait until your several months past due, or worse, until the auctioneer is at your doorstep!) What to do when you Contact your Lender to Avoid Foreclosure Explore Workout Options your Lender may have to Avoid Foreclosure Some options May be:

• Loan Modification: Modifying your loan and possibly lowering your monthly mortgage payment by modifying or refinancing.
• Principal Reduction: Possibly negotiating to reduce the amount you owe on your home.
• HAMP/HARP: HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) or HARP: Home affordable Refinance Program
• Assistance for Unemployed Homeowner

Other options may also be available. If all else fails, there is Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure and also a Short Sale Program that may involve assistance in the form of Cash for Keys (or Relocation Assistance) for the occupant of the home. Check with your lender directly as options may vary depending on who owns the mortgage. For the most in-depth information I highly recommend visiting HUD’s website which is extremely informative and helpful. You can visit it here. Is your home FHA Insured? If so, HUD has a National Servicing Center that works closely with customers who have FHA insured loans.

Step 3: Get Help!

Have all of the information, but still don’t want to go through all this alone? No worries! We’ll be more than happy to help guide you through this process even if you’re not looking to sell your home via short sale. Agents typically won’t get compensated for any of the above options other than a short sale, but our goal is to help as many people as we can to help them retain their home ownership! Let us pay it forward, we’d love to help you. Maybe it’s just with a question or two, maybe you don’t understand it and need help step by step.. whatever your needs, please feel free to reach out to us. You can reach us by filling out the form at the right, or calling us at 508-536-5007. What If I don’t want any of the options above and want a Short Sale?

I Know my options, but I Want Out – How Do I do a Short Sale?

Okay, we get that some people just want out. Contact us and we will explain the next step.

• Most importantly, you must be willing to cooperate by letting us show the home to potential buyers (we will make sure to give you enough prior notice for appointments). Why? Because in order to get the bank to even consider selling short, we have to convince and assure them that you are allowing us to do everything possible to sell the home for the most money and within a reasonable time frame. (If we can’t show the home, the bank may assume that there’s money being left on the table and a low value may be due this).
• Are you absolutely sure you want a short sale? Do you want to attempt any of the other options above? If you decide later you want the options above and initiate another option at the same time, the bank may cancel your short sale & the process will have to be started from scratch if you want to resume a short sale later on.

Helpful Resources: Fannie Mae – Know Your Options Preforeclosure Sales – Frequently Asked Questions How To Avoid Massachusetts Foreclosure – HUD