If you owe more on your home than it is worth or cannot make your mortgage payments, it’s not too late to stop foreclosure. If you’re facing foreclosure, you can sell your home up until the mortgage lender sells it at auction.
Can You Sell a House in Foreclosure?
In short, YES you can sell a house that’s in foreclosure as long as the house never reaches the auction date.
A foreclosure can usually only be initiated by the loan servicer if you have been delinquent for more than 120 days. Once the foreclosure process starts, there isn’t a deadline to sell the property. Foreclosures take varying amounts of time depending on whether they are judicial or nonjudicial in nature. Washington is a “non-judicial foreclosure” state, meaning that a mortgage lender can foreclose on a property through a third party, the trustee, and not through the court system.
Can you stop foreclosure?
As long as a foreclosure sale has not been completed, it’s likely you can stop foreclosure once it’s started, giving you a chance to sell your home.
Ways To Sell Your Foreclosure House
Time is critical if you’re facing foreclosure.
If you want to stop a foreclosure you need to know what options you have and need to be aware of the mistakes people usually make facing foreclosure. It is imperative that you seek professional assistance before choosing any option since one mistake can cause significant financial loss for your home. You don’t have to pay a fortune either, as assistance from professionals such as Highest Offer can help stop foreclosure and is free. Let’s take a look at the top two options to stop foreclosure.
Short Sale
A short sale is an alternative to bankruptcy or foreclosure for homeowners who can no longer afford their mortgage payments. In a short sale, a real estate agent or attorney negotiates with the lender to accept less than the full amount owed to satisfy the debt, allowing it to be paid off “short”. Additionally, all fees associated with selling a home are paid by the lien holder (bank) and there is no out-of-pocket expense for you (the seller).
What do you need for a short sale?
- Two months of pay stubs
- Two months of bank statements
- Two years of tax returns
- A personal financial statement (list of what you own, what you owe, your income and expenses)
- A letter addressed to the bank describing you hardship
If you are or have faced hardship and cannot sell your home for a price that will help pay off what you currently owe on the existing mortgage(s), you should consider selling your home in a short sale.
Not sure if you qualify for a short sale? Contact us, as short sale experts we’re here to guide you.
Selling to a Cash Buyer
Whether you are in pre-foreclosure or have entered the formal process, you can still sell your house before the auction. When you sell the property, you can take the proceeds and pay the lender everything you owe, including back payments and penalties.
The benefit of selling the house is getting yourself out of the debt burden. You are free and by taking the proceeds and paying off debt you can rescue your credit. If you allow your house to foreclose you do significant damage to your credit. The credit damage could prevent you from purchasing a home or even a car for years to come until your credit is repaired.
Selling to a cash buyer like us is an easy option to avoid foreclosure. A cash buyer will negotiate with your mortgage lender and allow you to settle your mortgage debt and move on to the next chapter of your life.