Pricing Your Home in a Fall(en) Market

 

It's not new news. Real estate markets everywhere have fallen. If you're trying to sell your home, or even thinking about putting your house on the market, pricing the home to sell quickly can be the trickiest part of all.

 

Our Money Editor, Stacy Johnson, has some advice on pricing your home to sell. This short video runs 1:37…

 

Trying to sell your home this fall? Thinking of buying a home now? Tell us what you think about the current market. We'd love to hear your comments. Use the "Comment" link below to sound off…

 

 

 

Real Estate News - September 2008

 

Our September 2008  Newsletter is now up…

 

From the right Nav Menu, Find "PAGES AND NEWSLETTERS" and Select "September 2008 below "Our Monthly Newsletters".  

 

 

 

Filing Bankruptcy to Stop Foreclosure?

 

Some homeowners facing foreclosure are considering filing bankruptcy. Even though this might be an option for some people, there are a lot of other things you should try before filing bankruptcy to stop foreclosure.

 

The first thing you need to do is contact your mortgage lender. The sooner you do this the better. It's best to contact your lender as soon as you realize you might miss a payment. not after you've already missed one or two. Then your mortgage lender will be more likely to negotiate other options with you so you will not have to consider filing for bankruptcy.

 

Some of the possibilities you can try to negotiate with your lender would be reinstatement, forbearance, or a repayment plan, all of which are options if your money problems are temporary. If your money problems are not temporary, before you can try to negotiate with your lender to get a mortgage modification or a partial claim.

 

If none of these solutions will work for you and you won't be able to keep your home, before filing bankruptcy to stop foreclosure you should try to sell your home, or see if the mortgage company will allow assumption, a pre-foreclosure sale or short sale, or the deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.

 

All of these options require you to work with your current mortgage lender. If your mortgage lender is not willing to negotiate with you, you can try calling a HUD approved foreclosure counseling agency to get some assistance going over your options. These are usually free.

 

If at all possible you should avoid filing for bankruptcy as this will impact your credit rating and make things difficult for you in the future. Filing bankruptcy to prevent foreclosure is also not an option for everyone, and not all types of bankruptcies actually stop foreclosure.

 

A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy can stop foreclosure, so if you are thinking of filing bankruptcy, you should check to see if you quality for this type of bankruptcy, as not everyone does.

 

Be advised that filing bankruptcy to stop foreclosure won't mean you no longer have to make any payments on your house. A part of Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a payment plan to pay off at least part of the money you owe to creditors such as your mortgage lender.

 

Remember, don't wait until you've already missed a payment or two before talking to your mortgage lender. Do it early!

 

 

 

Are You Sick of Bad News Yet?

 

We don't know about you, but we're absolutely sick to our gills here hearing about all the bad news regarding the economy, and more directly, the real estate industry.

 

Zogby AOL released a poll recently showing that over 50% of Americans believe that home ownership is still attainable for everyone. Other interesting facts in their survey showed:

• 31% of participants feel their home is worth more than it was a year ago
• 56% do not think their home will be worth less in five years
• 69% of Americans seeing real estate as a viable investment
• If forced to sell their home today, 50% would buy another home rather than rent
• Almost 50% of Americans would seriously consider purchasing a home through a foreclosure listing
• 67% of Americans surveyed turn to the Internet first when looking for a home

 

These numbers are consistent with other recent findings. However, the disconnect is the trust in the American economy seems to still lag. So what comes first?

 

Other interesting findings: What are the Key Factors when searching for a home?

• Communities with low crime
• High-quality schools
• Recreational facilities
• Easy commute to work

 

One interesting take is that there is a significant percentage of respondents that indicated that they would pay a premium for a home if they could cut their drive time by half.

 

Where do you rate with these questions? We'd love to hear your opinion. Just click the comment link below and sound off. Your email address will never be published on this site to protect your identity and your email from spamming.

 

 

 

Lengthening Check Float Times

 

Not so long ago, getting funds into your checking account to cover a check you'd written was much easier. Electronic banking has all but eliminated the check float… or has it?

 

Money Talks editor Stacy Johnson looks at some ways you can lengthen the float time on your money. The video runs 1:26…

 

 

Do you ever wonder why banks can process a check against your account almost instantly, but it can take 24 hours for a deposit to show up when you make it? What do you think? Are banks using our money without our permission? Leave us your opinion by clicking on the comment link below and sounding off. We'd love to hear from you.