Alternatives To Foreclosure

Do not assume that Foreclosure is inevitable if you can't meet your monthly mortgage payments. You may have alternatives!

If you bought a San Ramon CA home between 2002 and 2006, or if you re-financed during this time period, there is a strong possibility that your San Ramon home may be worth less than you owe on it. If you want to sell your home, or if you need to because you can't afford the mortgage payments, you may have some tough choices to consider. But the good news is that there are choices. Foreclosure is rarely inevitable.

Consider A Loan Modification

Provided that you want to stay in your San Ramon home, it may be possible for you to get your lender to approve a loan modification. The mechanics for this vary and you will have to qualify for the revised repayment schedule of course, but this should be your first option. As soon as you realize that you have a problem, call your lender and ask for information. It won't work for everybody but it is a good solution in some circumstances.

A Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure

If you owe more on your San Ramon home than it is worth, it is possible that you would like to be able to just give it back to the bank and walk away from it. This is not a common practice in California but some lenders may agree to it. This is known as a Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure and again, if you want to investigate the possibility, you need to contact your lender.

Investigate The Possibility Of A Short Sale

A Short Sale is when your lender agrees to allow you to sell your home when the proceeds from the sale are insufficient to cover the balance on the loan plus associated closing costs.

You may wonder why a bank would agree to this, but once they accept that you are not going to be able to meet your loan payments, it is often more cost-effective for them to agree to a Short Sale on your San Ramon home, rather than go through the process of foreclosing.

Short Sales have become a common practice in the San Ramon real estate market over the past few years, yet there is a pre-conception that there is little likelihood of a Short Sale coming to fruition. Nothing could be further from the truth, provided that you qualify and you are represented by a real estate agent who is familiar with the process. You will need patience, because due to the length of time it takes lenders to deal with the process, it could easily take 6 months or more from listing your home for sale to the close of escrow. Nevertheless, it is a very practical solution for many people where the most likely alternative outcome is Foreclosure.

Your Next Step

If you are in danger of losing your San Ramon home, don't rely on advice from unqualified people. What is right for you will depend on your individual circumstances - what hardship you are experiencing (or likely to experience), how many loans you have on your San Ramon home and with which lenders, how much you owe etc., as well as the current value and condition of your home.

In adition to being a licensed real estate agent with considerable experience of helping people in these circumstances by listing and selling homes in San Ramon as a Short Sale, I am also an FACS qualified Foreclosure Alternatives Consultant. Call me, Bernard Gibbons, at any time, on (925) 997-1585 or send an email to bernard@bernardgibbons.com. I will be happy to meet with you to discuss your individual situation and give you the benefit of my experience without any obligation.