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Fixing Your Finances After Foreclosure or Short Sale

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Getting a mortgage after foreclosure

There are not many things that can negatively impact your credit score more than a foreclosure or short sale. In fact one of the more common untruths you will hear from many Realtors is that short sales don’t impact your credit scores like foreclosures do. This is absolutely WRONG!

If you fail to pay your mortgage during a short sale the credit score impact will be nearly identical to a foreclosure according to My FICO the governing body for credit scoring.

Being a Realtor myself for the last twenty five years it does not surprise me when I hear this misinformation being spewed in person or around the internet.  Some Real Estate agents will paint a short sale as your ticket to the promised land and a foreclosure as a ticket to financial misery for the rest of your life.

They do this of course because they want you to list the property with them as a short sale. A true Real Estate professional should be going over all possible financial options with you and not just looking to put money in their wallet.

There are of course advantages to doing a short sale but a better credit score is not one of them unless you are able to complete a short sale without missing mortgage payments. The sad truth is that most but not all of the time a lender is not going to grant short sale approval unless you are behind in your mortgage payments. From a lender’s perspective if you are able to continue paying your mortgage why should they grant you a short sale?

The advantages of a short sale vs a foreclosure center around the time you will be able to purchase a home again in the future. You will be able to buy a home after completing a short sale much quicker than a foreclosure.

For a complete breakdown of how quickly you can get financing after both of these events see getting a mortgage after short sale or foreclosure. If you can show extenuating circumstances of why you had to do a short sale or lost your home to foreclosure you may be able to get a loan sooner. Some of the acceptable hardships that could factor into a lenders decision are divorce, loss of a job and unexpected medical expenses.

Another advantage of a short sale is how future employers, as well as other types of creditors look at you in the future. Having a foreclosure on your resume is not something an employer is going to look at favorably. In a short sale you have at least attempted to live up to your debt and not just walk away.

Owning a home again after a foreclosure/short sale

Work on increasing your credit score

Fixing bad credit

One of the most important steps you can take to getting back into the home ownership arena after a foreclosure is to work on increasing your credit scores. This article provides some excellent tips on building back your credit score as quickly as possible. There is no doubt that building your credit score after a foreclosure or short sale is a difficult task. On average you can expect your score to drop between 150-200 points so you will have a lot of work to do!

Two or the most important things you can do to raise your score is to pay your bills on time and keep your credit card bills below the maximum levels.

Keep your employment stable

One of the things lenders look for with borrowers especially after a short sale or foreclosure is employment stability. Unless you have the opportunity to move into a position that offers a much higher pay you will be better off sticking with the job you have. The lender is going to want to see you are grounded with work and not changing jobs.

Rebuild your savings after foreclosure

Lenders are also going to want to see that you have squirreled away some money. Working on saving any extra money so that your nest egg is built back up becomes important. A six month reserve is a safe bet to show lenders that you have a fall back plan should you happen to become unemployed.

Owning a home again after short sale or foreclosure is certainly achievable is you work diligently towards getting your financial house in order!

Other Short sale articles worth a look:

If you are need to short sale your home or condominium in Ashland, Bellingham, Framingham, Franklin, Grafton, Holden, Holliston, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Medway, Mendon, Millbury, Milford, Southboro, Westboro, Natick, Northboro, Northbridge, Whitinsville, Upton, Uxbridge, Shrewsbury, Sutton or Worcester get in touch! I would love to interview for the chance to represent your best interests.

I am successfully completing short sales through out the Metrowest Massachusetts and Worcester County areas. So far, knock on wood, I have a 100% success rate for short sale approval! Short sales are specialized transactions that are critical to have the right Realtor representing you. Do not make the mistake of picking an agent that does not understand how to get to the closing table on a short sale.

If you are outside of the Metrowest Massachusetts area and need to do a short sale please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to refer you to a Realtor in your location that handles short sales and knows what they are doing! I have referred short sales to other Realtors all around the country.

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About the author: The above Real Estate information on Fixing your finances after foreclosure or short sale was provided by Bill Gassett, a Nationally recognized leader in his field. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-435-5356. Bill has helped people move in and out of many Metrowest towns for the last 25+ Years.

Thinking of selling your home? I have a passion for Real Estate and love to share my marketing expertise!

I service the following towns in Metrowest MA: Ashland, Bellingham, Blackstone, Douglas, Framingham, Franklin, Grafton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, Natick, Northboro, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Southboro, Sutton, Wayland, Westboro, Whitinsville, Worcester, Upton and Uxbridge MA.


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