Can you sell your Louisville home because you’re behind on mortgage payments? The short answer is: yes. However, selling your house because your behind payments in Louisville isn’t a straight-forward process, and you’ll often find yourself dealing with more than you would like if you don’t try to avoid it.
Thankfully, there are various other options for you to consider: you could seek a forbearance, find a cash homebuyer (for example, we buy houses in Louisville, KY at fair market value or as close to it), and other legal remedies to help you avoid a foreclosure. Here are some things to consider.
Seek A Mortgage Forbearance
In essence, a mortgage forbearance is an option granted by a mortgage lender to delinquent borrowers that allows them to pause your mortgage –or, in some cases, even reduce your mortgage payments –for a brief period of time to allow you to rebuild your finances.
Many lenders in Louisville and around the country will actually prefer a mortgage forbearance than an outright foreclosure. This is because mortgage lenders earn more money from the monthly interest rates they tack on to your monthly payments than the outright sale of a house. A mortgage forbearance is a win-win situation: mortgage lenders get a chance to continue turning a monthly profit off of you while you are able to rebuild and then resume your mortgage payments.
Check with your lender to see if you qualify for a mortgage forbearance if you’re behind on mortgage payments, but be forewarned: a mortgage forbearance is not a cancellation of your debt! During the time when your mortgage payments are paused, you need to be able to come up with a savings plan that will help you pay off your delinquent payments (i.e., the mortgage payments you missed prior to the forbearance), late fees, processing fees, and then be able to show your lender that you can resume payments without issue.
Find A Cash Homebuyer
If all else fails and it seems like a forbearance will not be possible, assume that a foreclosure is imminent and get ahead of it. One of the best ways to do this is to find a cash homebuyer. Cash homebuyers are able to offer you as close to fair market value as possible because most of these professional home buyers have the necessary skills and knowledge about real estate markets to offer the price.
During a foreclosure, some lenders might give homeowners the option to hold a short sale. During a short sale, the homeowner tries to sell their house for below market value. This means that, other than the buyer, both you and your lender lose out: you lose your home and the proceeds of the sale won’t be enough to cover all of your debt to a lender.
Cash homebuyers, however, will often forego short sales in favor of straight deals that are as close to fair market value as possible. They do this for a couple of reasons, but the most important being that avoiding a short sale allows them to maintain a better reputation with their community, not to mention avoid the risk of dealing with any legalities with your lender.
Work Closely With Your Lender
If you’re planning to sell your house because you’re behind payments in Louisville, KY, the best advice anyone can give you is this: talk to your mortgage lender. Short sales, foreclosures, and all these things do not benefit your lender, and they would much rather get you back on a regular payment plan than foreclose.
We all know the foreclosure process is painful for a homeowner, but it also negatively affects the lender. Not only are they stuck with a debt, but they’ll also need to deal with courts and lawyers and real estate agents and all the other parties involved in a foreclosure and a house sale. This takes up time and resources that, frankly, a mortgage lender would rather put to managing their business.
You would be surprised at how willing lenders can be with helping you find a way to avoid a foreclosure, if only because they earn more with a regular payment scheme than a sale. Communicate with your lender as closely as possible, follow their advice, and try to work a deal with a bank or other legally recognized financial institutions to help you rebuild your finances and get you back on a payment track.
Let Us Help You!
We buy houses in Louisville, KY, and we’re here to make sure that you get the fairest price possible. Rylo Homes is one of the most trusted cash homebuyers in Kentucky and beyond, thanks to our decades of experience and our expert knowledge on local markets. Contact us, today, to learn more about how we can help you sell your Louisville home.
