Claude Ellesmere asked:




Ever since the bottom fell out of the real estate market a couple of years ago people have been running into trouble trying to keep up with paying for all of the financing that they may have taken out over the past decade on their current property. With home values dropping significantly, people from all across the country have been finding themselves “upside-down” in their homes and thus owing more than what the property was actually worth. The foreclosure rate across the nation has been rising significantly ever since this trend began to take effect, and many homeowners are left not knowing what to do when they have a second mortgage or home equity loan that they know that they cannot afford.

The good news is that you shouldn’t lose your home if only your second mortgage cannot be paid, and as long as you keep paying your first mortgage you should not worry about going into foreclosure. What typically happens when you cannot pay any secondary, or even tertiary mortgages involves a direct negotiation and settlement with the lender that holds the loan, and it is a rare occurrence for you to ever have to go into foreclosure.

The bank knows that if you cannot pay your first mortgage and your property does go into foreclosure that they will hold second position to the lender that holds your first mortgage, and they will thus only receive money that is leftover after the first mortgage gets paid off. They obviously don’t want this to happen because they can easily be left with nothing after the property is sold off, and it is thus in their best interest to work with you directly so that you can both come to some kind of agreement.

Dora

. . asked:


I have debt totaling 30,000. I own a home in which I have over 150k equity in. I want to pay this debt once and for all. What would be the smartest way to do this? Should I refinance, take a home equity loan or set up a payment plan? My mortgage rate is 5.375 so refinancing would put me into a new higher rate since rates have gone up. I also have access to $10,000 in my 401k that I could borrow. I just want to make the right decision here. Any help would be great! Thanks.

Jeff

EDlbh asked:


I’m looking at being able to put a cash payment for 75% of a house. I really don’t want to go through all the expenses of a mortgage when I probably will be paying it off in 3 months. I was wondering if I could do a home equity loan on the property from the git go and avoid all the mortgage costs. Is this allowed? Any other suggestions?

Louis