How can REALTORS Help Homeowners Avoid a Foreclosure?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 at 1:07PM 
One of the most important things for homeowners facing foreclosure to remember is that they are not on their own. They do not have to take this burden on their shoulders and bear the weight solely. We as REALTORS are here to help and advise our clients.
Timing is crucial. The best thing we can do is get involved as early as possible. If your client thinks or knows that they are heading towards foreclosure, let them know that they can contact you, their REALTOR and trusted advisor. At this stage of the game, agents doing business have had to deal with some aspect of foreclosure. Through getting in at the beginning, we can help our clients in dealing with the lender and remain actively involved in the process. Usually, the lender is pretty frustrated, because they have not received any responses from the notices that they have sent out to the homeowner. When there is no conversation, the lender really has no other recourse than to continue with the foreclosure process.
People should remember that the banks and mortgage companies are not in the business of property ownership, and therefore are not interested in keeping borrowers in their homes. Their game is to lend money. That is truly their business, to make money on their money--not to own real estate. REALTORS can get involved and evaluate the different options available to the homeowner, from putting the property on the market and pricing it realistically and aggressively to getting a counselor or attorney involved in negotiating with the lender.
One of the saddest situations is when, as REALTORS, we find out to far along in the process that the homeowner is about to lose their home to foreclosure. If we get involved early, we have a better chance of being able to really help the homeowner achieve a better outcome. When we are called in too late in the process, we usually become something similar to a band-aid on a major gash, when stitches were needed.
I would advise homeowners not to wait until this point. Be sure that your clients know to include us, work with us, and be honest with us.
How are you helping your clients avoid foreclosure?
Reader Comments (3)
I am concerned about buyers wanting to buy foreclosure.... This is a new aspect of the real estate business for ME..... just simply because there were very few foreclosures in my areas to pop up for my potential buyers, and most of the time there was not need to consider them as there were many other properties on the market without foreclosures restraints.... So Buyers just did not look for them and I had not to deal with them either.
Now though first time home buyers with good credit and some saved money are looking for condos and small townhouses, and almost all of them are
foreclosed properties, now it is hard to find the ones that are not or not yet!
What are the most important aspects, that I need to consider when my buyer wants to make an offer on a foreclosure property!
I would appreciate some good advice!
Edith YourChicagoConnection
Edith, I just want to to thank you for your enthusiasm and your response to our blogging. With regard to your question, my advice to you is to put together a team of people you can trust and knows how to work foreclosures. You need a good attorney. This is key to a making a long and tedious process much easier and quicker. Somehow, lenders respond quicker to attorneys. Especially the ones that know what they are doing. The second person to have is a lender who understands the process with short sales and foreclosures. The buyer needs to have his/her loan in place. Once the foreclosed property or short sale has been approved you have a very short window to get everything closed before the approval expires. I hope this helps. These are just the basics. If you need more help, you really should take one of our Foreclosure/Short Sale classes at C.A.R. It is offered at different locations.
A lot of people, especially these days, are in need of free credit repair. So many people go out into the world unprepared, and without proper budgeting skills. It’s hard at times to cultivate the proper discipline to get everything paid off at once. One unpaid bill can turn into two, and the next thing you know you have a serious problem on your hands. The maxed out credit cards, the sleepless nights, the harassing phone calls from collectors, the shame, guilt, and stigma that comes with all of it – it can be hard to bear. Getting out of the hole can take years, but it is very possible. There are an incredible amount of resources out there for free credit repair; after all, we are living in the information age. Others have done it, and you can too.