Stop Foreclosure in Kansas City | Grassland Properties

How much is my house worth?

posted by Seth Macchi on Saturday, January 17, 2009

In our current housing market, it is not uncommon for homeowners to own a house that is "upside-down" or worth less than what they owe. For anyone interested, here is a a cool chart that gives you an idea of what is happening in your city's housing market.

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Loan Modifications "Not Working"

posted by Seth Macchi on Saturday, January 10, 2009

According to Foreclosure.com: "Distressed homeowners have several available options to avoid sliding into foreclosure, whether it’s negotiating short sales or working with lenders to adjust their monthly mortgage payments.

The latter solution is referred to as a loan modification. And financial institutions — especially in this turbulent market — will often rework loans to ensure that families can afford to stay in their homes.

That’s what it is supposed to do, anyway. Today an alarming report indicated that homeowners are having trouble paying their mortgages despite having them tweaked.

Here’s a snip:

"More than half of delinquent borrowers who had their mortgages reworked earlier this year to avoid foreclosure were behind on their new loan payments after just six months, a federal regulator said yesterday. John C. Dugan, US comptroller of the currency, told a housing forum yesterday that data his agency is collecting show the increase in repeat defaults by homeowners is 'remarkably high.'"

Perhaps more troubling is the finding that homeowners who have their loans modified are having trouble making the reduced payments just six months later and are “redefaulting.” One reason for that, according to the report, is that several of the modifications actually end up costing homeowners more each month after “rolling in past-due principal, taxes and insurance.”

That doesn’t appear to be a very attractive solution and more than likely only makes a bad situation worse.

So what are cash-strapped homeowners supposed to do?

The most important thing to keep in mind is that it’s best to identify and address the situation as early as possible. Contact the lender and tell them your situation. If you meet resistance or feel that the options presented to you are not good then make a few more phone calls.


There is likely a local, county or state counseling service that can point you in the right direction.

The worst thing you can do is nothing … or not give it 100 percent effort."

Remember, if you are holding on to a distressed property in the Kansas City Metro area and you would like to explore your options, contact Grassland Properties. We specialize in Short Sales and can help you save your credit.

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