avoid foreclosure – Five Ways to Cut Back on Your Expenses to Help Avoid Foreclosure – free article courtesy of ArticleCity.com
November 11th, 2009 | by admin |Five Ways to Cut Back on Your Expenses to Help Avoid Foreclosure
by: Bruce Voris
Foreclosures are on the rise nationwide, and the Phoenix, Arizona area, including greater Maricopa County, is not immune from this trend. There are over $200 BILLION worth of mortgages in foreclosure right now, nationwide. This is a staggering statistic. Those in this unfortunate situation often have to try to sell their house, but can find it impossible to do before the foreclosure auction occurs. Many people facing foreclosure find it necessary to cut back on monthly expenses to avoid foreclosure.
Before you even try to cut back, be sure to find out where you are spending your money now. Keep a log, save receipts, review your checkbook, whatever it takes, but make sure you find out where your money is going every month. It’s amazing how many of us don’t know where the money goes! Then, categorize these expenses into Needs and Wants. Now, consider these five ways to cut your expenses to help avoid foreclosure:
1) Have a Savings Account. Even if you have to start small, be sure you are putting something away for a rainy day. There are some banks that are now offering debit cards (which access your checking account, so you’re not adding to your debt) whereby when you use them they round up the purchase to the nearest dollar and put the difference in your savings account. This is an innovative concept. However you do it, find some way to pay yourself each month, even if you have to cut out some of those Wants.
2) Call your Credit Card Companies to see if they’ll accept lower monthly payments. Often they’ll be willing to work something out with you to keep the payments coming in. This is a key area since there are some credit cards that have recently doubled their minimum payments. If you can’t afford the new payments, it’s much better to try to work something out with them than not paying them at all.
3) Don’t Be Late on or Miss your Mortgage Payment. This is CRITICAL. You must get in the mindset that your mortgage payment is your single most important payment every month! Many people who miss that first mortgage payment NEVER recover and they eventually wind up in foreclosure. Cut out the Wants, have a garage sale, send back the big screen, even get rid of the car with a payment in favor of a less expensive one you can pay cash for, whatever – but at all costs pay that mortgage payment first each month!
4) Don’t Deny that You have a Problem. Don’t ignore the problem. And don’t be embarrassed about it – you’re NOT alone. Bad things do happen to good people. If you have a spouse, be sure to tell them what’s going on. This is not the time to be the “Lone Ranger”. You need everyone involved to work on improving the situation together.
5) Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help. There are resources out there that can help you if you will seek them out. Try everything before you give up and find yourself in foreclosure, even if it means borrowing money from Mom & Dad, other family, or friends.
You don’t have to be a victim. You can take action and prevent the foreclosure from happening. You can take the steps to reduce unnecessary expenses so that you are in a better monthly financial position. Educate yourself on your available options and take action! If you seek legal advice, be sure to check the attorney out to make sure they’re reputable. Take the above steps and don’t give up – you can do it!
About The Author
Bruce Voris is a regular author of articles on foreclosure in the Phoenix, Arizona area. He is a trusted Member of the National Association of Foreclosure Prevention Professionals. For more information on foreclosure, visit his blog at http://www.brucevoris.com.
Avoiding foreclosure for a Las Vegas rental property. The home owner's association will no longer let me rent.?
I own a home in Las Vegas which i have as a rental property. I live in NY where I rent an apartment. The property was bought with the intention to rent it. After purchasing the home I was made aware that I cannot rent the property out without board approval. My ARM was up last year, my payments have increased and now that my most recent tenant moved due to being laid off, the board is telling me that I have to go on a waiting list to be approved to rent my property again!!. My home is now vacant. I am losing lots of money. I want to avoid foreclosure. Is there any way that the home owner's association board can be forced to allow me to rent if that would keep me from foreclosing? Are there any laws that may help me avoid foreclosing by allowing me to rent the property? Please help!
Are you behind on your mortgage or are you facing foreclosure? Does it scare you that you might not have a place to live for very much longer and you might have to find a place that is not what you are used to? There are ways to save your home and avoid foreclosure if you know what you are doing and what to look for. Here are some tips to help you get loan modification to save your home.
First, you need to know what this is and what you can do to use this type of modification to save your home. You have to meet a few requirements that are pretty easy to meet. Your mortgage, taxes, insurance, and any homeowner dues have to be more than 31% of your gross monthly income combined. This is necessary for you to qualify and you also must be in some sort of financial hardship.
Second, when you get loan modification you are actually getting a new loan with a lower payment and rate that will help you make sure you can make your payments without any issue. This is important and they use your current income and budget to help make sure you will be able to handle your new payment without any issues. This will help you save your home and get back to current. This is why you need to get loan modification on your home.
Last, when you are considering modifying your mortgage you can get a free consultation, which is important because some companies want to charge you thousands just for a consultation. You can actually get it done right online for free. You just fill out a simple little form about yourself and your current mortgage. Then, they will call you the next day or within a couple days to discuss with you what they can do to help you keep your home.
Click Here to discover exactly how to Save your Home from Foreclosure by Modifying your Mortgage!
