Are you a Milwaukee homeowner in danger of being late on your mortgage payments? When you own a house that comes with a lot of responsibilities and requirements. Along with maintaining the upkeep of the house itself, you’re responsible for making sure that it’s up-to-date financially as well. That often means making sure that mortgage payments are current and paid up. Of course, that can often be easier said than done. Sometimes you find yourself in a financial crisis and before you know it you’re behind on mortgage payments through no fault of your own. And the problem with mortgage payment issues that they can open up a whole bunch of other issues, such as tax problems, liens, lawsuits, and even foreclosure. Once you find yourself in mortgage trouble it can be hard to figure out a solution. Cream City Home Buyers can help and we want to show you some ways you can avoid running into mortgage payment trouble and what your best solution might be if you end up there. Here’s some info on how to avoid late mortgage payments in Milwaukee.
How You Can Avoid a Late Mortage Payment
Go In With a Gameplan
If you think that you might be looking at some kind of financial hardships coming down the road and your ability to pay your mortgage on time will be impacted, you should contact your loan provider as soon as possible. While they are often seen as the “enemy” they would much rather figure out a solution with you that ensures your ability to pay your mortgage in full than deal with the repercussions if you don’t. They should work with you to create a gameplan for how you’ll deal with any lack of funds or financial problems.
In the meantime, always maintain good financial records related to your house. That also includes records of your income and expenses, so you have a good sense of the true equity of your Milwaukee house. Armed with all of that information, you can figure out what to do based on each scenario that could happen. If you miss one payment, you’ll have one solution. If you miss multiple payments, you’ll need another solution. What if you realize you can’t make your mortgage payments for six months? Will you be able to back up the reasons with documentation that your lender can use to help you? The more prepared you are beforehand, the easier it will be to respond to financial problems and make sure your lender is willing to work with you.
Move Fast
One of the smartest things you can do when you start falling behind on mortgage payments on your Milwaukee house is to contact your lender. Again, they’re always going to want to figure out how to keep you on track to pay in full rather than watch you fall into foreclosure. It’s possible that you could qualify for a loan modification, either by your lender or under the Making Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). So be sure to inquire about all your options. Your lender may also offer to extend the repayment period, suspend payments for a short time, or allow for extra borrowing in order to ease your situation. They may even grant you a forbearance, which would mean reduced or suspended payments over a period of time that you both agree to.
Sort What You Can
If you found yourself in a situation where money was suddenly tight for a few months or even a year, what could you do right now to make sure you can continue living in your Milwaukee house? What could you do to offset the debts and make money in the short term? While it might not be something you’d like to consider, selling high-value items can be a logical way to extend your finances and get you out of immediate trouble. If you own a second car, a boat, a vacation property, a rental property, or other investments, you could sell them and use the profits to pay your mortgage for now. Of course, you’d love to keep those things but if it comes down to your extra car and your house, we can understand that your house takes precedent. The hope would be that you’re able to get back on your feet quick and then buy a new car.
Get Tenants To Help Pay Your Mortgage
If you have the ability, you can rent your Milwaukee house to tenants and collect rent from them to cover mortgage costs. It’s important that you do what you can to make sure they’re trustworthy and capable of keeping up on rent payments. Otherwise, you’ll be in an even bigger hole than when you started. A good tenant pays their rent on time, maintains the property, and doesn’t abuse the terms of the agreement. Be sure to do background and credit checks. Of course, this option isn’t foolproof and you never quite know when a renter might skip out or simply fail to live up to their end of the bargain, so you’re taking a chance no matter what.
Keep Your Property Full
If you’re renting out your Milwaukee house or property, you obviously want someone paying rent as often as possible. Every month where a house or apartment sits empty, that’s a month without income, which means less money available to pay the mortgage.
Don’t feel bad about advertising for new tenants even if you’re full. Someone can give notice at any time and they don’t always give you as much as you want. Process applications now so that when an opening comes up you can reach out and fill it as soon as possible. Acting fast and being efficient is a big part of being a landlord and a big part of ensuring that your mortgage is paid on time.
Sell the House on the Open Market
If it feels like the writing is on the wall and you’re not going to be able to make mortgage payments on your Milwaukee house, you have two options. The first is that you can try to sell your house on the open market. Of course, doing so brings with it plenty of challenges and costs. You’ll need to hire a real estate agent who will take a commission fee off the final sale price. You’ll probably need to make repairs and clean the house extensively to make it market-ready. You might have to list the house for months, deal with persnickety buyers, and run through the negotiation process many times before you find a buyer. And even then you have to deal with inspections and pay all the closing costs. It’s not the best solution if you need to sell the house fast and the bank is breathing down your neck.
Sell Your House As-Is
If you see yourself facing financial hardship or if it looks like foreclosure is in your future, one of the quickest ways to get out of trouble is to sell your house as-is to a real estate investor like Cream City Home Buyers for cash. The process couldn’t be simpler. You don’t have to make any repairs, clean up anything, or sort out your financial issues. You just contact Cream City Home Buyers today and we will reach out ASAP to get all the information we need. Then, we’ll make you a fair cash offer, often within 24 hours, and it’s entirely up to you whether or not you want to accept it. If you do, we can close on the sale within days. Now, you get cash in your pocket and don’t have to deal with an impending foreclosure. We’ll take over the house and sort it out for you. You get to move forward and start fresh without making any more mortgage payments on your Milwaukee house.
