We explain how foreclosure works and what your options are to sell your house fast before foreclosure. An instant cash offer can keep the sales process simple, while helping you get the most out of your property.
Facing foreclosure can feel like a dead end. You’ve gotten behind on your mortgage payments and you’re running out of options for how to manage what is likely one of your largest assets, your home.
At this point, diving into the process of selling your home to avoid foreclosure feels even more daunting. But it doesn’t have to be.
How Does Foreclosure Work?
If you can no longer afford to pay your mortgage, your home may go into foreclosure, which is a legal process where you’re required to forfeit your rights to the property. Your mortgage will go into default and the lender will require that the entire mortgage be paid off. If you can’t pay the mortgage, the lender takes steps to sell the house to pay your debt.
Foreclosure should be avoided if possible, as it will damage your credit and make it difficult to borrow money in the future. It also eliminates your chances of getting any equity from your home.
If you can’t find a way to pay your mortgage debt before your home goes into foreclosure, you can sell the property to pay off your mortgage. If this isn’t possible, you lose your rights to it, and the lender will either auction it or take possession of it to make back their money.
Ways to Sell Your Home Fast and Avoid Foreclosure
You may decide to sell your home before the foreclosure process begins. If the process has already started, you can still sell your home while it’s in a phase called pre-foreclosure, meaning before it’s sold at auction or taken by the lender.
To avoid foreclosure, you’ll need to make enough money from the sale of your home to pay the lender for everything you owe. That could include back mortgage payments, penalties and fees, as well as your mortgage payoff amount.
To buy yourself time, you can work with your lender to see if they will temporarily suspend your payments through forbearance options. This could make it easier to afford your current situation while you try to sell your home.
If you’re in pre-foreclosure, your lender will need to agree to a plan and timeline in which you will try to sell your home, before they take possession of the property if it doesn’t sell.
Once you decide to sell your home, there are multiple avenues to find a buyer:
- Sell your home for a reduced price through a short sale, where the price is less than the amount due on the mortgage. Buyers may act more quickly because of the reduced price. You may lose equity you have in the home and still owe the lender additional money.
- Work with a realtor, who can be a great resource in finding buyers quickly and providing local real estate knowledge to help you maximize the return on your home.
- If you need an expedited sales process with a home needing minor repairs, a Home Investor or i-Buyer can provide simple, fair offers quickly. These types of buyers include Opendoor, Offerpad, Zillow Offers, and Redfin Now.
- If your home needs extensive repairs or renovations, you could sell it to a Wholesaler or Flipper who will fix it up and sell it.
An Instant Cash Offer Might be the Best Option
Of the options available to sell your home to avoid foreclosure, you may find that getting an instant cash offer provides the most benefits.
Instant cash offers involve a faster and simpler sales process than the traditional route of selling a home. Because the buyer can pay in cash, you don’t need to wait several weeks to months for their mortgage to get approved. You may even sell your home at a price that allows you to make money from the sale.
The steps for an instant cash offer are as follows:
- Provide information about your home.
- You’ll receive an instant cash offer from a buyer within a day or two, which is based on your home’s fair market value.
- The buyer will work with you to schedule an inspection to understand the condition of the house and whether that will affect the price.
- You’ll work together on a sales agreement and set a closing date within as little as seven days, to as long as a few weeks.
An instant cash offer helps you avoid the more lengthy process of selling a home through the traditional route, which can include updating your house, listing the property for sale, cleaning it, staging it, managing showings, negotiating with multiple potential buyers, and waiting for a buyer’s mortgage to get approved.
Sell Your House Fast to Avoid Foreclosure
To sell your home quickly, you don’t have to find a buyer on your own. Bolt and Beam can refer you to a buyer that will give you an instant cash offer to simplify the sales process and help you avoid foreclosure.
Provide us with details about your situation and home, and we’ll analyze your needs. From there, we’ll give you information about your home and local market, as well as our best recommendations for instant cash offers.
If you’re interested in learning more about selling your house fast for cash, contact us or click here to get started.
We’ll make the best possible recommendation for selling your home to avoid foreclosure, while helping you move forward by getting the most out of your property.