Timothy E. Lockhart - YOU HAVE OPTIONS: YOUR GUIDE TO AVOIDING FORECLOSURE

Do: Be realistic about what your home is worth

• When you’re selling to avoid foreclosure, pushing the price point isn’t necessarily the most beneficial. Yes, you want to get a fair and good price for your home, but more importantly, you need it to sell. You should take comps into consideration, but you may need to accept a lower price than you typically would if you want to sell quickly and avoid foreclosure. Foreclosure will not only leave you without a home and without any additional money, but also a seven-year black mark on your credit report. • One of the advantages of having a real estate agent when selling a foreclosure is that they will prepare a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) that shows recently sold, similar homes in your neighborhood. With this analysis, you will be able to tell how much your home is worth and guide you on how much you should list your house for. To sell your home fast, go down 10% or so of what other homes are selling. This will make your house seem like a bargain and more buyers will come out to see it. • Be realistic about your selling price. If you set it too high, buyers will refuse to even view it and bypass it for other homes that are priced lower. You will not get your house sold as fast as you need to if you overprice it, and you may not sell it at all. Keep in mind that a buyer won’t pay you a premium price just because you owe your bank some money. • Ask your lender to give you some indication of how low a sale price they will accept. Take that amount and closing

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