Stop Michigan Foreclosure

Here is an article that gives number of foreclosure throughout Michigan in 2009 by County.

I am sure no one will be surprised to learn that Wayne County had the most foreclosures in Michigan in 2009. How about the county where you live? Did you ever wonder how many foreclosure filings there were in the last few years? If you are behind on your payments and facing a Michigan foreclosure, you will see you are not alone.

The obvious message is that foreclosure has no geographical boundaries and extends throughout Michigan. This means that there are resources and help available, more so than if this was not such a prevalent problem. We are one such resource that can help people facing a Michigan Foreclosure. We can help you evaluate your options and help you get back to better times.

If you are behind on your payments and facing Michigan foreclosure (or know someone who is) give us a call. We will not put you in a worse position, and will work harder than anyone to improve your situation. Confidential, free, right here in Michigan ready to help you. Call today before it’s too late!

Ann

I recently saw asked a REALTOR® (not one of ours!) how things were going with one of his listings.  it went like this…

“I haven’t talked to the seller in 2 months” he said.

“2 Months? Must be you aren’t getting a lot of showings” I said

“We haven’t had any, it is priced way too high but that is what they need to pay off their debt” he said.

“Sounds like you may need a short sale” I said.

Now I don’t know for sure that this seller is a good candidate for a Michigan short sale or not.. However, I do know that if your house has been listed for more than 2-3 weeks without a showing, then it is priced too high.

I would also say if your REALTOR® has not talked to you in 2 weeks (let alone 2 months, good grief), you need a new REALTOR®. A good REALTOR® will be constantly updating you on progress and suggesting adjustments. If you want to know other ways to judge a how well a REALTOR® will do with your short sale, see this video.

How do you figure out if you need a Michigan short sale, make sure your house is priced correctly and that you have a good REALTOR® ? One way is to talk to us. Especially if you are facing a Michigan foreclosure, selling your house is a time sensitive matter. You don’t have time for trial and error now do you? Give us a call and not only will we help you with your short sale as much as possible, we will put you in touch with our whole team of people, including REALTROS®, who can help you get your house sold and get back to better times.

Ann

“I Don’t know if I can wait another 2 days!” That is what my 11 yr old nephew Joey told me on December 23rd. Joey gave me various versions of this statement over the next 48hrs, eventually counting down the hours to Christmas morning. Why? Well, because Joey knew that all kind of good things were going to happen Christmas morning! There was no doubt in Joey’s mind that Christmas was going to solve all his needs, wants and desires (mostly for more Legos).

This is the same kind of urgency you should feel about calling and meeting with Emily. If you are facing a Michigan Foreclosure, we can offer solutions that will get you back to better days and remove stress. Yes, it will take some work on your part, just like Joey had to work at being good – everyone knows that nothing comes free. Yes you will have to write letters and fill out financial statements just like Joey had to write letters to let Santa know what he wanted. Joey did all this willingly because again he believed and was focused on the reward. That is the key – believe in our team and focus on the brighter future we can help you achieve.

You too can be saying about your meeting with Emily: “I don’t know if I can wait…..”

Ann

“More Homeowners Fall Behind on Mortgages” was the headline of a recent Wall Street Journal article.  This article states that 1 in 7 owners are now behind in their mortgage. What I found most interesting in this article is the observation that the reason people are getting behind has changed.

According to the article, 2 years ago it was 1 in 14 homeowners that were behind in their mortgages. The main reason was the fallout from the loose lending practices during the housing boom when people were simply getting bad loans that they couldn’t afford long term. Now, the main reason for being delinquent on house payments is unemployment and loss of income.

Michigan continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the nation according to this New York Times article.  It is no coincidence, then, that Michigan continues to have one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation.

Of course, here in our office, we don’t need to read these articles and statistics to know they are true – we deal with this reality every day as we help families facing a Michigan Foreclosure. The number one reason people need our help is loss of income. However, we also help people who are behind on their mortgages for other reasons.

If you are behind on your mortgage because of loss of income or any other reason, give us a call and let us put our many years of expertise to work for you. You don’t have to become another statistic. Let us help you get back to better times – call us today.

Ann

Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions yet? Maybe this will be the year that you stick to your diet. Or maybe you will spend less time watching TV and more time doing things with the kids. Or maybe this will be the year that you will deal with a financial noose that is tightening around your neck from being behind on your Michigan mortgage payments.

Good news! We can help with the last one (but not the other – you’re on your own for those). If you are having a hard time making your mortgage payment, maybe it is time to get rid of the problem. How do I know what the problem is? I know what the problem is because it is always the same thing – the house has become too much for you. This can be a hard thing to realize because there is so much sentiment and emotion represented by a house – your house. And while it does provide you protection and warmth and a place to make memories, it is also the cause for a lot of stress when it costs more money to keep it then the budget will comfortably afford.

This can be a tough realization to reach because obviously, there was a time when the house was not a burden. Then a hardship hit – job loss, divorce, death of your spouse, any number of things can change and suddenly the house, which is most people’s biggest expense, becomes a huge weight on their shoulders.

Never fear! We are here to help. We can help move the weight of that burden of a house off your shoulders.

If your house has become a burden due to a financial hardship and you are facing a Michigan Foreclosure, give us a call. We specialize in getting families back to better times. And our New Year’s Resolution is to help even more Michigan families in 2010 than we did in 2009!

Happy Holidays from all of us to all of you!

Ann

We heard “The Blizzard of December 2009” was coming for days. It was the top news story for several days. Family members who lived in other states would call up and say “The blizzard is coming, better stock up on bread and milk”. Schools and businesses prepared to be closed.

Then it hit. And while we did get a lot of snow (10” in my back yard), it really just seemed to be another snow storm to me. I never saw the “white outs”, or felt the 50mph winds. Maybe I was lucky, or maybe they just weren’t there.

As I was shoveling the snow this morning, it reminded me of how we often anticipate the worse in life and it never really is as bad as we expected. Maybe it is because we were prepared, our awareness heightened. Or maybe the thing we feared didn’t warrant the fear and energy we spent on it. How cool it would be if the unknown was known so we could deal with it and go on with our life. For example, if the weatherman had said “it’s going to start snowing about 3pm on Wed and pretty much snow on and off through early Friday morning. However the road crews will keep up with it and if you drive between these hours, roads will be empty & clear and the visibility will be reduced but not horrible. Basically, it will be just another Michigan snow storm”. That doesn’t sound so scary, does it?

Facing a Michigan Foreclosure can be the same way. People give you advice based on what they have heard or seen other people go through. The media talks about it constantly making it sound ominous. You don’t know what will happen, you don’t know how to prepare or lessen the blow. You spend sleepless hours worrying about what to do.

Stop spinning your tires and give us a call. We have been studying this “storm” and dealing with it for years. We can show you a path to sunnier days. We can answer your questions and make the unknown, known. We have knowledgeable staff that will give you advice based on fact and experience, not heresy. We will help you weather the storm and get back to better days.

Ann

I was having lunch with a group of people 5 or 6 years ago and someone mentioned that their neighbor was losing their house to a Michigan foreclosure. A hush came over the group, a few people gasped. People lowered their voices and said “Really?”. It was almost like someone had announced that their neighbor murdered their family and buried them in the back yard. You see, back then foreclosure was not common place and people were shocked by the mention of it.

Today, foreclosure is unfortunately an everyday occurrence (especially in Michigan). We hear almost daily mention of it either in the media or because we know someone going through foreclosures. When we are exposed to the constant evidence that foreclosure is reality in Michigan, we begin to accept is as inevitable and think there is nothing we can do to stop it. However, it is not inevitable and there are things people can do to prevent their lives from being turned upside down by a Michigan foreclosure.

People who are behind on their house payments and facing a Michigan Foreclosure do have options. A great option is to call us and discuss those options. We have helped hundreds of families get back to better times. In fact, when we hear of a foreclosure situation, we don’t think it is inevitable, we create solutions to help these families.. If you or someone you know is facing a Michigan Foreclosure, give us a call today and let us help them.

Ann

I was reading this article titled “325,917 more Foreclosures Expected in Michigan by 2012” that would indicate the foreclosure crisis in Michigan is far from over. There were some amazing statistics given in the article for the number of foreclosures. What especially stood out to me is the article points out that it is not just the families losing their houses to a Michigan foreclosure who suffer, it is anyone who owns a house near a foreclosed property that also suffers loss of value in their house as foreclosed houses drive the market price down.

Articles like this are helpful I think to remind us that foreclosure is not just the problem of the family in foreclosure. Probably all of us living in Michigan have been touched by foreclosure either directly or indirectly because if we are not in foreclosure, someone who lives near us is. There are things you can do to get out from under the burden that a house facing a Michigan foreclosure can cause on a family. There are things you can help family, friends and neighbors do.

Working together, we can change this reality in Michigan. Tell everyone you know facing a Michigan foreclosure that they do have options. Have them call us to discuss those options. We are trained professionals who have been working with distressed families since 2002. We can get the distressed family back to better times, which will mean better times for all of us.

Ann

We recently helped Tony who was facing a Michigan Foreclosure. Tony had lost his job and moved out of Michigan to find work. He couldn’t afford two house payments and soon got behind on his Michigan house. His house had already gone to foreclosure auction when we got involved. And while we can’t help everyone whose house has already gone to foreclosure auction, we can help some people and Tony was one of them. We were able to get Tony’s lender to accept a discount on what was owed (a short sale), wiping out almost $75,000 of debt so the house could sell in this depressed Michigan market.

As Joel was sitting at closing with Tony, amid thanking Joel profusely for all we had done for him, Tony asked if we could help his son who was struggling with massive debt and a loss of income. So we got in touch with Tony’s son John, and sure enough, he was facing a Michigan Foreclosure too. We are currently working with John and so far, we have been successful at getting the bank to postpone his foreclosure auction for 2 months while they review the offer we have presented to them.

I know that every parent wants their kids to follow in their footsteps to some extent. However, few parents want their kids to follow them into foreclosure or go down that road alone. That’s why we are here. Turn to us for help when you find yourself heading down the path to a Michigan foreclosure. Or tell a loved one to call us like Tony told John. We promise we will never ask them for any money, we will work harder than anyone to solve their Michigan foreclosure situation, we will keep everything confidential and we will not put them in a worse situation. Call Emily today and find out how your family can have a brighter tomorrow.

Ann

I just had a young girl come to my door who was on a Scavenger hunt.  The conversation went like this.

Kid: Do you have any pumpkin seeds.

Me: No, sorry.

Kid: How about some nail polish

Me: Sorry, don’t have that either.

Kid: That’s ok, as she runs towards the neighbor’s house, thinking only of the prize she can win if she finds all the things on her list.

Now imagine if the conversation had gone like this:

Kid: Do you have any pumpkin seeds.

Me: No, but I have some used motor oil, you can have that.

Kid: No thanks.  How about some nail polish

Me: Fill out this 5 page form and I’ll check with management and get back to you in 4-6    wks.

Kid: You are a nut case, as she runs to the neighbor’s house to talk to someone sane.

The second scenario is ridiculous, but that is how it feels when you are facing a Michigan Foreclosure and trying to get the bank to work something out with you.

Borrower: I would like to do a loan modification

Lender: Pay us an extra $2,000 this month and we’ll let you continue to make the payments that are too high for you already.

Borrower: No thanks.  How about a Repayment plan

Lender: Fill out this 5 page form and I’ll check with management and get back to you in 4-6 wks.

Borrower: You are a nut case (feeling like there is nowhere to run)

However, there is someone to run to. Us!  We can review your options and help you decide what the best course of action is for you.  If the only option is to sell the house, we may be able to negotiate with your lender to take a discount on what is owed so the house can sell and you can get out from under the burden or stress of a Michigan foreclosure.  We promise we will help you move toward the prize of getting your family back to better times and not put you in a worse position.  Give us a call today!

Ann