Stop Michigan Foreclosure » Joel

Sending Us An Email?

Joel — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:50:44 +0000

Just a quick tip: If you send us an email asking for help, be sure to check your “SPAM” or Junk mail folder for an answer. Many times, our answers end up there because we send them from a corporate email address.

Look for an answer from someone on our team that comes from either @StopMichiganForeclosure.com or @GreatLakesHomeSolutions.com. You may want to add these two domains to your “safe senders list” or “white list” right now.

I’d hate to see you ask for advice only to never see the answer!

Joel

Working Harder… Than Anyone!

Joel — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:10:10 +0000

Working Harder…. Than Anyone!

We have always been proud that one of the 4 promises that we always make to distressed sellers facing a Michigan foreclosure is the following.

“We will always work harder than anybody, doing whatever we can, to permanently stop your foreclosure situation”

What exactly does this mean? Well, today, I want to give you some examples.

We attend monthly and sometimes weekly webinars and teleconferences to keep current on foreclosure related topics.
Our negotiators continually call back a lender until they get questions answered or reasonable updates. Our negotiators will not hesitate to call supervision or even executives if the assigned reviewer is unresponsive or making no progress.
When documents need to be signed by anyone involved, we follow up aggressively to make sure they are being addressed in a timely manner and often take it upon ourselves to route the documents for signature instead of waiting for them to go through “normal” channels.
We provide regular updates to everyone involved in the transaction

The list goes on but you get the idea. We essentially stay involved in every aspect of the transaction making sure it is moving forward and not stagnant and that communication lines are kept open. Does this sound better than handing your situation over to someone who may have never talked to a foreclosing lender before or trying to deal with the lender yourself? If so, then give us a call and let us put our systems to work for you. We won’t ask you for any money, we’ll keep all your information confidential and we will work harder than anyone else. That is a promise!

Joel

Facing the WHY’s Behind Lenders and Their Actions

Joel — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:44:59 +0000

Facing the WHY’s Behind Lenders and Their Actions

After talking with struggling sellers for years, the questions why lenders do what they do come up in every conversation:

Why won’t my lender give me a break and reduce my loan?
Why won’t my lender just give me a few months and I’ll get caught up?
Why don’t lenders send people a certified letter when they are going to foreclosure/sheriff sale?
Why do they give me the run around?
Why aren’t there other options for me in my tough financial situation?

The questions are endless and always start with WHY. We can speculate why on each and every question and you might find some answers, but they are always subject to change, so my WHY question is: Why try to find out the answers to the “Why’s”?

They are only voiced out of frustration and even with the answer, it isn’t going to solve your issue and find a solution. Besides, you aren’t going to like the answers anyway.

Let’s look at the question so often asked: “Why won’t my lender give a break and reduce my loan?” Here is the black and white answer. You are asking the very same people that you signed a contract to reduce that contract. Why would they do that? The Bail Out Money was put into place in October of 2009 to relieve the lenders, not borrowers. Those who saw the writing on the wall, even back then, were yelling “Everything for Wall Street but what about Main Street? They are destined to struggle with no relief.” Borrowers are the Main Street and those prophetic words have proven to come true. Every time a short sale is done or lender owned home is sold, they get money. If they reduced your loan, the lenders would be getting less of a percentage per property. There is absolutely no incentive for them to reduce the amount you owe them. Is this painful? Heck yes, but we do have solutions. Read on.

The rest of the WHY questions can be answered easily: As long as they are allowed certain guidelines in order to collect their money from the government, they will be doing all the frustrating acts that don’t add up to a win for borrowers.

Having said all that, put away the WHY questions and let’s get to solutions for your situation. Let’s move on to a place where you financial future can be protected and you and your family can find some relief. There are options to relieve your anguish and it is a specific dance that we have learned the steps to. Call us and find out what your options, rights and responsibilities are, before it is too late to help. We are here with the knowledge you need.

Joel

More Reasons To Be Thankful – Join Them Soon!

Joel — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:21:19 +0000

More Reasons To Be Thankful – Join Them Soon!
During this season of giving thanks, we wanted to share with you some reasons folks who were (past tense) facing a Michigan Foreclosure are thankful. Give us a call today and join their ranks! Want to read more testimonials from thankful sellers? Try here on this blog and also here.

Thank you, Joel, and all of your hardworking staff &efforts on my behalf. Your staff has been compassionate and understanding as I went through this heart wrenching and difficult time. I struggled financially and emotionally to the point where I could see no end. The light in the tunnel was turned on by you and your staff as you worked to resolve with my lenders. Due to the economic difficulties our country is in, my forced retirement could not have come at a worse time adding to the struggle. Again, you have provided me the ability to move on with the negotiated amount of debt wiped out of about $150,000 and the peace of mind. A thank you seems so small.

Jennifer, Fowlerville, Michigan

It was very nice to have someone else handle the phone calls and negotiations with the banks. Thanks to Great Lakes Home Solutions for their help during this stressful time.

David and Kelly, Battle Creek, Michigan

GLHS was very helpful during the entire process. The team was great to work with and the communication was incredible. GLHS made a not so pleasant situation easy to handle. Thank you for all you have done.

Spring, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Great lakes Home Solutions has taken a great weight ($230,000) off myself and my wife’s shoulders. They are very professional and courteous to us always. There was no work or effort on our part as Great Lakes took care of everything. God bless and thank you very much.

Doug and Wilma, Dowling, Michigan

Due to our large cut in income and the housing market taking a huge plunge we could no longer afford our home. We owed way more than we could sell our house for and became very uneasy. We talked to Great Lakes Home Solutions and they made us feel very comfortable and confident they could help us. They took away all of the negotiations with the mortgage company so we didn’t have to deal with it. They were able to reduce our mortgage debt from 264k down to 129k and in the end we didn’t have to pay a dime. We are very thankful we found Great Lakes Home Solutions as they made the whole process very easy for us. Thank you.

Cliff and Dinah, Climax, Michigan

Make That Call! – More Testimonials Of Families Who Are Glad They Did

Joel — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:21:16 +0000

There are many reasons people have financial hardships and face a Michigan foreclosure. Whatever the reason that you are behind on your payment, give us a call and we will help you understand your options. We understand it can be hard to make that first call. Here are some folks who did call us and are glad they did.

I try to keep up with posting testimonials here on this blog and also here, but sometimes I just can’t stay caught up. So, I’m taking this time to publish several of the last few months to give you a feel for the families we’ve been able to help out.

If you want to be next, it’s obvious you’re not alone, so give us a call – before you know it, you could be sitting at a closing, with the weight of your lender (and the world) off your back.

I had perfect credit to start. The housing market took a dive, my relationship broke apart, and I was left trying to make it in this economy. I tried everything I could think of to get help. Banks, government, letters from the mail stating they could help. Nothing worked. I could not refinance, did not qualify for a government loan, I owed more on the house than it’s worth. I went through 4 realtors and my house was on the market for 30 months. My last realtor told me to call Great Lakes Home Solutions. I did and as of now it was my best move so far. My house sold on short sale and as of now I do not have to pay the difference to the bank. They settled everything for me and I did not have to get involved. I must thank them for everything.

John, Portage, Michigan

We were forced to relocate out of state because we are in the military & were recommended to talk to Great Lakes Home Solutions. Due to the current economy, and only owning our home for four years, we were very “upside down” on our mortgage. All of the people we worked with at Great Lakes Home Solutions were very friendly, thorough and made us feel very comfortable with our decision to try to short sale our home. Once we were out of state, they kept us updated on status and made it very easy to complete the short sale. Thank you very much for everything!

Brent & Cori, Ravenna, Michigan

I would recommend Great Lakes Home Solutions to anyone needing a short sale to sell their home. After finding myself with reduced hours at work I needed to sell my home. GLHS was very friendly and helpful. Not only did GLHS move quickly to buy my home, they helped negotiate the elimination of $68,000 owed.

Richard, Wyoming, Michigan

Joel

Wish You Were An Ostrich?

Joel — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:13:38 +0000

Wish You Were An Ostrich?

Have you ever wished you were an ostrich? You know what I mean, when trouble is coming, so you just want to stick your head in the ground and pretend like everything’s perfect? Well, I can tell you that I have. I’ve had days where I didn’t even want to walk to my mailbox because I was afraid of what I might find in it.

It turns out, that the fear is usually worse than the actually problem. Once I built my courage up and headed out to get my mail, I sat down and came up with a plan to fix things. And that’s exactly what you can do too. If you know that you can’t make your next Michigan mortgage payment, or that you’ve already missed some, and are facing a Michigan Foreclosures, take control. Give us a call and we’ll discuss what options you have for solving your foreclosure problems. Trust me, it won’t be as bad as you’re thinking it would be.

Joel

Three Heart-Felt, Short & Sweet Michigan Short Sale Testimonials

Joel — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:13:04 +0000

Three Heart-Felt, Short & Sweet Michigan Short Sale Testimonials

Emily (our Case Manger) is one of our biggest secrets to success. As you can tell from these three testimonials, people love working with her. You can find more testimonials for sellers who had no other choice besides foreclosure here on this blog and also here.

If you want to be next, it’s obvious you’re not alone, so give us a call – before you know it, you could be sitting at a closing, with the weight of your lender (and the world) off your back.

We feel very fortunate to have found Emily and Great Lakes Home Solutions, Inc. After attempting to refinance and modify our mortgage for nearly a year, we really weren’t sure what to do. Thank you for all you did to help us sell our home.
Jason and Carissa, Greenville, Michigan

Joel and Emily made selling my house very easy taking care of everything so I didn’t have to. I lost my husband a year ago and was unable to afford my house by myself. They made this whole process of selling easy. I would recommend using them in any housing situation.

Jennifer, Rockford, Michigan

I worked with Emily Danger throughout this extremely emotional process and she was always kind and patient explaining everything. She made herself available and was expedient in returning calls and e-mails. She was knowledgeable giving me confidence in Great Lakes Home Solutions competencies and ability to resolve this issue. I have nothing but praise for Emily and her team however I wish I hadn’t had to deal with this. Since I found myself in this situation I am grateful to have Emily and GLHS there to assist.

Amy, Coopersville, Michigan

Joel

Three More Testimonials and TONS of Debt Wiped Out (Forever!)

emily — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:12:46 +0000

Three More Testimonials and TONS of Debt Wiped Out

I try to keep up with posting testimonials here on this blog and also here, but sometimes I just can’t stay caught up.With over a dozen approvals and closings over the last 8 weeks, it’s been tough. But here are a few more to give you a feel for the families we’ve been able to help out.

If you want to be next, it’s obvious you’re not alone, so give us a call – before you know it, you could be sitting at a closing, with the weight of your lender (and the world) off your back.

This group, from the get-go, put us at ease. To top it all, we discovered that a short-sale option was far superior to foreclosure. (A short sale is an almost too-good-to-be-true-option.) That Great Lakes did all the heavy lifting to get our house sold was a tremendous relief. We are very thankful we found Great Lakes.

Robert and Julie, Portage, Michigan

We bought the house before the housing market crashed and found ourselves in a situation where we were paying a lot of money for a house that wasn’t worth much. I decided to go back to school and wasn’t making as much money, which only added to our debt and stress. Great Lakes Home Solutions worked extremely hard along with our Realtor to get our home sold and our loans taken care of. It is a long process at times, however it has been completely worth it. We owed $23,500 on our 2nd mortgage and they got them to take $7500 and show “settled in full” on our credit report. Our first mortgage was $125,000 and they got them to take $59,500, both of which we OWE NOTHING.

We are extremely thankful for all of the hard work.

Brandon and Katherine, Greenville, Michigan

Due to our large cut in income and the housing market taking a huge plunge we could no longer afford our home. We owed way more than we could sell our house for and became very uneasy. We talked to Great lakes Home Solutions and they made us feel very comfortable and confident they could help us. They took away all of the negotiations with the mortgage company so we didn’t have to deal with it. They were able to reduce our mortgage debt from 264k down to 129k and in the end we didn’t have to pay a dime.

We are very thankful we found Great Lakes Home Solutions as they made the whole process very easy for us. Thank you.

Cliff and D., Climax, Michigan

Joel

Three More Testimonials and Hundreds of Thousands of Debt Wiped Out

emily — Fri, 07 May 2010 13:07:42 +0000

If you want to be next, it’s obvious you’re not alone, so give us a call – before you know it, you could be sitting at a closing, with the weight of your lender (and the world) off your back.

Finding myself in a possible foreclosure situation was something I would never have predicted, however, following a divorce and years of being out of the job marketing while raising children, I found it impossible to make ends meet. My realtor recommended Great Lakes Home Solutions and my initial meeting gave me hope for a short sale. Everyone treated me so kindly and with respect. Today I am signing off on my home and walking away from $47,000 worth of debt. I had made every effort to negotiate with my mortgage companies and got nowhere. GLHS succeeded beyond any expectations and I can now more forward without the burden of two mortgages. A+!

Susan, Rockford, Michigan

Great Lakes Home Solutions helped us short sale our house in 4 months time. We were forced into a short sale situation by medical and financial situation and mortgage companies that refused to help modify or refinance our loans. Great Lakes settled our home in 4 months time and helped us reduce our debt by 108 thousand over and above our mortgage payoff. We would recommend Great Lakes Home Solutions and staff to anyone facing a foreclosure of their home. They were great in getting our short sale done!!!

Pamela and Kevin, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Working with Emily and everyone at Great Lakes Home Solutions was a wonderful experience. I would recommend them to anyone contemplating a short sale. We were kept informed every step of the way, and our phone calls were promptly returned.

Mike and Colleen, Grand Rapids

Joel

Time To Get Caught Up On Testimonials

emily — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 12:20:03 +0000

It’s simply been crazy around the office the last few months. We negotiated at closed 13 short sales that last 2 months of 2009 and I’m not sure how many since then. If you want to be next, it’s obvious you’re not alone, so give us a call – before you know it, you could be sitting at a closing, with the weight of your lender (and the world) off your back.

We were at the end of our rope, we had tried to rent our home, but that blew up in our faces. I am so glad we called Great lakes. They were able to take over the whole problem, handled it with such care and grace. I would highly recommend anyone facing these tough situations to trust GLHS.

Jerry and Shannon, Portage, Michigan

Working with Joel and his team bas been an excellent experience I would recommend to anyone facing a foreclosure. Their team was upfront about everything, handled all negotiations with the lenders and had over $100,000 in debt erased leaving me with no money owed to either bank.

Brian, Battle Creek, Michigan

I was a single mother struggling to make payment on this home that I had to refinance twice due to divorce and two ARMs that came due. All I wanted was to get my kids through school. After my last child graduated we fixed up the house put a lot of time and money into it and tried to do for sale by owner but owed more than the market value (it had dropped big time). It showed well but I was unable to sell. I talked to our REALTOR. who referred me to GLHS. Emily was wonderful. All I was asked to do was maintain the house and utilities. The company was able to negotiate with my mortgage company – wiped out $85k and GLHS saved me from the nightmare of foreclosure – they actually bought the home from me. Thank you GLHS for all your help.

Janice, Wyoming, Michigan

To whom it concerns, Great Lakes was very good. I would refer them to any one of my friends. They communicated well with us, keeps us informed of all things. We are very grateful and thankful for all things that they did for us. Thank you.

Fred and Hildrene, Hudsonville, Michigan

My unfortunate event of facing foreclosure was made easier when I chose to negotiate a short sale with the help of Great Lakes Home Solutions. They communicated with me every step of the way and kept me informed of important dates. Any questions I had, they were able to address them immediately. Overall, they made the entire process as painless as possible.

Charitee, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Joel