Can You Sell a House to Stop It Being Repossessed?
There are no homeowners out there that are interested in losing their home through repossession from their mortgage company. Most want to keep up on their monthly repayments and stay in the home they have put a lot of time, effort and money into. However, for a variety of different reasons, that’s the situation some people find themselves in. Perhaps that’s what you are experiencing right now.
Have you gotten far behind on your repayments and your lender is now threatening you with repossession? How can this be avoided? That’s the subject we are going to tackle in the following post, while also answering the question posed in the title about how you could sell your home quickly to avoid repossession.
First, let’s look at some of the basics.
When Does the House Repossession Process Start?
It’s worth stating to begin with that although mortgage lenders can be painted as the bad guy a lot of the time, they are not out there to take your house from you. They would much rather you make your repayments on time and if you can’t, that you speak to them about it. It’s a lot more costly and laborious for them to go through the repossession process than it is to offer you support, advice and help when you are having financial difficulties that lead to you defaulting on your repayments.
How Many Missed Repayments Causes a House Repossession?
Again, repossession is the last thing on any lender or mortgage company’s mind. It will depend on your lender and their own specific rules, but as a general rule of thumb action is often taken if you default on three payments.
This can even be postponed and extended if you are clear with them that you are having financial difficulties. Delaying and even stopping the process of repossessing your property is even possible.
How Long Does the Process of House Repossession Take?
As we’ve already noted, it will normally be after 3 months of missed mortgage payments before your lender will act. How long that action actually takes will depend on a number of factors. The court’s calendar, how fast it is dealt with through the courts, your lender doing everything the correct way and the communication you have with your lender all play a part.
As always, the better you are at communicating with the lender, the more time you may be allowed to sort missed payments out.
Can You Sell Your Home Quickly to Avoid Repossession?
Obviously, it is better if you try and figure out a solution for the situation, if your finances are that bad that it’s unlikely to improve it may be worth trying to sell your home quickly for cash. This may sound a little leftfield to what you had in mind, but it means you get a lump sum, can sort out the money you owe and are in full control over the sale of your house, and it’s not left the bank or mortgager.