When Homeownership Gets Hard, You Still Have Options
Sometimes life changes faster than your mortgage payment does.
Maybe you’ve fallen behind. Maybe you’ve received a letter from your mortgage company that you don’t fully understand. Maybe you’re worried about what could happen next and you’re not sure who to call first.
The most important thing is not to ignore it.
We’ll start by looking at where you are, what you’ve received, and what deadlines may be coming up. From there, I can help you understand the questions you need to ask, the real estate options that may be available, and when another professional—like your mortgage servicer, a HUD-approved housing counselor, or an attorney—needs to be part of the conversation.
You don’t have to make a decision before you understand what you’re dealing with.
Start Here: What to Do First
1. Don’t Ignore the Situation
Open the letters. Read the emails. Check your mortgage account.
I know that sounds simple, but when you’re overwhelmed, avoiding it can feel easier. Those notices may contain important deadlines, amounts due, documents being requested, or information about assistance.
2. Call Your Mortgage Servicer
If you’ve missed a payment—or you know you’re about to—contact your mortgage servicer and tell them what’s going on.
Ask what options may be available for your loan and what they need from you to review your situation.
3. Start Gathering Your Information
Pull together your mortgage statements, income information, bank statements, monthly expenses, hardship information, and any letters or notices you’ve received.
You don’t have to organize everything perfectly. Just start getting it in one place.
4. Get Help From The Right People
A HUD-approved housing counselor can help you understand mortgage-assistance options and work through the process with your servicer.
And if you’ve received legal papers, have a foreclosure sale date, or have questions about your legal rights, an attorney may need to be part of the conversation too.
5. Pay Attention to the Dates
If there is a deadline or foreclosure sale date listed on something you received, write it down.
Don’t assume you have plenty of time just because the date isn’t tomorrow. The earlier you start asking questions and gathering information, the more time you may have to work through your options.
6. Understand Your Options Before You Decide
There may be more than one path forward.
Some options may be designed to help you stay in the home. Others may help you transition out of it without going through foreclosure.
The goal right now is not to panic and pick something. It’s to understand what may be available and what each option could mean for you.
Understanding Your Options
There is no one answer that works for every homeowner.
What may be available depends on things like your mortgage, your servicer, your financial situation, how far behind you are, and whether your goal is to keep the home or leave it.
Options That May Help You Stay in Your Home
Repayment Plan
If your hardship has passed and you can afford your regular payment again, your servicer may offer a way to catch up on what you missed over time.
That usually means paying your regular mortgage payment plus an additional amount for a period of time.
Forbearance
Forbearance may temporarily reduce or pause your mortgage payments while you work through a short-term hardship.
The important thing to understand is that those payments do not simply disappear. Ask your servicer exactly what happens to the amount you didn’t pay and how it will be handled afterward.
Loan Modification
A loan modification changes certain terms of your existing mortgage.
Depending on the loan and the program, that could mean changing the interest rate, extending the loan term, or making other changes designed to create a different payment arrangement.
Before agreeing to anything, make sure you understand what your new payment will be and how the change affects what you’ll owe over time.
Other Loan-Specific Assistance
Some loans have additional assistance options available.
That’s one reason I don’t want you assuming that what worked for your cousin, friend, or somebody on social media will automatically be the answer for you.
Ask your servicer what options are available for your specific loan.
Options If Staying in the Home Is No Longer the Best Fit
Sometimes keeping the home is the goal.
Sometimes, after looking at everything, selling or transitioning out of the home may make more sense.
Understanding that does not mean you failed. It means we need to look at the numbers and the options honestly.
Sell the Home
If the home is worth enough to pay off the mortgage and other costs associated with the sale, selling may allow you to pay off the loan and protect whatever equity you have remaining.
If selling is something you’re considering, we’ll look at what the home may be worth and what the numbers could realistically look like before you make that decision.
Short Sale
If you owe more than the home is likely to sell for, a traditional sale may not be enough to pay off the mortgage.
In some situations, the mortgage servicer may agree to a short sale, which allows the property to be sold for less than the total amount owed.
A short sale requires servicer approval, so it is not something we simply decide to do on our own.
Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure
A deed-in-lieu involves voluntarily transferring ownership of the home back to the lender instead of completing the foreclosure process.
If this option is offered, make sure you understand exactly what happens to any remaining balance and get the terms in writing before agreeing to it.
Get Guidance Before You Decide
Leaving a home can involve more than the real estate itself.
There may be credit, tax, financial, and legal considerations depending on your situation. I’ll stay in my lane as your real estate professional and encourage you to involve the right professionals when something falls outside of it.
How I Can Help
You do not need to become an expert in foreclosure, mortgage servicing, or loss mitigation before you ask for help.
That’s not what I expect from you.
My role is to help you slow things down and look at the situation piece by piece.
We can:
Look at Your Real Estate Options
If selling becomes part of the conversation, I can help you understand what your home may be worth and what a traditional sale—or possibly a short sale—could look like.
Look at the Equity
If there is equity in the home, I want you to understand that before making decisions about the property.
Connect With the Right Resources
There will be things that are outside of my role as a REALTOR®. When that happens, I’m going to tell you.
That may mean talking with your mortgage servicer, a HUD-approved housing counselor, an attorney, a tax professional, or another qualified professional.
I’m not here to pressure you into selling your home.
I’m here to help you understand what you’re looking at so you can make the decision that makes the most sense for you.
Understand Where You Are
We’ll start with what has happened so far, what you’ve received, and what deadlines you know about.
Organize the Information You Have
We’ll make sure you know what documents, notices, and information may be important instead of trying to keep everything in your head.
Identify Questions to Ask
Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. I can help you think through what you may need to ask your servicer or another professional.
Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute
You may be tempted to wait because you’re hoping things will work themselves out—or because dealing with it feels like too much right now.
But waiting can make an already difficult situation harder.
If you’ve missed a payment, received a notice from your mortgage company, or already have a foreclosure sale date, start asking questions now.
You do not have to decide today whether you’re keeping the home or selling it.
You just need to start understanding what’s happening, what deadlines matter, and what options may still be available.
One step at a time.
Not Sure What Your Next Step Should Be?
That’s okay.
You don’t need to know which option you want before you reach out. You may not even know what all of your options are yet.
Tell me what’s been happening, what you’ve received from your mortgage company, and what you’re most concerned about.
We’ll start there.