Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott howell
I can either do this and still have money in the bank or keep paying until I run out of money and then foreclose. It makes sense to do the former and procede with foreclosing while I have cash in the bank.
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I'm definitely not an expert, I've only got less than a year's experience, so what's below cannot be worth more than 2 cents:
o Assume I want to keep my home. Having a high credit score helps in dealing with banks.
- If no bank wants to talk, and I cannot maintain my payments, then I cannot keep my house.
- If some bank works with me (i.e. I get a restructure, lowering rates won't help that much I think), it will be more helpful if I can show that I continue to make the payments when I am able to (they will ask for available financial resources). I mean, if they ask me why I'm not making a $100 payment when I have $2000 in my bank, I don't think I want to say, "That's so my bank is forced to talk to me." I guess also that means I have some more time to get a job, and empty my bank account slower in the meantime. I will need to decide the maximum amount of time I will continue to make my full monthly payments (and keep my score high), and if I can't get help from anyone in that time, I cannot keep my house.
o Assume I cannot keep my home (foreclosure). I can either
- Move to a smaller house, with less payments. Unless I can buy the smaller house outright, I will need a loan. Which means I need a good credit score.
- Move to a rental apartment. In this case, credit score is less important, so I can just walk away from my loan.
Summary
o decide how long I want to keep looking for better loans
o at the same time, decide whether I want to rent or move to smaller place if things fail, and act accordingly
o in the meantime, continue payment to keep my credit score high
o if nothing works, rent, credit score can go crash.