This past week I took a special course in Short Sales and Foreclosures from the creator of the course Frank Serio. Frank is a Broker owner of his own real estate firm in Deleware and has been in the real estate business for 26 years. He is also the President-elect for the Council of Residential Specialists (CRS).

To put it succintly, I was blown away by the incredible content of the couse as presented by Frank Serio! Hence the purpose of my blog, to try to present some of the info I received to help you to either avoid a bank foreclosure or to understand how to work thrugh it, if it has happened to you or you find yourself in this situation.

Here are some strategies to avoid foreclosure:

Be proactive about the problem when the first warning signs appear. Not only does this reduce the stres of not knowing what is going to happen, but it makes it easier for the creditors to work out a plan.

Contact your lender when you become aware that you have a problem. The last thing that a lender wants is to foreclose on the property. Financial institutions lose a significant amount of money by foreclosing on a property ($50,000+/-). Foreclosure is a lose/lose for the lender and the homeowner. It is important to be honest and forthright with your discussions and be prepared to discuss the reasons for your problems.

Read the mail! Not knowing does not solve the problem, it just delays the final result. By not reading the mail, a person avoids the opportunity to get help before it is too late.

Contact a HUD approved housing counselor or call a REALTOR for advice. Call 1-800-569-4287 to find a nearby counselor, or go to www.HUD.gov

Priortize your spending by paying for the necessities of life first. Always pay the house payment and health payment first.

Look for ways to generate cash. Sell those items that have value but are not used or needed, or seek a part-time job to get through the crisis. Not only does this reduce the emotional and financial stress, but it provides evidence to the lender that the borrower is proactively seeing a way to remedy a bad situation.

Don’t get scammed by a private “foreclosure prevention specialist,” instead go to www.HUD.gov to obtain valid information about foreclosure prevention.

Make an appointment with a REALTOR to discuss the problem and to get their advice.

A factor in getting our economy back up an running is to get many of the componets of the real estate industry back to work.  One aspect of this is the buying of distressed or foreclosed properties, rehabing them and putting them back on the market!  I talked in an earlier blog about the benefits to the market by having this process in place.

Up until today, there was a 90-day Seasoning Rule which meant it could not sell until after 90-days from the day the investor had purchased it.  There were some legitimate reasons for this but it also hampered the ability for investors to make a profit.

Apparently HUD saw the advantages and realized that removing this restriction would help speed up the recovery process.  this would be especially helpful in communities where the foreclosure activity is high.

HUD Secretary, Shaun Donovan, announced a temporary policy that will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance and allow for the quick resale of foreclosed or distressed properties.  This is part of President Obama’s commitment to addressing these types of properties.  Secretary Donovan announced there would be $2 billion in Neighborhood Stabilization Program grants to local communities and non-profit housing developers to combat the effects of vacant and abandoned homes.

This is all good news at a time when it will be well positioned to have a huge impact on the real estate industry as it surges forward!  My hat goes off to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan for his efforts on our behalf!

This house which was just purchased by investors will be back on the market in two weeks because of this new action by FHA.