Posted by michaela-CA on July 16, 2008 at 10:24:10:
Ed,
that’s really nice of you to be wiling to look at the situation. Ann, do contact Ed - he’s find the best way of looking at the situation.
See you in Utah
Michaela
How can I help a friend in foreclosure? - Posted by Ann-GA
Posted by Ann-GA on July 15, 2008 at 20:39:42:
Hello all,
I pop in and read this forum often and have learned a lot about investing. My company has 8 small SF homes that we have purchased, rehabbed, and rented. All are in a small town in GA about 30 minutes outside of a small city. So I am a little experienced at being an investor and landlord, but by no means an expert.
Here’s the situation. My dear friends and neighbors are in foreclosure. He is on hospice care for cancer and has been given a few months. He was always the financial manager and wifey didn’t even know what company the mortgage was with. (Lesson: SHARE YOUR FINANCIAL INFORMATION WITH SPOUSE AND UPDATE OFTEN!!)
Because of the course of his illness, she has left her job to care for him and their kids full time. She is beside herself and not able to take care of the daily tasks. Ordinarily she and he are responsible and on time, but now the house payments have gotten behind. The registered mail was never picked up at the post office because they are back and forth to doctors all the time. I walked around the house last week picking up stacks of mail that had been brought into the house and just set down unopened in various places. The foreclosure was discovered by her because an investor flyer was taped to the door. (one of you guys?!)
The house is now scheduled for auction the first tues in Aug. Not much time left to do something.
I have stepped in to try and negotiate a workout or special forebearance with the mortgage company, and am not getting very far because of the late date. I keep hearing about mortgage companies willing to work with folks because of the market, but I am just not finding that to be the case!
Our neighborhood home values range from $500,000 down to $250,000. Theirs is probably on the lower end. But in this slow market, homes have lingered for years.
I know anything I do would really be out of wanting to help my friends and not really for an investment.
She has gotten a few solicitations from investors that I will call. But my feeling is that this house is probably too high for investors in this area.
I am looking for some creative suggestions to help them through this–either temporarily or permanently. The thought of them having to pack and move within the next few weeks is just unbelievable. The immediate need is to keep them in this house for a few months without spending much money. After he dies, we would determine whether she can afford to stay or sell/lose the house.
Any ideas?
Ann in GA
Re: How can I help a friend in foreclosure? - Posted by Ed Garcia
Posted by Ed Garcia on July 16, 2008 at 07:40:47:
Ann,
I tip my hat to you for just being who you are.
Realizing that this is a delicate scenario there are several things I would do if this were my friend that I would like to share with you.
The first thing I would do is find out my friends financial situation how much money they have coming in if any etc.? This is important because youâ??ve said that the wife has just quit her job which makes it more difficult for them financially and we both know that since this crisis has occurred these people have put their head in a hole ignoring the rest of the world. I feel those unopened envelopes that youâ??ve discovered while walking around the house are because they donâ??t have the money to pay their bills.
Ann, youâ??ve got to know that this is putting additional stress on the husband knowing that heâ??s about to pass and worrying about whatâ??s going to happen to his wife and kids.
I would sit down with the wife and discuss their financial situation and then determine if it will be feasible for them to try to save the house or make plains to move on. This is important because once this is determined it can be shared with the husband to give him some solitude that his family will be OK after his passing.
It also gives you a game plan not only of how to handle the house, but if sheâ??s not going to be able to afford it after he passes then there is no reason to structure the deal for her to keep. It would be better for us to structure the deal for short term due to the circumstances.
The second thing you need to do is nail down the value of the house, what is owed so that you can establish the LTV. You mention (Our neighborhood home values range from $500,000 down to $250,000. Theirs is probably on the lower end. But in this slow market, homes have lingered for years) but thatâ??s not good enough, you need to nail it down not only for us to know what weâ??re working with but to know if the house is worth fighting for. If there is a considerable amount of equity then we may be able to use that to buy time. If not, then we may set them up to go BK buying time in that manner.
Letâ??s face it, based in the information youâ??ve already given us Iâ??m sure that their credit has gone bad and the wife will have financial hardship after the husband passes so the BK more then likely will inevitable.
Ann, Iâ??m going out of town to Utah to attend John Behleâ??s workshop this coming Sunday, but if you would like to personally talk to me prior to that, feel free to call me at (909) 944-0199 and Iâ??d be happy to see if I can help you.
Ed Garcia