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If you have stopped making your mortgage payments, how long you can stay in the home becomes a looming question. Depending upon what state you live in, as well as your lender’s foreclosure procedures, it could take months, or even years, for the foreclosure process to end in an eviction.

Foreclosure is a stressful process. You are constantly bombarded with threatening letters from attorneys, your lender, and even your local judicial system, and the process can take time before all avenues to collect on the promissory note are exhausted.

When Does a Foreclosure Officially Begin?

The foreclosure process officially begins when you miss your mortgage payment by the due date. For most homeowners, the due date is the 1st of the month. However, the majority of lenders generously give a 5 to10 day “grace period” before any late charges are assessed on your account. That means if you fail to make your payment by the 1st of the month, a late charge will be added to your account if a payment is still not received by the 6th. Failing to meet your grace period is usually the first red flag that lenders see for delinquent accounts, and this initiates the foreclosure procedure.

What are the Initial Stages for Foreclosure?

In an effort to resolve the delinquency, your bank will send you a late notice. If no contact can be made within a week or two after the grace period, the lender moves onto legal notices. Some homeowners try to stave off foreclosure by making false promises to send payment. Although this can buy some time in the beginning, false promises give lenders less flexibility with a borrower down the road when foreclosure is in full swing.

If contacts are futile and a payment is not received by the lender’s ultimatum, then a Notice of Default (NOD) is filed by an attorney in the county recorder’s office of your county of residence and sent to you via registered and certified mail. A NOD gives public notice that you are delinquent and the lender intends to proceed with foreclosure.

Once an NOD is received you have varying amounts of time to respond, depending on the state in which the home is located. You may have as little as 30 days or less in some states, while other states allow up to 12 months or more to resolve defaulted mortgages after the NOD is filed.

When Does the Auctioning Process Begin?

When the reinstatement period ends, the lender moves forward with assigning a date for auction. The timeline of this process also depends on the state. Some states give Deeds of Trust where a trustee, usually a title insurance company or attorney, sets up the auction. Mortgage states must go through a judge to perform a judicial foreclosure sale. Once the auction date is set, you, as a homeowner, may still reinstate your mortgage if you can pay all past due mortgage payments – plus interest, late fees, and all attorney fees – which can all add up to be quite a significant amount. However, this is your last chance to prevent foreclosure.

Once a public auction has been held and a new owner is assigned through a sheriff or trustee sale, you may have some time before you are escorted out of your home by law enforcement. All in all, your time from late payment to eviction can take anywhere from about six months to well over a year before all legal processes are fulfilled.

This article is intended for general information. Always seek sound financial and legal advice before making any financial decision.

Helpful mortgage information at Online-Home-Mortgage.net P. Payne works for OHM Mortgage and Foreclosure Information Site providing answers to all those questions people need to know.

If you are selling your home and your existing mortgage is already paid off, and you don’t require the proceeds of the sale all at once, then you may consider financing the sale yourself.

Unlike when investing in a fluctuating market, holding the loan on a mortgage assures you of a predetermined interest rate. Now that banks have started tightening their lending criteria, some prospective homeowners are finding it more difficult to obtaining mortgages and seller financing solves the problem. In addition to the investment benefit, homeowners find that offering to take back the mortgage gives them a sellers advantage in this tight buyers market.

Generally, the seller and the buyer come up with a mutually agreeable arrangement that outlines the payment, deposit and payment schedule, without the benefit of bank involvement. Instead of financing the entire mortgage amount, the seller may consider taking a loan on a portion of it. Often times, people want to buy, but the banks won’t give them the amount they require. These types of loans are often short term and at a fairly high rate of interest.

It’s common for banks to request at least 20 percent down, or the borrower will have to agree to pay for private mortgage insurance. This adds an extra charge of up to half a percentage point to the mortgage. Generally the individual seller requires only a minimum 10 percent down payment, but it is to the buyers advantage to put down as much as possible.

Interest rates in a seller financing arrangement are generally a few points above market rates because the lender is taking on the risk, especially if a buyer is pursuing this avenue of financing because of rejection from a bank or other lender. During the bargaining process, sellers who normally would have to settle for a lower than desired price for their home, can instead offer a slightly lower interest rate in return for the original asking price.

There are two common types of financing used with most vendor loans – a purchase money mortgage or an installment contract. With a purchase money mortgage, the seller pretty much plays the role of the bank. They receive a cash down payment from the buyer, then proceed to take back the mortgage on the remainder of the balance. The buyer gets a deed and title to the property, and commits to making monthly payments on interest and principal.

Installment contracts are generally held for shorter terms and the deed and title are not handed over until the amount is paid in full. The buyer lives in the home, paying off the interest in regular installments over the length of the contract with the balance due when the loan matures. In most cases owner held mortgages have shorter terms of five to seven years and finish with a balloon payment.

Since there are no banks involved, it is critical that the buyer does his research with regard to uncovering any tax liens, or claims that could affect property transfer. Also important are a current property appraisal, credit report and background check for both parties. If the buyer defaults, then the owner must go through the process of foreclosure or eviction before they eventually retain original title again.

When a buyer is applying for an owner held mortgage, they should provide the same financial documentation that they would if applying for a loan at a bank. The seller will need a good real estate attorney, realtor and possibly an accountant overseeing the transaction.

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Big home improvements may make a hole in your pocket. Even if you manage home improvements and the money involved in it, you should ensure that the corresponding value addition to your property is much more than your actual expenditure.

Many homeowners fail to save enough money for home upgradation. For such people, the lenders and other financial institutions may prove helpful. These lenders can provide you home improvement loans at competitive rates. The loan market is going through a very competitive phase where every lender is trying to outdo the other. In such a scenario, the customer is the king.

Anyway, after arranging the finance the next question that arises is how to use the funds in a best possible manner. After all, home improvement loans carry a price and you have to repay such loans with due interest. The best bet lies in ensuring that the property value of your condominium rises more than what you spend on it. In particular, this aspect assumes a greater significance if you want to sell your condo.

If your condo has laminated floors and they are in good condition then what is the point in ripping them out and install real wood or a higher quality laminate floor. Instead, you can explore and adopt some other means to make your condo look beautiful. Many real estate experts believe that the money spent on your kitchen brings in the highest return on investment. After all, a new buyer usually heads to the kitchen before seeing other things. You should keep these things in mind if you are doing home improvements with an intention of selling out the condo.

To make up for the monetary requirements, you can apply for home improvement loans. These loans are also available online. The rate of interest usually starts from 6.5 per cent and may go higher up as per your individual circumstances.

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Having a mortgage can be expensive; with the interest that is charged over the life of your mortgage, a large portion of what you end up paying is nothing more than interest payments and not the loan itself. Obviously it’s important to be able to pay off your mortgage as quickly as possible in order to keep the interest at a minimum, just as it’s important to make sure that all of your payments are made on time so as to avoid late fees or other costs. One option that can help you to pay off your mortgage early while giving you the added benefit of having to pay less at any given time is a bi-weekly mortgage.

If you aren’t familiar with the term, a bi-weekly mortgage is a payment plan which allows you to make a partial payment on your mortgage every two weeks. It’s not an actual mortgage loan, but instead is a service which will help you to pay off your mortgage faster than you would be able to by simply making your standard payments each month. There are a number of pros and cons associated with bi-weekly mortgage services, and you should stop and consider some of these in order to make sure that a bi-weekly mortgage plan meets your financial needs.

How Bi-Weekly Mortgages Work

When you’re using your standard mortgage payment plan, you’re making one payment every month for a total of 12 payments per year. With a bi-weekly mortgage plan, however, you’re making a payment equal to one half of your current payment every two weeks… this equals out to 26 half-payments over the course of a year. A bi-weekly mortgage essentially allows you to make one extra full payment each year, taking a full month off of your repayment schedule every year that you’re using the bi-weekly mortgage plan. Even though you have to pay a service charge to the company offering the bi-weekly mortgage service, the savings that you receive in interest works out so that you still save money even with the added fees.

Advantages of a Bi-Weekly Mortgage

Obviously, the biggest advantage to a bi-weekly mortgage plan is the fact that you can pay off your mortgage early and save a significant amount of money on the interest that you have to pay. For most homeowners, this savings will be quite significant as they will be able to pay their mortgage off as much as two or three years early. Since the individual payments are lower than they would be if you were paying the full amount once per month, bi-weekly mortgage payments can also be much easier to fit into your budget. Many companies who offer bi-weekly payment services will let you tailor your payment due dates so that they best fit your income, letting you make payments when you get paid.

Disadvantages of a Bi-Weekly Mortgage

While bi-weekly mortgage payments may sound wonderful, there are some drawbacks associated with them as well. Probably the most important of these is the fact that even though you’re making your payments to the service provider, you are still the one who is responsible for your mortgage. The service provider isn’t a lender and doesn’t have any sort of influence or control over your mortgage itself. They only make your mortgage payments once per month, just like you would; in the unlikely event that there’s some problem in processing the payment, you may be required to pay it out-of-pocket while the problem is sorted out or risk receiving late fees or an interest rate increase for a late payment.

Another main drawback to bi-weekly mortgages is that the service which these companies offer isn’t anything that you couldn’t do by yourself with proper budgeting. When it comes down to it, if you have the self-control to structure your budget similar to making bi-weekly payments you could actually save significantly more by doing it yourself than you would through one of these services. You will save more because the service will charge you a transaction fee for each time they process one of your payments (in some cases you may have a fee for each time that they receive a payment from you via direct deposit, for each time that they make a payment, and an additional fee for account maintenance.) Depending on how you budget your finances, you may also be able to pay off your mortgage even faster than you would through a payment service by simply setting aside slightly more than one half of your monthly payment every two weeks. This only applies if you budget your money, of course.

Grant Eckert is a freelance writer who writes about topics pertaining to the mortgage industry such as Mortgage Company | Mortgage Lender

A couple of years back, housing prices skyrocketed and interest rates hit rock bottom. Homeowners everywhere refinanced or took out home equity loans for remodels, pools, and decks. Backyards became outdoor living areas. Home Depots spawned Expo Design Centers and soon granite countertops were de rigueur. As conspicuous consumers we contented ourselves that these improvements were worth it because they increased the value of our homes.

But what kind of return did we get on our investments? The truth is that most home improvements cost more than they add to the value of your home. And no improvement is valuable if you can’t sell your home. So before you run out willy-nilly remodeling this and that, ask yourself how soon you want to sell that house. Sometimes inexpensive home improvements are best for the short term.

What are homebuyers looking for? First and foremost buyers want a solid house in good repair. A newly renovated kitchen may be eye-catching, but if the roof leaks what good is it? At best the buyer will ask for the cost of the repairs to be deducted from the price of the home, so make sure all the basics are in tiptop shape. Your first investment should be in the roof, gutters, foundation, plumbing, electrical systems, and chimney. Plus, according to soundmoneytips.com, repairing plumbing and electrical problems has a 260% average return on investment.

Once you’ve taken care of the fundamentals, you can consider the eye candy. Again, sometimes the best investments cost the least. A freshly mowed and edged lawn costs nothing and will be inviting to buyers. Fresh paint looks neat and tidy on the exterior of your home and can brighten up dingy interiors. Always patch and repair any damage to the walls before painting. The average return on painting your home’s interior is 148%.

What is the number one return on investment? Cleaning and de-cluttering your house. Try renting a storage space if you can’t bear to part with your junk altogether. Buyers want to feel comfortable in your home—not creeped out by your dusty, cobweb covered light fixtures. The soundmoneytips rate for return on investment in cleaning and de-cluttering is 973%.

So what about the additional bath, the kitchen remodel, and the pool? These are home improvements you may want to consider if you are planning to stay in the home for a few years. While they still add value to your home, they cost more than the value they add. That’s not to say they cost more than they are worth. Lifestyle can be a big factor in a home sale. People rarely say, “It’s almost perfect, but I just can’t stand a house with a pool.” And while a pool only adds about 40% of its cost to the value of a home, you also have to consider if you and your family will be sticking around long enough to use it.

Kitchen remodels and bathroom additions fall into the same category. A major kitchen remodel with new cabinets, tile floors, and brand new appliances can run from $50,000-$100,000 for a modest single family home and it will only add about 75% of that cost to its value. An extra bathroom will run you about $60,000 and only recoup 70% of its cost.

But they look great to potential buyers, and besides, you get to enjoy them while you live there.

By: Christine Flanders

Edited By: Michael C. Podlesny

About the Author
Michael C. Podlesny and Christine Flanders are freelance writers for Indocquent.com. Indocquent.com is an online resource that allows home improvement companies and skilled profressionals to promote their products and services throughout 200 countries around the world.