Helping Foreclosure Victims

In today’s uncertain economic times each and every homeowner either faces the possibility of foreclosure, knows someone else that is in danger of foreclosure, or is even in the middle of the process. That’s why it is important to understand the foreclosure process as well as the professionals do. A good working knowledge of the foreclosure process in advance can go a long way toward helping you to avoid the pitfalls.

Frequently, even people who work in the real estate trade are not very well informed about the foreclosure process. Fortunately, there are a number of specialists that can offer appropriate counsel to potential foreclosure cases. They often work from home or a small office and provide only specialized advice as it relates to foreclosure. In many cases, they may have faced the foreclosure problem for themselves and have very personal knowledge of the process.

The question of licensing arises. Here’s the breakdown. No license is usually needed if the only advice provided is related to the process of foreclosure. Generally a real estate license is required however, if the services include advice about actually selling or buying foreclosed, or about to be foreclosed, homes.

In addition, there will have to be someone involved that is a licensed real estate broker, prior to closing to oversee the legality of the transaction. Also, while seldom required, there may be an attorney for one or both sides to review the purchase and sale agreement for legality. The whole matter of licensing does vary from state to state so it’s a good idea to consult the laws of the applicable state before proceeding.

If your goal is to provide foreclosure advice, you have a fundamental choice to make at the beginning. You may decide to become affiliated with an existing firm or you can open a new business. If the former, it is extremely important to carefully research the company first. There are many foreclosure advice operations out there that are simply frauds. Your good name and reputation could be ruined by the wrong association.

Foreclosed homes are often sold at a quite significant discount to fair market value. Banks and other mortgage holders are in the business of writing mortgages and then collecting their payments. They are not at all happy to have to deal with payment problems or the sometimes-complicated foreclosure and eviction laws.

Therefore, they just want to get out of the bad loans so that they may concentrate on their core business, which is writing good loans. This means that there are often as much as fifty per cent discounts available in foreclosure cases. However, the great deals can come with risks if you don’t understand the process of real estate foreclosures

Investing in foreclosed properties can be very profitable, but it can be very risky as well. As the process is often complicated, you need to be sure you have a good understanding of it before you begin.

Original: Helping Foreclosure Victims