The thought of losing your home under any circumstances can be extremely frightening, stressful and depressing. Nevertheless, when your loss is due to a house repossession, the outcome can be even worse. Your lifetime savings suddenly disappear. You have to look for a new home for yourself and your family and your credit history is pretty much shot. The future looks pretty bleak for you, doesn’t it?
With the rate of home repossessions so high in South Africa (it has doubled since 2006), many homeowners are dealing with this every day. Though, there are ways in which real estate owners can prevent repossession and by being informed of what the options are, you may be able to prevent losing the house you’ve strived so hard to obtain.
Every homeowner that is worried about home repossession has different financial circumstances that led to their problem. Some may be in heavy debt with all their bills while others may just be having a hard time with their monthly bond payments. If you fall in the second group, perhaps refinancing your bond/mortgage may be an option if there is enough equity in the home. This is a fine substitute to selling property in a hard-hitting market when you are faced with time restrictions.
On some occassions, refinancing your bond is the solution to getting you back on your feet. The past due amounts are gone and you may have a new monthly bond payment that’s lower and easier to pay. For others, refinancing is just a short term solution to help them avoid a home repossession. It’s also a solution that will help preserve your credit history, especially if you’re managing to pay your other debts on time. Your credit history may be bad, but it won’t be as bad as a history with a listed repossession.
Despite this being something most property owners in financial trouble stay away from, talking to your financial lender should be almost the first step in order to prevent repossession. They want what is owed to them but repossessing your home is a final resort for them. The more willing you are to discuss the matter with them, the more willing they are going to be to help you. This is especially true if you can prove to them that you are able to pay back your bond with some aid from them.
There are numerous options they can recommend to you in order to assist you in minimising the financial crisis you’re in and even stop your house from being repossessed. Financial lenders may adjust the term of your loan so you’ll have more time to pay but with a reduced monthly bond payment. They may also give you a free grace period where you won’t have to make any monthly payments for a few months. This is often very helpful for homeowners as it gives them the opportunity to catch up on their other debts and restructure their financial situation so they don’t have problems in the future.
Even though it’s not ideal for them, they may even be convinced to remove some of the balance you owe them. Even though they won’t be getting the amount of money they’d hoped for with principal and interest, they’re still getting their money without having the hassle and cost of a home repossession.
Sometimes, even with all these options available, a good solution cannot be found. In these situations repossession specialists are the best option as they can swoop in and save the day by paying cash to purchase your house. They’ll guarantee a fast sale with no hassle and often will rent you the home or sell it back to you in the future when you can afford it. As you can see, when faced with a home repossession, once you know your options and that there are options, you can avoid losing your home to repossession.
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