SELLING YOUR KANSAS CITY HOME TO AVOID BANKRUPTCY

Bankruptcy is a scary concept, but one you might be dealing with. If you are having problems with a pile of debt, the best thing you can do is deal with it head-on instead of leading to more debt or serious credit problems. You may need to sell your home as a way to avoid bankruptcy, but you should consider other options first.

HOW TO HANDLE MORTGAGE PAYMENT PROBLEMS

Of the largest debts you might have is paying your mortgage every month. If this is one of the payments you are behind on, you should not rush straight to selling your home. However, you don’t want to avoid the problem either, otherwise you could be facing foreclosure. Here are some things to do first before making any other decisions:

• Contact Your Lender – The very first thing you should do when you are having problems paying your mortgage is to contact your lender. They might be able to work something out with you, whether they could temporarily lower your monthly payments to help you get caught up or give you an extension so you can save up the money to start making regular payments again.

• Reduce Your Current Bills – You may also have some current bills that are unnecessary. For example, do you have monthly subscriptions for media or entertainment that is rarely used? Are you not using the cable you pay $100 a month for? If so, now is the time to start getting rid of these bills.

• Create a Reasonable Budget – Once you have reduced all unnecessary bills, start by creating a new budget. Be reasonable with the expenses you have on a monthly basis, adding in some extra money for things like your pets, emergencies, and recreation funds.

• Sell Other Assets – While you may not quite be at the point of selling your home, you may have other assets you can sell. If your family has two vehicles, consider downsizing to just one vehicle. The sale from the second vehicle might pay your mortgage for a month or so.

CONSIDER SELLING YOUR KANSAS CITY HOME

If after trying these alternatives you find you are still struggling to make those mortgage payments, it is time to consider selling your home. This is not ideal, but it helps to avoid bankruptcy and foreclosure, both of which can damage your credit exponentially. It can be beneficial even if you still owe equity on the home. Get this process started as soon as possible. Work closely with a real estate agent to get the home ready to sell and listed. If you are in a hurry to sell it, don’t worry about home improvements. Just get that house sold and avoid bankruptcy.

In the end, you will be able to get out of debt and find another home that might not cost quite as much. You may even have made enough from the sell to pay back your loan to the bank and get another home in the future.