Positive Real Estate Professionals

In today’s market and economy, this is a statement that I hear why to much. My heart goes out to all of the people that have had to endure through a foreclosure or a short sale. But, I am here to tell you that this is not the end of the line for you. There is light at the end of the tunnel. I wrote an article a while about about starting over after foreclosure. I have decided that it would be a benefit to bring that very article right here to PREP. It is so important that anyone that has gone through a foreclosure or a short sale realize that they are not stuck renting for the rest of their life. Bad things happen to good people, so keep your head up.

If you have any questions about this article or any others here, please feel free to ask. That is what we are here for.

Via Danny Thornton:

Step1

The most important step is to make sure that the foreclosure process is complete. Most people think that it stops when the house is taken back by the bank and that is the furthest from the truth. You have to make sure that the foreclosure has been satisfied. This means that the property has been resold.

Step2

In the case of purchasing a new home after foreclosure, there are two routes to go. The first is going to be conventional and the second is through FHA. Conventional looks at the date of the foreclosure and FHA looks at the date of the satisfaction.

Step3

Now, once the process is complete, it is time to get your finances and credit back in order. The first and foremost thing is to make a budget and live within the means that you have. When making a budget, take into consideration what you would make in each month. If you are a commissioned employee, use the low end. If you work a lot of over time, figure the budget with limited OT. If the OT dries up, at least your budget does not.

Step4

Setting a budget means not going over it. The first point of a budget is housing. Make sure that you calculate enough for rent and all utilities. Once that is in, make sure that it does not exceed 25% of your income. This way, rent and utilities can be paid with one check. Next, you want to budget for your automobiles. This means payments, insurance, and gas all need to be calculated. Then move on to the food and make sure that you add in for eating out. Go through this whole process until you have covered all the bills that you could possibly have. Make sure that you set aside an amount of money per paycheck for you.

Step5

Once the budget is made, live within the means of this budget. Make sure that you pay all your bills on time and keep your credit cards to a maximum charge of 33% so that you can keep your scores high. After 3 years, you should be back in the market for home ownership.