Do It Yourself Or Hire A Professional?

 

The decision as whether to hire a loss mitigation professional to assist you with your negotiations depends on one major factor - you.

Experience

When you contact the loss mitigation department of your lender you will be negotiating with someone that performs this function day in and day out. Your loan modification plan will likely be reviewed by several people that have years of experience in their field.

If you have previous training in negotiations, finance, lending, real estate, or a legal background you may be on par with your counterpart in your loan modification negotiations. If not, you may want to consider this factor in your decision.

Time Factor

Negotiating with a lender can involve blocks of time that may or may not be convenient for you. There may be times that you will have to remain on hold waiting for your lender for more than an hour at a time. It may sound unreasonable but the fact is that loss mitigation departments are currently overburdened with requests for loan modifications from homeowners.

Whether you choose to take the DIY route or hire a professional you will still spend a good chunk of time gathering documents and information. The majority of time spent on this process is spent waiting for the next call from your lender and verifying information such as income, expenses, and your home's current market value. This process can take from a few days to several months to complete. Make sure that you have the staying power to stick with it.

Emotional Factors

Your personality can also have a great deal of influence on your loan modification negotiations. When it comes to saving the roof over your family's head from foreclosure, it isn't easy not to let anxious feelings affect your judgment. It often takes a load of patience to cope with a lender's drawn out negotiations process. Waiting for your proposal to work it's way through a lender's loss mitigation department and back again can create a lot of daily stress. If you have the ability to approach your loan modification from an objective point of view and treat it in businesslike manner then you may have what it takes to get through this on your own. Only you can be the judge of that.

Cost Factor

An effective loss mitigation professional can charge from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. For the same reason that you don't want the cheapest lawyer, accountant, financial advisor. or physician, you also do not want to hire the cheapest loan mitigation specialist. By the same token be reluctant to pay much more than one percent of your mortgage value. There are usually tens of thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars of possible interest and principle savings at stake in a loan modification process. Saving a few hundred dollars by foregoing a competent and experienced professional can cost you much more in the long run.

Finding The Right Loss Mitigation Professional

If you decide not to attempt this process on your own this may be where spending some extra time will pay off. The "foreclosure rescue" business includes solutions that range from unconscionable vultures waiting for their next victims to true professionals that are sincerely interested in their client's welfare. Knowing the difference is the key. Below we have listed some Do's and Don'ts when it comes to retaining the services of a loss mitigation consultant.

 

Do's	Don'ts
Get Your Agreement In Writing Ask About Their Background In Loss Mitigation Ask About Their Refund Policy "Google" Their Company For Complaints Tell Your Professional Your Target Payment Check Their Local BBB For Complaints Consider All Of Your Available Options Get Their Fees In Writing Before You Do Business Get Started As Soon As You Can	Pay Large Up-Front Fees Sign Anything That You Do Not Understand Sign Blank Documents Sign A Quit Claim Deed On Your Home Sell Your Home On A Lease Back Basis Make Mortgage Payments To Anyone Except Your Lender Be Pressured To Sign Anything Work With Anyone That "Guarantees" To Stop Foreclosure

Do It Yourself Or Hire a Pro?

No matter which route you choose you need to get past the fear of confronting your situation and take positive action. Don't assume that you cannot qualify for a loan modification. Most people do. Don't worry a lot about your credit. Although credit can be a factor, almost everyone seeking a loan modification is behind on some of their debt payments.The following resources are available to get your loan modification started.

Do It Yourself Guide To Loan Modification

This guide was written by loss mitigation professionals for two of the nations largest lenders. Includes the following information. Perhaps the strongest guarantee seen with any guide.

• What to do even if you owe more than your house is worth
• How to minimize the damage to your credit
• Different options you have that your lender doesn't want you to know
• Get a workout plan that doesn't require $1000s of dollars up front and double mortgage payments
• What to do if your lender is being difficult
• Access to HUD Certified housing specialists that will help you through the entire process -FREE!!
• Contact numbers for the correct department of every major lender in the country (save hours)
• Sample letters you will need to use to get a workout plan
• Where to go to get information from other homeowners that are all going through the same thing
  

You will learn the exact same process that foreclosure prevention companies use (and charge $1000s for) to stop your foreclosure. A business approach to DIY Loan Modification. More Information