Thinking about selling your house because you heard it is a sellers’ market? Maybe you’re going into foreclosure and are tired of the headaches and hassles that come with that lengthy and stressful process. The good news is your credit score does not matter when it comes to selling your house.
You can sell your house with bad credit without any added restrictions, but that doesn’t mean you should. It’s important to consider why you are selling, what your situation is after you’ve sold, and to evaluate the benefits and costs of selling your home.
The biggest issue you will run into if you have bad credit and want to sell your home is getting a mortgage to buy a new house. Lenders are more cautious when giving a loan to someone with bad credit. The same goes for getting approved to move into an apartment of your choice. There are also a lot of good reasons to sell your house when you have a low credit score.
Reasons to sell your house when you have bad credit.
The best reason to sell your house if you have bad credit and you’re worried about losing your home is because you can recover some of the money. These recovered funds can be used to help you get back on your feet, pay off bills and work to increase your credit score so you can buy another home in the future. You also have multiple options to choose from.
The first is to find a company that buys houses for cash. They can close quickly; you’ll get an offer fast and be able to move on with your life. This is the quickest option, but you may not always get the most money from house buyers or real estate investors. If you do sell to one of these companies, the biggest bonus is that you’ll avoid going into foreclosure. But what happens if the offers are too low and your bank is placing your home in foreclosure? Do you have any other options? Yes!
If the bank or lender that owns your mortgage is about to foreclose on your home, and you don’t want to sell to a real estate investor, a short sale may be a better option. From the time the bank or mortgage lender starts the process of foreclosing on your home, and until the auction happens, you have a small grace period to list your house on the market. This is called the pre-foreclosure period and it can last up to a few months. This gives you the opportunity to close in a short sale.
A short sale is when you sell your home for less than the mortgage is worth. There are numerous reasons the company who owns your mortgage will allow this, but they do have to approve it so you are taking a gamble. If you’re considering a short sale, check to see if selling your home for enough to cover the mortgage will be difficult in the current market, or even at auction. If it is, they may be more inclined to allow this. If they do, it can be a saving grace.
You won’t have to go through the stressful and tedious foreclosure process. You’ll avoid having to watch as your house gets auctioned off to the highest bidder, and you’ll walk away with money in your pocket. Also, short sales do not always use a real estate agent. This saves you money by not paying a commission. The fees associated with short sales normally become the responsibility of the mortgage lender making a short sale a great option, but only if your lender will approve it. But that isn’t the main reason you may want to choose this option.
The most valuable benefit to a short sale is that being foreclosed on is worse for your credit score than a short sale. By not having a foreclosure on your credit report, it may make buying another home in the future easier, especially if home ownership is in your long-term goals.
You can sell your house when you have bad credit without any additional obstacles, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to buy a new one as easily. If you do choose to sell, talk to a financial advisor, your lender and also carefully evaluate all options. If the stress is too much and you just want out, contact us for a cash offer and we’ll help to close the deal quickly and painlessly so that you can move on with your life and begin rebuilding your credit without the house and the bank holding you back.