Advice on Going through Foreclosure....

[theweave]

We are in the process of having our house foreclosed. We are going to try to do a Pre-foreclosure sale or a Deed in Lien foreclosure on the home.

Once we are out of the house we are going to have to rent. We have found a place that is good for us. We know that we can leave whenever we want & it would be in our best interest financially to stay until we have to leave. The rent for the place we found is slightly more than our house payment. However, the overall cost of living is less. So, we would be saving money. The foreclosure is in the complaint process. Meaning, in the state of Ohio, we have 28 days to respond. If we dont, then it will go to the courts for them to allow them to foreclose. If we do respond with what we plan on doing (Deed in Lien or Pre-foreclosure sale), either way we are going to have to move.

I know that we can go when we want & get a place to rent. What I am not sure of is what the courts will actually be doing during this process. Meaning, I dont want to go & move to this new place & it look like we are paying more (when we're not) & then have trouble.

Does anyone know if the courts/mortgage company are even going to check any of that??

Thanks!!

[b_girl]

I totally understand about not wanting to wait until the last minute to find a home...that feeling of uncertainty about where you're going to live is very stressful. If you've found a good rental and want to move now, my advice would be to go ahead and do it so that you can start re-establishing your life. As for whether it will affect your BK, I can't see why it would...renting is usually more expensive than buying (which is why we've always preferred to own our homes). However, when you take into account all of the things that can and will go wrong with a house (our AC system went out last year), then renting is a more financially stable option for your family, even if it costs a bit more. I can't see where the trustee would have a problem with this issue...if I'm wrong, I hope someone will jump in here to correct me. Good luck!

[venicehope]

I've been there & done that. We left our homestead in Oct/07 before filing Chapter 7. Rent was about 400.00 more then our mortgage but over all our expences were down. I found a home (even nicer then the one we lived in & made the leap to rent in fear of not qualifing/credit check once we filed). I can't say I regret our decision BUT if I had known our homestead & the Bank would not had even begun foreclosure proceeding yet....Hmmm we could of saved 30,000. in rental fees! Our homestead is still sitting there empty today, while we are moving again this weekend to a new annual lease. Half of me is actually considering moving back in, LOL. We've been discharged but still struggling, we're self employed, can't afford life insurance & barely making our health insurance payments on top of new medical bills. We still have two more 500.00 a month buy back payments and owe our BK att. That money would had come in handy & basically allowed a TRUE fresh start. Finding a suitable, more afforable home for under 1,800.00 in our area has been almost impossible. But I lucked out with a home right next door. So we'll be saving on moving expenses. Renting from a private home owner and not an agency helps keep rent costs down (agents take a percentage) and they won't normally require a credit check. We were very straight foreward with our situation. The owners also knew our previous Landlord. At this time it's almost more risky for the renter then the landlord anyway. Check the property address with the County records on line for any defaults. You don't want to get in a rental home that will go into foreclosure and boot you out. Spend 200.00 and have an attorney review the lease in YOUR FAVOR especially with clauses to cover your expenses if they need/decide to put the house on the market or default. You should be compensated (with less rent) for keeping a home show ready and accomidating agents & buyers, or having to up and move before the lease is up (moving expenses). It happened to us during the first lease! Think long and hard on your move, you know how far the status of your homes sale is. As for the trustee, she reviewed our expenses and didn't seem to have any questions. Just sharing my experience so far.

[b_girl]

Yeah, it's amazing how bankruptcy doesn't cure all of your money woes....it costs so darn much just to live nowadays. We still won't be able to afford health insurance, despite discharging (hopefully..still counting down the 60 days) a ton of debt.

[csrhjr31]

Renting was actually a cheaper option for us than reaffirming our house payment. We are saving a $1,000 a month in just lease payments, not including our utilities, since our house is smaller than the one we owned. Plus, we don't have to pay escrow for property taxes or HOA's.

I agree with you though, I wish we would have stayed in our Foreclosed home a few more months just to save money. We moved into a rental out of fear of not being able to find a house once the bk hit our credit. But oh well, live and learn.