When the bank or other financial institution threatens to take repossession of your home it can be a very tense and disturbing period in our lives. One of the nastiest things that could happen to us is to be told that the roof over our heads is going to be taken away and there’s nothing we can do about it. This can be rather unnerving and cause a lot of stress in our daily lives. But all is not lost and if you act in time you can sell your house to a company that deals in buying and selling property even before the repossession proceedings begin.
Actually there are things that you can do to avert repossession from happening in the first place. Most home owners are quite ignorant about this and just allow the banks to walk in and take repossession of their home. At this point one could get in touch with a company that deals with buying and selling property. But even before you reach this stage, you should first speak to the bank. If you know you are having a financial problem as a result of which you are likely to miss a payment in the coming month or two, you must inform the bank immediately. Banks are normally pretty understanding and will do all they can to help you out. They normally end up losing money when they take repossession of your home so they will do their best to avert this kind of situation.
Appeal to the bank for a grace period which is normally three or six months which the bank gives you within which you have to make no payment at all. This is a chance given to the home owner to sort out his financial problems and get his finances back on track. This very helpful as it provides the home owner enough time to perhaps get a job, sell some other asset he might own, wait for some deposit to mature or a payment which is due which he can use to pay the bank a few months later. Buying time is important so the repossession of your home is postponed at least for a while till you have a chance to make things right. If that also fails then you have no better option but to sell your home to a company dealing in buying and selling property which will allow you to continue staying in your home as a renter or a tenant.
The next option is to ask the bank for a longer bond period rather than have repossession proceedings started. Most home owners are on a twenty year bond and are not aware that it can be extended to even thirty years. This way your monthly repayment amount will decrease a little but then you will end up paying more interest. So if you are having problems with cash, you can have the bond term increased and then reverted back to twenty years once you are comfortable with your finances. Or ask to lessen the total debt amount. Some banks will even do this as repossession means more losses for them. If this also doesn’t work for you talk to a property investor or repossession expert who deals with buying and selling property.
Dale Purdon, director and founder of IMAGINE Properties, Easy Home Sales any many more. Prior to setting up IMAGINE, Dale set out to build his own property portfolio in South Africa where he focused on acquiring high yielding rental properties in the lower end market and gained extensive experience in stock-sourcing as well as portfolio management.