Is Your Mortgage Out of Balance with your Budget?

It can happen quickly.

An expensive car repair, an unexpected hospital visit, a missed week of work – just a few little things and the life you’ve worked so hard to build can feel like it’s tipping dangerously out of balance.

Once the scales turn against you, it can feel like it is impossible to ever tip them back in your favor again. When your financial problems reach the point where they threaten your home, it is difficult to manage the stress. Sometimes it is even difficult to force yourself to seek help.

As a real estate professional who has earned the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, my mission is to provide financially-challenged homeowners with options to foreclosure, ensure that they steer clear of scams, and help navigate them through the solution that best meets their needs.

Choose to face the challenge with a professional on your side.

I can help you realign the balance in your financial life and tip the scales back in your favor. Call or email me and schedule your free, confidential consultation. We can work together to make sure you end up ahead.

Cynthia Schmier

360-400-3475

cynthia@cynthia-online.com

Steer Clear of SCAMS!

During the toughest of times, there are always a few swindlers who emerge with shady schemes that serve to make a bad situation a lot worse. The current foreclosure crisis is certainly no exception.
Here are the Top Ten Warning Signs of a Mortgage Modification Scam:

1. “Pay us $1,000, and we’ll save your home.”
Some Legitimate housing counselors may charge small fees, but fees that amount to thousands of dollars are sign of potential fraud – especially if they are charged upfront.

2. “I guarantee I will save your home – trust me.”
Beware of guarantees. Unrealistic promises are a sign that the person making them has not considered your specific circumstances.

3. “Sign over your home, and we’ll let you stay in it.”
Be very suspicious if someone offers to pay your mortgage and rent your home back to you in exchange for transferring the title. Signing over the deed gives another person the power to evict you, raise your rent or sell the house.

4. “Stop paying your mortgage”
Do not trust anyone who tells you to stop making payments to your lender and servicer, even if that person says it will be done for you.

5. “If your lender calls, don’t talk to them.”
Your lender should be your first point of contact for negotiating a repayment plan, modification, or short sale.

6. “Your lender never had the legal authority to make a loan.”
Do not listen to anyone who claims that “secret laws” or “secret information” will be used to eliminate your debt and have your mortgage contract declared invalid.

7. “Sign this now; we’ll fill in the blanks later.”
Take the time to read and understand anything you sign. Never let anyone else fill out paperwork for you. Don’t let anyone pressure you into signing anything that you don’t agree with or understand.

8. “Call 1-800-Fed-Loan.”
Some companies trick borrowers into believing that they are affiliated with or are approved by the government or tell you that you must pay them high fees to qualify for government loan modification programs.

9. “File for bankruptcy and keep your home.”
Filing bankruptcy only temporarily stops foreclosure. If your mortgage payments are not made, the bankruptcy court will eventually allow your lender to foreclose on your home…

10. “Why haven’t you replied to our offer? Do you want to live on the streets?”
High-pressure tactics signal trouble.
Your best bet for making sure that scam artists don’t end up with your shirt as well as your house: Contact a Certified Distressed Property Expert. CDPE agents are tapped into scams as they emerge and committed to keeping clients connected to legitimate solutions.

Cynthia Schmier
RE/MAX Country
206 Yelm Ave W, Yelm, WA 98597
360-400-3475
ShortSalesYelm.com
Disclaimer: The above brokerage assumes no responsibility nor guarantees the accuracy of this information and is not engaged in the practice of law nor gives legal advice. It is strongly recommended that you seek appropriate professional counsel regarding your rights as a homeowner.

Are you living under the cloud of an UNMANAGEABLE MORTGAGE?

It’s a sign of the times!

Most of us grew up thinking that if we planned well and played by the rules, we’d never have to stand by as our financial lives unraveled. 

But upheaval on Wall Street, unacceptable rates of unemployment and plummeting real estate values have taken their toll.  Since 2007, 7.9 million homeowners have lost their homes to foreclosure. Current estimates are that one in four homeowners owe more on their mortgages than they could get from the sale of their home. Millions more homes will be lost to foreclosure before this real estate crisis runs its course.

The sad fact is that foreclosure is not an isolated event. For months leading up to the loss of a home, financially strapped homeowners live under a cloud of uncertainty.  And then for many years afterwards, the blow to credit gets in the way of buying another home or buying anything on credit. Foreclosure even complicates employment prospects.

The impact of foreclosure is huge and the sad fact is that it’s often avoidable.

As a real estate professional who has earned the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, my mission is to provide financially strapped homeowners with options to foreclosure, ensure that they steer clear of scams, and help navigate them through the solution that best meets their needs.

Among the most important facts to keep in mind: the sooner help is sought, the better the options.

These are tough times, but more help is available than ever before. If you or someone you care about is ready to navigate away from the dark cloud of an unmanageable mortgage and realize that hope and blue skies are within reach, contact me today and let’s get started.

Cynthia Schmier
(360) 400-3475
cynthia@cynthia-online.com

Freddie Mac! Helpful Announcement

Helpful information for Freddie Mac loan holders.




*http://youtu.be/CYDGuTQJ-yc

Save Money Using Your Home!

 Alex Charfen, the author of the Certified Distressed Property Expert Designation and founder of Charfen Institute—the nation’s premier provider of real estate education for the “new world” we find ourselves in.

Watch this link it is very informational!

http://youtu.be/fd7LHQV4y9A

Stand as a barrier to the upcoming foreclosure surge

The big news from last week is that the foreclosure freeze brought on by documentation deficiencies has started to thaw. What this means for homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgage payments: millions of foreclosures are looming. RealtyTrac estimates that more than 3.5 million homes that belong in foreclosure have been hanging in limbo.
The other significant news that has barely been reported is that while banks’ hands have been tied in moving forward with foreclosures for the past 10 months or so, they were shoring up their short sale infrastructures—creating huge cash incentives for financially strapped homeowners, focusing on efficient approvals, and developing systems for reaching out to CDPE agents to help borrowers navigate a short sale.
The combination of these forces is creating an environment that is more in need of a CDPE agent’s expertise than ever before. Homeowners who are headed toward foreclosure in your market are desperately in need of a financially intervention and no one is more qualified than a CDPE to fill the void.