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How to prevent a foreclosure:
• Buy a house you can afford.
• Avoid adjustable-rate mortgages.
• If you’re in one of these situations and find it difficult making your house payments, call your banker, and call now.
• Know this: The last thing your banker wants is the house back.
That advice and other nuggets of knowledge are available to homeowners who face financial trouble now or who may be facing it in the future.
The help is free and available locally, through Grand Valley Housing Initiatives (245-0388, ext. 224), thanks to a $1.5 million federal grant administered by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority.
Grand Valley Housing Initiatives offers budget credit counseling, mortgage counseling and foreclosure counseling, among other help.
Another resource is the Colorado foreclosure hotline, (877) 601-4673.
“We really encourage people to call the Colorado hotline,” which will connect with a counselor in the home county, said Rachel Basye, director of marketing and strategic development with CHFA.
To prevent being foreclosed, Basye recommends homeowners call their lender “the minute you have any sort of financial difficulty.”
“Lenders don’t want their house back,” said Scott Aker, the Western Slope CHFA division director. “They really want people to make their mortgage payments.”
If people have difficulty reaching their lender, keep trying, and don’t give up, Basye said. It’s worth the wait to talk to a certified, qualified counselor.
There’s a lot of information being tossed around, and not all of it’s coming from good sources; some comes from “predatory lenders,” she said.
“Four out of five callers to the hotline who meet with the counselors are able to come to a positive resolution,” Basye said.
Mesa County continues to be in the enviable position of having low per-capita foreclosure numbers, said Public Trustee Paul Brown. Brown’s office processes all foreclosed properties in Mesa County.
“We have a very strong economy, and we’re not seeing a decrease in home values,” Brown said. “We are seeing a leveling off, and sales have slowed down.”
Brown advised people to not buy more house than they can afford, and “be aware there is a ceiling on appreciation and value.”
“Don’t get into those adjustable rate mortgages, paying interest only,” he said.
People who have those mortgages often find their income doesn’t increase nearly at the rate that their mortgage increases. That’s when the trouble starts.
The foreclosure problem nationally is “a whole bunch of people’s fault,” Brown said.
It’s the buyers who are willing to spend a lot of money on homes.
It’s the appraisers who value a home higher than they should, Brown said.
It’s the lenders and finance companies and underwriters who approve the financing, he said.
“It’s a little bit of blame that goes out to everybody,” Brown said. “It’s coming back to bite us right now.”
Reach Marija B. Vader at mvader@gjfreepress.com.
• Buy a house you can afford.
• Avoid adjustable-rate mortgages.
• If you’re in one of these situations and find it difficult making your house payments, call your banker, and call now.
• Know this: The last thing your banker wants is the house back.
That advice and other nuggets of knowledge are available to homeowners who face financial trouble now or who may be facing it in the future.
The help is free and available locally, through Grand Valley Housing Initiatives (245-0388, ext. 224), thanks to a $1.5 million federal grant administered by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority.
Grand Valley Housing Initiatives offers budget credit counseling, mortgage counseling and foreclosure counseling, among other help.
Another resource is the Colorado foreclosure hotline, (877) 601-4673.
“We really encourage people to call the Colorado hotline,” which will connect with a counselor in the home county, said Rachel Basye, director of marketing and strategic development with CHFA.
To prevent being foreclosed, Basye recommends homeowners call their lender “the minute you have any sort of financial difficulty.”
“Lenders don’t want their house back,” said Scott Aker, the Western Slope CHFA division director. “They really want people to make their mortgage payments.”
If people have difficulty reaching their lender, keep trying, and don’t give up, Basye said. It’s worth the wait to talk to a certified, qualified counselor.
There’s a lot of information being tossed around, and not all of it’s coming from good sources; some comes from “predatory lenders,” she said.
“Four out of five callers to the hotline who meet with the counselors are able to come to a positive resolution,” Basye said.
Mesa County continues to be in the enviable position of having low per-capita foreclosure numbers, said Public Trustee Paul Brown. Brown’s office processes all foreclosed properties in Mesa County.
“We have a very strong economy, and we’re not seeing a decrease in home values,” Brown said. “We are seeing a leveling off, and sales have slowed down.”
Brown advised people to not buy more house than they can afford, and “be aware there is a ceiling on appreciation and value.”
“Don’t get into those adjustable rate mortgages, paying interest only,” he said.
People who have those mortgages often find their income doesn’t increase nearly at the rate that their mortgage increases. That’s when the trouble starts.
The foreclosure problem nationally is “a whole bunch of people’s fault,” Brown said.
It’s the buyers who are willing to spend a lot of money on homes.
It’s the appraisers who value a home higher than they should, Brown said.
It’s the lenders and finance companies and underwriters who approve the financing, he said.
“It’s a little bit of blame that goes out to everybody,” Brown said. “It’s coming back to bite us right now.”
Reach Marija B. Vader at mvader@gjfreepress.com.
