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Financial stress doesn’t knock; it kicks the door down.
Whether it’s a shift in the Bismarck job market, a medical curveball, or inflation finally outrunning your paycheck, the feeling is the same: Suffocation. As a Realtor who has closed over 130 transactions and served as the 2023 Realtor of the Year, I’ve seen this movie before. Let’s be real, I lived it. I had a few month period between jobs with 2 mortgages and life was STRESSFUL! Here is the most important thing I can tell you: The “Do Nothing” Tax is the most expensive one you will ever pay.
Missing a payment isn’t a moral failure, but staying silent is a strategic one. You have more leverage than you think—if you act while you still have time.
1. The First Move: Break the Silence
The biggest mistake homeowners make is “ghosting” their lender. Your mortgage servicer isn’t your enemy; they are a business that hates owning real estate. Foreclosure is expensive for them. They’d much rather keep you paying. Their job is to help you. You’ll be surprised by what they can do.
Call them today and ask these three high-leverage questions:
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“What specific loss mitigation or hardship programs do I qualify for?”
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“Will this specific option report as ‘paid as agreed’ on my credit?”
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“Is this a temporary band-aid or a permanent loan restructure?”
2. Your Playbook: Options to Stay in the Home
Depending on your situation, we can usually look at four primary “save the house” strategies:
A. Forbearance (The Pause Button)
This pauses or reduces payments for 1–12 months. Warning: This isn’t “free money.” You’ll have to pay it back later, but it buys you the breathing room to get your income back on track.
B. Deferment (The Push Back)
This is the “Gold Standard.” You miss payments now, and the lender moves them to the very end of your loan. You don’t pay interest on the deferred amount, and you pay it off when you sell the home or finish the mortgage.
C. Loan Modification (The Restructure)
This is where we get the lender to change the terms. We can often:
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Lower the interest rate.
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Extend the term (e.g., from 30 years back to 30 years to lower the payment).
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Roll the past-due balance into the principal.
D. Reinstatement
If you just won a settlement or got a bonus, you pay the full back-amount plus fees to bring the loan current immediately. Simple, but rarely an option for those in a true crisis.
3. When the Best Move is a Strategic Exit
Sometimes, “winning” means protecting your equity and your future ability to buy a home. If the hardship isn’t going away, we look at these exits:
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Selling the Home: In our current Bismarck-Mandan market, many homeowners have more equity than they realize. Selling allows you to pay off the debt, save your credit, and potentially walk away with a check.
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Short Sale: If you owe more than the home is worth ($250k mortgage on a $220k home), I can negotiate with the bank to let you sell it for the current value and wipe the rest of the debt.
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Deed-in-Lieu: You essentially hand the keys to the bank in exchange for them not filing a formal foreclosure. It’s a “cleaner” break for your credit.
Bill’s Pro-Tip: Lenders generally cannot start the foreclosure process until you are 120 days delinquent. That is your window of opportunity. Use every second of it.
4. Avoiding the Vultures: Relief Scams
When you’re stressed, you’re a target. If anyone—and I mean anyone—promises a “guaranteed” result or asks for an upfront fee to “negotiate” your mortgage, hang up. Legitimate help (like HUD counselors or your local Realtor) will never ask for cash under the table to “fix” your loan. This is one of the ways I was trained to find ‘stressed properties’ by scanning the pre-foreclosure list. Lots of newbie investors and just bad people prey on this list. They don’t have the means, money or know-how to help you. They just want to get a contract on your home they can sell for profit. Some will offer to pay you cash for about 60% or less of what the house is worth. DON’T DO IT UNTIL YOU TALK TO YOUR LOCAL TRUSTED AGENT!!
Why Trust This Advice?
I don’t just sell houses; I manage them through Legacy Property Solutions and lead our local Bismarck Mandan Board of Realtors. My goal isn’t to get a listing; it’s to ensure my neighbors in North Dakota don’t lose their financial shirts because they didn’t know their options.
Your Next Step
If you’re staring at a “Past Due” notice and your stomach is in knots, let’s have a confidential, no-pressure conversation. I can help you run the numbers to see if you have enough equity to sell and start fresh, or if a modification is your best bet.
Would you like me to run a quick Equity Analysis on your home so you know exactly how much “cushion” you have to work with?
This is a free analysis of the value of your home, what it costs to sell, and what cash you would have left. It helps you and the lender figure out what is the best for your scenario. If you want this free analysis, click: FREE EQUITY ANALYSIS PLEASE.
Thanks for reading,
Bill
