If you’ve found yourself in a tough situation and are consistently falling behind on your mortgage payments, you may be looking for a solution and asking yourself, “Can I sell my home if it is in foreclosure?”

In most cases, the answer is YES!

Learn how to stop your home from entering foreclosure (and avoid the consequences of a foreclosure on your record) by selling it quickly and paying your mortgage lender everything you owe, including penalties and back payments.

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Understanding foreclosures in Oregon

What does it mean when a house is in foreclosure?

Foreclosure is what happens when a homeowner fails to pay their mortgage payments, and effectively forfeits all rights to their property.

In most cases, once the home has gone through the foreclosure process the mortgage lender will immediately evict the current homeowners. They’ll then sell the home through a local real estate agent or liquidation auction.

How long does it take to foreclose a home in Portland?

The most common type of foreclosure throughout Oregon is a non-judicial foreclosure. This method of foreclosure doesn’t require court action, but does involve stringent notice requirements.

The foreclosure notice period takes approximately 180 days. However, depending on the negotiations between the homeowner and the lender, this process can be shorter or drag on for up to a year.

Can you reclaim a property after foreclosure?

Here in Oregon, there is a post-sale statutory right of redemption in place allowing the former owners of a foreclosed property to repurchase the home up to 180 days after the foreclosure sale.

This is not as easy at is sounds, though. Payment for the home must be made more than 30 days (not less than 2 days) in advance of the redemption and must include the full sum of the unpaid loan plus costs like interest and fees.

The long-lasting consequences of a foreclosure

A foreclosure is more than just a stressful and somber process. It also has devastating long-term consequences for you and your family.

Eviction from your home

Being forced from your home is an emotionally challenging experience. You’ll be dealing with the uncertainty of not knowing when exactly you’ll have to leave, where you’ll go once you do, and the reality of losing any equity you’ve built in the home.

Being forced from your home due to foreclosure also means you lose any relocation assistance or leasing opportunities often available in other circumstances.

Damage to your credit score

You can expect to lose anywhere from 85-160 points on your credit score as soon as the foreclosure first hits your report. If you had pretty good credit before the foreclosure, this drop may be much more drastic than if your score was already low. A foreclosure will stay on your credit report for 7 years.

Inability to get a mortgage in the future

You’ll be unable to qualify for a new mortgage for at least 2 years after a foreclosure. However, this can be much longer, with some lenders refusing to work with you for up to 7 years!

Once you do finally qualify for a mortgage, expect to pay more than other buyers in interest and fees. You’ll also likely be required to put a higher percentage towards your down payment.

What to do when facing foreclosure

If you’re facing a foreclosure, the worst thing you can do is fall attempt to hide from your lender, or hope the issue will get resolved naturally.

So what can you do? Is there any way to be faced with a foreclosure and come out on top?

If you’re unable to come to a payment plan agreement with your lender, you could also try…

• Restructuring the loan
• Requesting forbearance
• Finding more money in your budget (liquidate or sell items, ask family members for a loan, drastically change your monthly spending habits)

If none of these are an option, you’re not quite out of luck yet – you can also choose to sell your home, netting enough to pay off everything you owe your mortgage lender, including penalties and fees, as quickly as possible.

In this scenario, you won’t own the home anymore, but you also won’t have a foreclosure on your record. It’s a great way to start over with a clean slate and still have the opportunity to get back on your feet again.

How to sell your home after a foreclosure has begun

If you’re considering selling your home as a solution to foreclosure, get started on the process immediately. You can only sell your home during the pre-foreclosure period – that is, until your home has been sold at auction or the bank takes possession. After that, you’ve lost your rights to the property.

When time is of the essence, the best way to sell your home is to work with a trusted real estate investment company to sell your home for cash.

There are many reasons to sell your home for cash, but when facing foreclosure, the fact that the entire process can be completed in as little as 2-3 days with no real estate agent fees or commissions is a huge benefit.

Plus, depending on the company you work with, you may even be able to work out an agreement to stay in the home until you can find alternative living arrangements.

Why sell your house for cash?
Read the 10 Top Reasons

What to expect when selling a foreclosure home for cash

Selling your foreclosure home is a simple and effective process. At Columbia Redevelopment, we take a 4-step approach to buying your home.

• Step 1: After you’ve contacted us, we’ll listen to your situation and talk to you to learn more about your property. We’ll also carefully explain the rest of our process and answer all of your questions.
• Step 2: After scheduling a time that works for you, we’ll come to visit your property, tour your home, and assess its potential.
• Step 3: Within 24 hours of our visit, you’ll receive our all-cash offer for your foreclosure home. If you accept, we’ll draft all necessary sales documents. After paperwork is completed, we’ll deposit the contract and $10,000 earnest money into your account.
• Step 4: The last thing left to do is choose your closing date. This can be as soon as 2-3 days, if you’d like. On your closing date, we’ll transfer the sales proceeds to your account.

That’s it! You’ll have sold your home for the best price without the need to do repairs, go through inspections, and without any commission fees. Plus, you’ll be able to pay off your debt with the lender and avoid foreclosure on your record.

Columbia Redevelopment is here to help

Since 2008, Laura and Greg have been buying homes in all of Portland’s amazing neighborhoods. Over the years, we’ve worked with hundreds of sellers who are facing foreclosure and need a solution.

We understand how difficult dealing with a foreclosure situation can be, and we’re here to help make this stressful time more manageable. Many of our foreclosure clients especially appreciate our $10,000 earnest money deposit, which helps them begin taking care of back payments and interest or make arrangements for their move.

We’ll always work to fit your needs and schedule, and make the process fast, professional, and hassle-free. Plus, we work hard to improve every home we buy and strive to improve the neighboring community as well, so you’ll rest easy knowing your home is going to good hands.

If you’re facing foreclosure and want to consider a cash offer, give us a call at (503) 406-9874. We’d love to meet with you.