“Should I stay, or should I go now?”
The decision to stay with an over mortgaged home or go on to greener pastures is complicated to say the least. The complications include financial factors such as possible deficiency judgments, bankruptcy and credit rating scores, as well as more personal factors such as family, neighbors, friends, and schools. Complications, however, do not need to include confusion as to the dollars and cents propriety of staying with the house in hopes of a market rebound.
Some under-water property owners are choosing to stay in their homes because they believe that the market will rebound, or that the market will somehow refund the losses that they have taken.
The money question is: How long are you willing to stay with your home and in hopes the value will recover? Or, will I ever make back my ongoing outlay on my mortgage? For some, making payments on an expensive mortgage is just throwing good money after bad. As an alternative, should you consider a short sale, loan modification, or foreclosure? How can you know?
Now there is a fee tool that can help bring cold-hard facts into this emotional decision.
MyShortSaleCalculator.com is a free tool that, with a little input, can reduce a confusing matrix of facts into one simple number: the number of months until a property’s worth again equals the mortgage owing. The calculator has built in assumptions about historical market appreciation, and current market rates. The calculator also allows the user to input their own assumptions about where they believe the market may be headed. Current market interest rates are also compared with the existing rate of the mortgage to help come up with an accurate forecast. The calculator is free to use, and does not collect any personal information, or require registration or login.
Should I stay or should I go? For an increasing number of borrowers, the numbers say … GO!
About the Author:
Michael T. Moss is the Managing Member of a short sale law firm that specializes in loss mitigation for distressed property-owners. Mr. Moss is a graduate of Brigham Young University Law School, who has 25 years of professional experience representing homeowners as an advocate, and title insurance provider.