A mortgage crisis hotline may be the best bet for this homeowner to avoid foreclosure or a short sale. An adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) and a student loan has put her in a financial crisis, and taking the right steps could help her keep her home. The new FHA secure plan may be a solution to avoid further financial crisis.
A real estate short sale may be the only option for this new real estate investor. Many new real estate investors did not anticipate the down turn in the market and now owe more on a property than it is worth and are being forced to negotiate a short sale. If the mortgage lender accepts the short sale, the real estate investor may still be required to pay out of pocket for other expenses.
When you've bought a home and you owe more that the home value it may become difficult to make mortgage payments. Instead of falling behind on your mortgage payments you may want to contact your mortgage lender to set up a short sale. Be aware that when you sell your home through a short sale the IRS will treat the difference between the sale amount and what you originally owed the lender "phantom income."
Selling your home may seem like the solution when you're underwater on your debt, but not every lender will do a short sale. A short sale will also result in the IRS considering the amount forgiven by the lender as phantom income -- meaning you could face a huge tax bill the following year for the difference in the short sale.
