Like so many people, you’re struggling to pay your bills. You’re realizing the mountain of bills is huge, and your income is much smaller. You’re having a terrible time keeping up with the mortgage payments; your bank has foreclosed. What will you do?
Knowing so many other people in society are also struggling, with the bank foreclosing on their mortgage, can lead you to believe that since so many people will be in your shoes it isn’t a big deal if you end up losing your home to the bank in mortgage foreclosure. Why worry about it? Why not just walk away and start over again? A fresh start is always good, right? Is a home foreclosure that big of a deal these days?
It’s All About Your Credit
If you walk away from your home, and let the bank foreclose, you have no mortgage, true. No more home repairs, no more mortgage insurance or property tax…no more house. You’ll have to find a new place to live. Moving isn’t cheap, and finding a new home can be hard and tiresome. What new place can compare with the old place you loved for so many years? It’s hard to say. Along with kissing your old house goodbye, you can kiss your credit goodbye, too. It will be gone history.
In our world, so much of our lives is ruled by credit. People are constantly looking up our credit report before they grant us a new credit card, or cell phone, or car loan, etc. When creditors look to see if you’re a good credit risk, they will see a foreclosure listed on your credit report. They’ll see that among so many other things both good and bad you walked away from your obligation to pay your mortgage. They’ll think twice before giving you a loan of any kind, whether for a new car, or a new credit card, a new cell phone contract, or anything. They’ll consider you a high risk. Your credit will be affected for years several years. It will be hard to get a new loan, whether for a house or something else.
So does it matter if you walk away from your home when the bank forecloses on your mortgage? Yeah, I’d say it does. Thinking of another option refinance, borrowing from someone, personal loan, inheriting would probably be better than the stain of foreclosure on your record.