Look Who’s Walking Away…

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times states that there is an increasing group of homeowners with top credit scores that are more likely to walk away from an underwater mortgage.

24 million individual credit files were examined for a recent study by the national credit bureau Experian and Oliver Wyman. They have found that homeowners with high credit scores when applying for a loan are 50% more likely to "strategically default" compared with lower-scoring borrowers.

Following you will find a summary of the researchers surprising facts:

* The typical strategic defaulter goes from never missing a monthly mortgage payment to completely stopping.

* Strategic defaults are mainly found in negative-equity markets where home values have drastically dropped since the real estate boom in 2006.

* The nationwide estimate of strategic defaults for 2008 is 588,000, making this more than double the total in 2007.

* A homeowner with a large mortgage balance is more likely to default than a homeowner with a lower balance.

Please contact Eddie Perez Broker-REALTOR, CDPE, if you are you are considering walking away from your home. As a Broker-REALTOR, and CDPE, Eddie can give you all of the options available to prevent the tragedy of losing your home. Eddie’s market includes Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken and Union City. He can be reached at eddie@InvestHoboken.com or 201-344-2886.