Don’t Listen If Your Realtor Tells You to Stop Paying Your Mortgage

When it comes to things like a Comparative Market Analysis of your home, preparing your home for sale, getting pre-listing inspections, reviewing municipal U&O requirements, staging and marketing of your home, clearing old liens off your title … and the list goes on, YES, you should trust and listen to your real estate agent. They have experience with these types of things and can lead you down a smooth path to settlement.

Regardless of how knowledgeable he or she may sound, however, there are times you should really question the advice of a real estate agent and seek competent legal counsel.

Question your real estate agent and seek counsel if:

1. Your agent advises you to not pay your mortgage to put you in a better position to get a loan modification.

The success rates of loan modifications and, in particular, the HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) are dismal. The HAMP has been through so many revisions in its short lifespan that it’s hard to ascertain where the program currently stands. Last year, numerous reports came out that the success rates of loan modifications were somewhere between 4.5 and 13 percent, depending upon the source and how the numbers were interpreted.

In its year-end report for 2010, JP Morgan disclosed that nearly 300,000 of its 1,038,000 applicants in their trial program were able to achieve a permanent loan modification. This was touted as a high success rate, but it is still less than 30 percent. (Source: e-wisdom.com)*

2. Your agent advises you to not pay your mortgage to put you in a better position to have a short sale approved.

Year to date in Montgomery County, there were just under 1,100 short sales on the market. Yet, less than 150 (~13.5 percent) of short sales have made it to settlement so far this year. The other short sales are either active; under contract, but waiting on bank approvals (which are few and far between); or expired or withdrawn. Unfortunately, most short sales end up in foreclosure.

The consequences of not paying your mortgage can be devastating. It impacts your credit and your ability to secure other housing, and banks are often quick to initiate foreclosures.

If you are in trouble with your mortgage, you need good advice on your options. A real estate agent can be a valuable resource for this, but if you are in serious financial trouble, you may want to consult with an attorney who specializes in this area. Defaulting on your mortgage can have serious repercussions and generally shouldn’t be done without first consulting competent professionals and having a solid plan in place

*(www.e-wisdom.com/news/loans/jpmorgan-sees-high-mortgage-loan-modification-success-rate-800349518/).

This article originally appeared in the Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch.

Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.

Don’t Listen If Your Realtor Tells You to Stop Paying Your Mortgage - Copyright © 2011, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.