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Monday, September 7, 2009

You Can Cut Your Investment Losses And Save Your Credit Rating

By Justin Flint

When it comes to investment properties, they have to be treated much like any other property that you have purchased, including the home that you're living in. In other words, if they go into foreclosure it's going to go on your credit, just like any other property would. With that in mind, you have to keep your investment properties up to date or liquidate them so that you don't damage your credit, and in this market it can be very hard to determine whether you can get a property rented or sold before you get behind on your payments, making the investment property issue a balancing act.

Investment properties were very popular back when the housing market was booming, and everyone was buying and selling them. Flipping them and reselling them was popular, and so was renting them out for the income. There were waiting lists and houses that went to the highest bidder because people were so eager for them.

It's become almost impossible to give some properties away now, though, and no one seems to want them. Some cities, like Detroit, have homes that can be bought for only a few hundred dollars, not the thousands or tens of thousands that they would normally go for. If a person was lucky enough to pick up and dispose of a lot of homes when the credit market was hot and everyone was buying he probably did very well, but what happened to those people and those properties when the market bubble popped and things weren't selling anymore?

When people find themselves in those kinds of situations they might feel as though they are all alone, but they definitely are not, since there are many people who tried to make a lot of money in the market only to have it crash down around them. A lot of them were left stuck with investment properties that they didn't know what to do with, since they couldn't seem to get them sold and they couldn't get them rented either - and this started to put them behind on the mortgage payments that they had to make. There are very few choices open to these people, and they are mostly limited to trying to get out from under the property before it destroys their credit or trying to hang on until the market improves - which might not be feasible for people in dire financial straits.

As for your credit rating, it's possible that there will be some damage done already, but stopping that as quickly as possible would be the thing that you would want to focus on, since the sooner you get away from late payments and other problems and the shorter amount of time that they show up on your credit report the better off you'll be. If you aren't able to complete avoid the damage to your credit, lessening it is the next best step and to do that you'll have to work with the bank or lender that you're paying for the investment properties. Find out what you owe on the property, what it's worth through an honest appraisal, and what the bank will help you with to get out from under it, since you might be able to do a short sale or a deed in lieu of foreclosure instead of having an actual foreclosure and letting your credit take such a hit.

Talking with your bank or lender and being honest about your financial difficulties is one of the best and smartest things that you could ever do when it comes to an investment property that otherwise might be facing foreclosure. Ideally, you should talk to your lender before you really get behind, but a lot of people wait much longer than that because they think that things will turn around and they're embarrassed to admit that they're having a problem. Don't let embarrassment or discomfort ruin your financial future and your good credit rating - talk to your lender right away as soon as you see that there might be a problem.

When you're up front about things that are taking place financially a lender will generally be more likely to try to work with you and help you renegotiate a better interest rate, a longer term to pay back the loan, or something that will be able to help you continue to keep your property for investment. If it's obvious that there isn't any way for you to keep your property, you'll want to talk to your lender about the other options that you might have. Keeping a foreclosure off of your credit record is really important, so find out what all of your options are and choose the one that will be best for you financially and that will have the lowest chance of doing severe damage to your credit rating. - 23311

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