If you're pouring all of your disposable income (the amount of income left to an individual after taxes have been paid, available for spending and saving) into your mortgage secured by a home that's 'deeply underwater' and not saving for the future,
you are more than likely digging yourself into a financial hole out of which you will never fully emerge.
Regardless of your precise circumstances and particularly since these are circumstances that are beyond your control, your home isn't only a bad investment, it's more than likely threatening your family's future - whether you can afford the payments or not.
Optimistic overconfidence may have led you, like so many others, to stick it out in the misplaced belief that the market would quickly rebound. Though, you would think that the housing collapse would have taught us all a lesson of being optimistic and overconfident.
Of course, as many homeowners have, you can stick it out, which, depending on your circumstances, may be the best financial choice that you can make - even if you're deeply underwater. However, no matter what your circumstances are, if you're deeply underwater and paying your mortgage
it's the equivalent of throwing money away.
Our website is designed to educate more than sell you on our services. While we obviously want your business our number one goal is to educate you. I'm not advocating any particular course of action; I am simply going to review the facts, so that you can make the best decision for yourself.
- Florida Foreclosures during 2010 were the 3rd worst in the country.
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According to the real estate analysis firm CoreLogic, 45.5 percent of mortgages in Florida are higher than what the home is worth
and the bad news is that price declines are accelerating.
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Since negative equity 'underwater
' is the number one predictor of foreclosures, more foreclosures in 2011 will lead to even more foreclosures, thus leading to a more negative impact (decline) on housing prices.
- Florida's housing market continues to erode as the banks and lenders are now poised to take back more homes in 2011 than in any other year since the housing meltdown.
- Unemployment in Florida is 12%, the fourth worst in the country. Meaning that approximately 1.1 million residents are out of work.
- There are still millions of families living in homes that have not made a mortgage payment in over a year.
- Florida was among five states that had the largest real estate booms from 2000 to 2006. With residential prices in some areas rising by much more than double during that period.
- New home and condominium construction soared and many of those residences have never been occupied and are still part of the historically high inventory of homes for sale.
- Lending Processing Services a leading provider in data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries reports Florida is number one with the highest percentage of non-current loans.
- The weak demand for housing is significantly increasing by a significant and growing shadow inventory that is likely to persist for years to come.
And the worst may be yet to come. News reports are citing studies that show real estate short sales are set to increase in 2011 as banks attempt to dispose of defaulting loans without foreclosing.
Many economists continue to argue that the housing market will take four to five years to recover. Even if that's proven to be true in most of the country, one thing is certain, it's highly unlikely in Florida. The all-time highs will never be reached again,
leaving Florida's homeowners 'grossly' underwater with nowhere to turn.
The only people selling are those that have to, the only people buying are those looking to steal something, Florida home prices continue a downward spiral being nowhere close to the bottom,
We haven't fixed the foreclosure crisis and shadow inventory continues to rise.
We continue to hear the rhetoric that it's a buyers' market, and that it's a good time for buyers to purchase short sales. This rhetoric hasn't changed since April 2009 and yet foreclosures and the housing inventory continues to increase as home prices decline.
Recently I've seen '2011' dubbed as - The Year of the Short Sale. People act as if this is good news to Florida's homeowners; it's not,
distressed sales (short sales) pressure prices even lower
and negative equity becomes more severe
. It's only good news
for those that stand to profit;
not Florida's homeowners who are and will remain deeply underwater.
Because of the volume of foreclosures in the state of Florida, many people have become self-proclaimed experts
and will try to steer you towards something from which they will benefit. Everyone knows someone that has either experienced a foreclosure first hand or wants to tell you about their "friend's" experience. Even those with the best intentions do not always give you the whole truth,
and those that have something to gain from your situation will often mislead you for their own gain.
Don't misunderstand me; avoiding foreclosure through a short sale can have significant benefits for a person's future financial stability. A successful short sale can reduce the damage to one's financial future, but it's important to work with a
competent debt relief and foreclosure defense attorney to insure that a short sale is in
your best interest and not someone else's. More importantly, you must be sure that you are
legally released from any future liability or deficiency.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when facing a financial crisis
is waiting too long to take action. While it is never a good idea to rush into anything, it is never too early to educate yourself and start exploring your options.
I have met with countless people that have made the mistake of trying to hold on for just a few more months, even a year, hoping that things will change. While their determination is admirable it almost always makes a bad situation much worse.
Even if you know that you don't want to keep your house, or you believe that the lender is going to work with you to modify your loan, there are many, many situations and consequences that you haven't considered.
While every person's situation is unique, it is universal that no harm can come from educating yourself, and nothing good can come from waiting.
More important than the will to win is the will to prepare - Charlie Munger
One of the biggest mistakes we see is the client that cashed in his/her retirement account in order to prolong the current situation, only to realize months later that the current situation is not going to change without being proactive and seeking
competent legal advice. While we can still help people that fall into this category, we could have shown them how to get to the same place without draining their retirement accounts.
Your debt problems will not go away on their own and even the best intentions can lead to devastating consequences down the road. You owe it to yourself to seek out as much information about your options as possible. Speak with an experienced
debt reliefand
foreclosure defense attorney.
The Carman Law Firm, P.A. focuses in the area of
bankruptcy, foreclosure defense, and debt relief.
And although we focus on the area of bankruptcy, we believe that bankruptcy should only be entered into when there is no other alternative. Our experience in the field of
debt relief
typically allows us to negotiate a resolution and settlement with your creditors and avoid bankruptcy.
Now is the time to insulate yourself from the disaster of negative equity, you must act quickly to preserve your financial future.
It's time to start accepting that deflated assets will not miraculously re-inflate themselves.
The sooner you accept it, the faster you will act, and move beyond the crisis so that you can start living life again.
Consulting with an experienced attorney is the first step to begin restoring the financial security of you and your family in the New Year.
What most people still don't get is that this remains a complex and difficult situation to be in, and having experienced legal representation is exactly what you need.
Whether you're in foreclosure or not, there isn't going to be a rapid change in Florida's housing market. I'm really not trying to scare people, but everyone needs to understand that Florida no longer has a housing market, and that's a real serious problem.
If you are one of the many individuals and families deeply underwater or struggling to make mortgage payments, STOP TRUSTING YOUR BANK, and instead
consider hiring an experienced debt relief and foreclosure defense attorney.
The Carman Law Firm can protect your rights, and get you the help you need. We will represent your best interest and handle all of the negotiations with your bank.
When you work with us, you will be working with a team who believes in bringing you all the information and skills we can. We consider it our duty to help you analyze your situation, and we will provide you with every detail to ensure you make the most informed decision. We can also assist you with settling your credit card debt for pennies on the dollar and provide active
credit repair,
helping your credit score rise as quickly as possible after a short sale or strategic default.
The Carman Law Firm can assist those in need of
debt and mortgage relief. With many options available and trusted answers to questions that someone might have about
bankruptcy,
credit card debt,
short sales,
loan modification,
foreclosure and
strategic default.
Begin protecting your family today; Call the Carman Law Firm
at (561) 392-7031 or toll-free at 1-800-763-0775or email us at
info@carmanlegal.com, get answers you need and schedule an informative and free comprehensive consultation on how the Carman Law Firm can help you.