Home foreclosures

foreclosure means losing the roof over your head. It must be your prime concern. Home means many things, but one feeling we all have about our homes, humble or grand, is the notion of the cave; used to scuttle back to, to re-group, to make our plans, the place we want to be when sad or frightened. Losing all this, at a time when you most need it, could be crushing. There's help out there for you, but you must drive the campaign to save your home from foreclosure.

There are steps you can take to halt the process even while you hold the foreclosure letter in your hand because the outcome is not inevitable. You are urged to carefully consider the consequences if you lose motivation and resign yourself to think "I cannot save my home from foreclosure".

Losing your home, brings an abundance of additional expense that you may not have yet considered. If you are lucky enough to find a rental agency that will accept you, you now have to fund removal costs, find a large deposit and pay some months in advance. There are good reasons why I mention 'if you are lucky enough'. Your reference will show your involvement in the home foreclosure process, and that you are, therefore, probably not a good rent risk! In addition, finding a rental property that will accept children, let alone the slobbering, muddy family Labrador, is often very difficult and will incur additional deposits.

Never underestimate the impact home foreclosure has on family life. It's not a joyfully planned, eagerly awaited relocation that your family has dreamed of for years. This is a wrenching away from everything familiar, and will definitely involve some downsizing. You cannot fit the contents of a 4 bedroom house into a 2 bedroom apartment. The Labrador will probably have to go too. Finding yourself part of a new and unfamiliar community, when you may already be feeling vulnerable, increases painful isolation. Your children may have to change schools, if you have to accept housing some distance away. Children can be very resilient, but don't think for one minute that they won't know the real reason why they are moving. The stress and anxiety is bound to cause many reasons for arguments and family discord. Many families do not survive the home foreclosure process intact. Feelings of guilt, helplessness, resentment, shame and anger may never completely disappear.

If you find yourself asking 'Why am I trying to save my home from foreclosure? It would be easier to just let it go.' Think of the impact on your family, your finances and importantly your health. The stress of fighting your corner cannot be worse than the impact, on both your physical and mental health, of losing everything you have worked for. To save your home from foreclosure, is a hard task.