stopping foreclosure, loan modification companies It has been a rough period for homeowners, especially those who are upside down in their homes, and there are federal programs that have been designed to help struggling homeowners with loans they either can't afford or are upside down in their homes. My mother's neighbor is a very active real estate agent and he reports that the number of foreclosed homes on the market seems to be dwindling, so maybe those programs aimed at stopping foreclosure are making an impact.

Our neighbors were looking at losing their home through a foreclosure action, but they worked with their lender and were successful stopping foreclosure. They had to fill out some forms and jump through a few hoops, but all along the way, their lender kept telling them that they did not want that house back and to be patient while their load modification application went through the rather lengthy process of approval. It was a struggle, but in the end, the got their loan modification directly through the lender rather than using loan modification companies, although they were prepared for that route in case the lender bailed.

I am so glad they were successful stopping foreclosure. The foreclosed homes bring down the value of other homes in the market and we want to sell our home next year and move to a smaller town in Arizona. We are lucky because we bought our house before the big run up in real estate prices that started this crisis, and we live in an older neighborhood, too, which helps. While we saw our home's value double during the big run up in prices, we stayed put, and are glad we did. Had we moved to a larger home, we'd be in the same position as many other homeowners who either need loan modifications or are stopping foreclosure by negotiating with their lenders or loan modification companies.

Living in a stable neighborhood is important to us for many reasons. First, we want to be able to eek out some equity in the house to use as a down payment for the next one when we move, and an occupied home is a kept  up home. In Phoenix, one of the hardest hit real estate markets in the US, people who weren't successful at stopping foreclosure left behind full swimming pools that are a real health hazard in the summer because of the bugs. And foreclosed homes' landscaping is ill kept, which drives down the value of homes surrounding it. So far, we've been lucky in this neighborhood and I applaud all our neighbors who may have been faced with high house payments but who have managed to dig themselves out using the federal programs or jumped into part time jobs to stay put to wait out this crisis.