You might have heard the buzz that you can stop property repossession and keep living in your home simply by selling your house and renting it back! Perhaps you are wondering if this amazing opportunity also applies to you; after all, the odds are good that the bills are piling up, the equity on the property is nearly exhausted, and the roof needs fixing. You might be worried that your home is not in the tip top shape the other houses are in. In the same vein, perhaps you are concerned that you will not find a landlord who will be willing to take a risk on your and permit you to rent from them.
Conversely, those landlords who might be the most willing are usually also located in areas where you feel you are taking your life into your hands each and every time you walk to the corner drugstore, and you do not think that moving your kids into those neighborhoods is a good idea. Face it, with your back to the wall and no viable solution to be found anywhere, you might feel that to sell and rent back is simply not something that you qualify for.
This could not be further from the truth! While your car may be repossessed when you fall sufficiently behind in your payments and there is precious little you can do about it, there are different rules that apply to your real estate. Legally, your car is not considered a necessity, but your home is considered shelter and thus the creditors will need to tread lightly and legally to repossess it, and cannot do the fly by night job many car repo agents perform.
If you are ready to say “I want to sell my house and rent it back,” educating yourself on the process is simple. Consider that your house – to the bank – is little more than collateral. You have taken out a rather sizeable loan and the house is the security that ensures that the bank will not take a total loss on your home. Repossessing your home is not an attractive choice, since the collateral is rarely sold at its value, and thus the bank does not stand to receive the full outstanding value. Thus, when you find a willing investor who is willing to buy your home and pay off the mortgage, the odds are good that you might be able to stop property repossession at least temporarily as you are working the deal.
Now that you are working to sell your house and rent it back, interview the investor who is going to pay off the mortgage and discuss the terms to rent back the property. Find out your lease options and then honestly ascertain if you want to remain in your home for a short period of time or prefer a longer period. Since you are selling your home, there will be no adverse notation on your credit record (as there would be in the case of a repossession or bankruptcy), and thus you will not have to fear any problems with finding another mortgage in perhaps a market where living and real estate are considerably less expensive.