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Saturday, August 22, 2009

You Can Cut Your Investment Losses And Save Your Credit Rating

By Ann Gaston

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?

If you're in that 'I don't know what to do with this investment property' situation, you're definitely not alone, and you'll find plenty of other people to commiserate with, most of whom have lost a lot of money to an uncertain and very volatile market. You could also be one of the people for whom things have gone from bad to worse and you're finding that your investment property is costing you so much that you're getting behind on the payments and can't make them for much longer. If that's where you are, you have two choices: you can try to stick it out because the market is showing some slow signs of improvement or you can try to sell the property and get out from under it before it totally destroys your credit rating.

When it comes to your credit rating there might have already been damage done, but lessening that damage by stopping it from continuing will be helpful later on when you're looking to be approved for credit for something else, so it might be wise to take steps to protect the credit rating that you have left. Cutting your losses is the next best thing to completely avoiding any damages that would otherwise be taking place, and doing damage control by clearing out investment properties is becoming more common today with so many foreclosures out there. When you want to avoid foreclosure, though, you usually have to get rid of your properties quickly, and you can do that through a short sale, a deed in lieu of foreclosure or other methods if your bank agrees - so find out what you owe on these properties, what they're worth, and what your bank is willing to do to help you.

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.

If you're up front about things, a lender that's handling your investment properties will be more likely to work with you and try to help you renegotiate your way to a better rate, a longer term, or something that can help you continue your investment. If it becomes clear that you won't be able to keep the property, though, talk to your bank about the options you have. You really want to keep a foreclosure off of your credit if at all possible, so check out the possible options that you have and pick the one that's the least damaging to your credit rating. - 23167

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