Behind on payments
Selling is one of several options, and it isn't always the right one. Here's the honest version of how this works in North Carolina — including the free help you should use before you talk to any buyer, us included.
Most people we talk to got here through a job loss, a medical event, a divorce, or a death — not through carelessness. The shame is the worst part, and it's also the part that causes the real damage, because it makes people stop opening the mail.
Open the mail. Whatever is in there, knowing is better.
Most North Carolina foreclosures are power-of-sale foreclosures, which run through a hearing in front of the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the property sits. You get notice of that hearing and you have the right to show up. There are deadlines, notice requirements, and an upset-bid period after any sale.
We're describing this in general terms because your timeline depends on your lender, your loan, and where you are in the process. Do not take our word for your dates. Get them from your servicer in writing, from the Clerk's office, from a counselor, or from an attorney.
It's usually the right fit in one specific situation: there's real equity in the house, the clock is short, and the house needs work you can't fund. Listing requires time and often money. If you have neither, a cash sale converts equity you're about to lose into money in your pocket, and it ends the process on a closing date instead of a courthouse step.
If you have no equity, be skeptical of anyone — including us — who tells you a fast sale is your answer.
Send the address and we'll give you a number. Compare it to your payoff. That one calculation tells you a lot.
Generally, as long as the foreclosure sale hasn't happened and title is still yours, selling is on the table. Timelines get tight near the end, so call sooner rather than later — and confirm your actual dates with your servicer or the Clerk's office rather than relying on anything you read online, ours included.
Missed payments already affect it. A completed foreclosure generally affects it more and for longer than a sale does. We're not credit counselors — a HUD-approved counselor can give you a straighter answer than we can.
Sometimes we can build in time for you to move. Ask. What we won't do is any arrangement where you sign over the deed and stay on as a renter with a promise to buy it back.
Possibly not, and we'd rather tell you that on the first call than waste three weeks of a timeline you don't have. Tell us the payoff early.
Foreclosure filings are public record, so that part isn't in anyone's control. A sale to us involves no listing, no sign, and no showings.
Other situations
No obligation. If listing would net you more, we'll tell you that instead.