To capitulate means to give up, or to stop resisting. More and more I see people who are giving up on their homes, giving up on their options, and have stopped resisting the tide that leads to foreclosure. I hate to see this, especially when having your home foreclosed on, and sold at auction, is almost ALWAYS avoidable. Take my clients in Alhambra for example. I will call them Bill, and Mary.
I met Mary by knocking on her door – a habit I practice when looking for likely candidates in need of the assistance of a real estate professional like yours truly. Like many people, when she opened the door, she immediately dismissed me. There was something very different about Mary however.
Most people tell me (erroneously) that they have already taken care of their situation. Mary did not say that at all. In fact, what she did say seems to me to be becoming more common among distressed homeowners these days. She said that there was nothing that anyone could do to help her, that she had given up, and that she planned on just letting the house get foreclosed on. She motioned to the long deferred maintenance that the house so badly needed, as she said so.
This was distressing to me, especially considering that I knew that there was a way that the foreclosure could be avoided. Even more importantly, we practice a strategy that would allow her to walk away with some money in her hand. In this case it would be somewhere between $20,000 and $40,000.
We recently signed a contract with the family to do just that. But I loathe the thought that although we were able to help this family, there are thousands of others just like them that will end up doing just what Mary and Bill were planning on doing – just giving up.
I use this example to illustrate the stark difference in the alternatives that were available to this family. Scenario #1: The house gets foreclosed on. The family has to move very quickly, or get thrown out by the sheriff. They walk away with nothing. Scenario 2# We step in and stop the foreclosure, give them time to find a place to move to, and hand them a check as they leave.
Not everyone will have the same success that this family did. There are many ways these things can happen. But if you give up, you will not know what could available to you.
Moral of the story: Do not capitulate…and call me if you know someone who needs help!
