Becoming a homeowner is everyone’s dream. Regardless of where you live or whether you’re single or part of a large family, owning a property is a dream shared by most. Although many people are able to buy a home, not every homeowner is lucky enough to be able to keep their home.

Financial difficulties often make it impossible to continue to make the bond payments, which often make the bank start the repossession process. This can be a very stressful and frightening experience for the homeowner and their family. Occassionally they have difficulty making their bond payments because of redundancy, health problems, death in the family, divorce or similar problems. Sometimes they are forced to sell, and selling property when under pressure can be difficult.

Too many homeowners suddenly give up and think they have no choice but to lose their home just because they are having financial difficulties. What they don’t realize is that they have options to help them prevent repossession.

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Property ownership is one of the greatest achievements a person can have. They often save for years to be able to buy or build their dream house. Their lifelong dreams of raising a family and growing old in their home can become a nightmare when unforeseen circumstances make it almost impossible to make the monthly payments required to keep their house.

Unforeseen circumstances such as redundancy, divorce or separation, and death are just a few of the many things that can change a person’s financial circumstances and cost them their property if they’re not careful. As terrible as many of these circumstances may be, they’re often not the fault of the real estate owner. Nonetheless, every year thousands of real estate owner’s in South Africa are victims of financial circumstances causing them to have their home repossessed. As well as this, it is not easy selling property in a depressed market.

Real estate owners who are at risk of losing their house should always contact the bank at the first sign of financial difficulty. Waiting too long often makes it too difficult to catch up on your own and makes the bank look negatively on you as a creditworthy customer. Banks, in spite of their reputation, are willing to help you and do not wish to repossess your home. No one wins when a bank repossesses a home.

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No-one wants their home to be repossessed. In fact, it’s probably one of the most feared things any homeowner could ever face. Not only is it frightening and stressful but it can negatively affect your financial situation for years to come.

Real estate owners can fall behind on their bond payments for many different reasons including redundancy, bereavement, divorce or separation or just over-extending themselves financially. When you begin to fall behind in your payments, the bank will contact you to find out what’s going on, why the payments aren’t made and to ask when you’ll be able to make your payment. And if you’re thinking that selling property is a quick and easy task, you may be unpleasantly surprised.

A lot of people make the mistake of avoiding the phone calls and letters they receive from the bank. They live in a sort of denial of their financial situation instead of speaking with their bank about the situation and trying to get it fixed. If banks are aware you are having financial problems they will try to assist you, but if nothing is said within a couple of months, they usually will begin the repossession process.

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The economy has been very shakey in the past couple of years and homeowners have felt this hit more than others. The South African property market has felt the tough times from home prices falling and many homeowners are afraid they’re going to lose their home by repossession.

Banks are always willing to work with the property owners to try to get them back on track with their monthly bond payments. Although banks may have the reputation for having deep pockets to take your money and being eager to take your home away from you, this image is not completely accurate. Banks do not stand to gain a lot when they repossess a property. They may have ownership of the property but they have to bid on it at public auction.

They are not concerned with how much the house is worth. They will only bid on what the borrower owes them – nothing more. So, they are not making a profit, especially with the way property values have dropped recently. Real estate owners definitely do not stand to gain anything from a house repossession. They maybe won’t have their monthly bond payments to make but they also do not have their home and they have a negative credit report that can haunt them for years. Also, selling property under a lot of pressure is not something to look forward to.

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