Home repossession is an extremely traumatic experience not to mention the effects it can have on your future personal financial circumstances.

There are many reasons why people fall behind with their mortgage payments such as redundancy, divorce or separation, bereavement & ill health. In most cases of repossession the home owners have simply done nothing at all to try & get themselves out of the trouble they find themselves in & have just ignored all letters & calls from their lenders, typically just hoped the problem would somehow “just go away”.

The first step you must take to stop repossession is to talk to your lender as early as possible when you get into difficulty. Explain your financial situation to them and see if there is any way they can guide you. The solution may be as simple as giving you a “payment holiday” where they will suspend your payments for a set period whilst you sort out the underlying reasons for your inability to meet your mortgage payments. This will of course depend upon your exact circumstances but one thing is for sure, unless you speak to your lender they cannot help you. Ignoring your lenders letters & calls is a sure way to set them on the course to apply for the repossession of your home.

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Many people today are at risk of losing their home to repossession. Repossession happens when real estate owners can no longer afford to make their monthly bond payments, forcing the bank to foreclose and take the home. Before they can own the home, it has to go to the Sheriff and be sold to the highest bidder at a Sheriff’s auction.

Real estate owners may have trouble keeping up with their payments for many different reasons including sickness, death, loss of job, etc. If you’ve ever had difficulty making your bond/mortgage payment, you know the importance of keeping in contact with your bank and keeping them informed of what’s going on and how you plan to catch up on your payments. Banks won’t help you unless you contact them and let them know you require their assistance in order to stop repossession of your house.

Unfortunately, many people wait too long to see their banker either because they’re ashamed and embarrassed or because they feel the bank will not assist them. They give up and accept the fact that their home is being repossessed and there’s nothing they can do about it. This is a huge mistake as you can save your house almost right up to the last minute. An alternative that many property owners use is a repossession company in order to avoid repossession. This can be a much better route than selling property in a hurry.

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When the bank or other financial institution threatens to take repossession of your house it can be a very tense and disturbing period in your life. One of the nastiest things that could happen to us is to be told that the roof over our heads is going to be taken away and there’s nothing we can do about it. This can be rather unnerving and cause a lot of stress in your daily life. But all is not lost and if you act in time you can sell your house to a company that deals in buying and selling property even before the repossession proceedings begin.

Actually there are things that you can do to avert repossession from happening in the first place. Plenty of real estate owners are not aware of this and simply allow the banks to claim their home without taking steps to prevent repossession. At this point one could get in touch with a company that deals with purchasing and selling real estate. But even before you reach this stage, you should first contact the bank. If you know you are having a financial problem as a result of which you are likely to miss a payment in the coming month or two, you must inform the bank immediately.

Banks are normally pretty understanding and will do all they can to help you out. They normally end up losing money when they take repossession of your house so they will do their best to prevent this kind of situation.
Appeal to the bank for a grace period which is normally three or six months which the bank gives you within which you have to make no payment at all. This is a chance given to the home owner to sort out his financial problems and get his finances back on track.

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Property repossession is probably the most nerve-racking and frightening experience a real estate owner can go through. There is no blow quite as devastating as knowing you’re going to lose your house. Everything you’ve saved for and dreamed about will be gone. As horrible as this sounds, hundreds of people in South Africa, as well as other parts of the world, go through this every year. Their most valuable asset, gone.

The Economy has been very hard on everyone with soaring interest ratings and inflation that just won’t seem to slow down. Property owners who may have started their property bond paying a low interest rate are now paying a high interest rate, making it very difficult to keep up with the monthly payments. Some real estate owners have had to refinance and have two mortgages on their property. With the value of their house falling, refinancing is not an option to help them keep up because the equity is just not high enough.

Unforeseen circumstances often cause financial difficulties to homeowners as well. A well-paying job they may have had when they bought their house may no longer exist. Death in the family, divorce, separation or the high cost of living may all contribute to real estate owners being unable to make their monthly bond payment. The result in many cases is a home repossession. They knew this was a risk when they signed the bond agreement with the bank but never thought they’d be in such a frightening situation.

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