I NEVER thought IT could HAPPEN to ME!!!!

[chersellshomes]

When the economy began to get sluggish, I NEVER expected THIS to happen!!!!! Economy experts didn't, even the Director of Treasury didn't!!!   From a professional standpoint it is unimaginable. I am talking about difficulty with paying your monthly bills, particularly your mortgage or rent payment!!!!! Are you nervous EVERY MONTH that you will not have enough money to pay your mortgage?  Have you ever been late on your morgage payment? Have you received a notice from your bank demanding payment? Are you behind right now on your mortgage? Are you negotiating with your bank to pay less than you owe in order to avoid foreclosure? Are you trying to sell your home in order to avoid foreclosure? Have you already been foreclosed on? Are you renting and suddenly the water is turned off or the heat or the electric because the owner quit paying? Are you renting and then suddenly find yourself out on the street because the owner foreclosed?        Well.....I fit one of the above categories. Because I work on total commission, there are months that I don't bring home my expected minimum. (MORE ON THIS LATER)

I am a Mom, Wife, Realtor, Friend, Sister, Entrepreneur etc. Because of my chosen profession (I sell houses) my income has dropped to rock bottom. I never imagined being scared that I could not hang onto my home. NEVER. But that is where I find myself. I own 3 homes 2 for investment and we are really juggling! For the past 3 years I have been working really hard showing homes to all kinds of people. The worst has been showing the foreclosures and short sales (MORE ON THIS LATER). These homes (I live in Chicago and I know this is happening all across the country). There have been a total of 464,058, (foreclosures),  REOs  -- so far this year (through the end of July). I show these houses that are owned by the bank as a result of foreclosure every day. It is devastating to see how many there are, the condition they are left in, the vandalism that occurs, the squatters that accumulate and actually the worst is how poorly the banks are managing these hundreds of thousands of homes that are left vacant.

I am normally a very positive person and I look on the bright side. There have been episodes in the past 2 years where my outlook has been pretty dark. I suppose it has helped to hear that so many people are experiencing the same difficulties. It sort of allows me to not be SO,SO hard on myself that I allowed this to happen to my family. We have not been late on any of our mortgages yet but it has been a very stressful 2 years wondering how we were going to make the payments every month. Honestly though, miracles have occurred for us whenever  we thought the bottom was going to drop. Sometimes it seemed like money would just appear right in the nick of time. I hope you have had some of thosse experiences too! (MORE ON THAT LATER) Like I said, nobody predicted this severe of a result in response to the HOUSING BUBBLE. Many of us knew that the appreciation level COULD NOT maintain itself at the rate we were all seeing. And the fact that Banks were allowing refinancing at sometimes 100% of the current appraised value of the home. Homes just could NOT continue to appreciate 10% per year. And then of course the $0 Down payments, the no income verification loans, the ARM loans.

Because I AM a REALTOR there are some alternatives that you or a loved ones may not have thought of as an alternative to foreclosure.  Of course many times it is the only  and  best solution too. Short Sales are something that many people do not know about. This is when you sell your house for less than is owed. Short Sales are much better on your credit than a foreclosure.   I am passionate about turning this situation around for families.

If you have any questions on what any of this means or who you may be able to turn to for help, please either post on this journal or send me a message.

My journal will continue as mentioned above (MORE ON THAT LATER) so that you can stay tuned in.

Count on living every single day in a way you believe will make you feel good about your LIFE

Cheryl from Chicago,

                             Don't forget to ask me how you can make $500 this month!