Foreclosure help
Avoiding foreclosure in Oregon, one honest look at a time
Behind on the mortgage, upside down, or dealing with a lien? Bill will look at the whole picture, usually within 48 hours, and tell you straight whether a cash sale helps.
Chapter 01
When the mortgage gets ahead of you
Nobody plans to fall behind. It is usually a job that changed, a medical bill, a divorce, a rental that sat empty, or a house that cost more to keep up than anyone figured. Then a letter shows up, and the kitchen table starts to fill with envelopes you would rather not open.
Most of the people who call Bill are in one of a few spots: behind on payments and worried about what comes next, upside down on the mortgage so that selling the usual way would not cover what is owed, or carrying a lien that makes the house hard to sell. None of those is a character flaw. They are problems with numbers and dates, and problems like that usually have more than one way out.
Before anything else, talk to your lender and to a housing counselor early. That is not a sales line. Lenders often have options that only exist while you are still talking to them, and a counselor works for you. Bill would rather you make those calls and then call him than call him in a panic. This page is general information, not legal advice, and a lawyer is the right person for legal questions.
A kitchen table by a rain-streaked window with closed envelopes, a coffee mug and a pen
How Bill looks at a house in trouble
You call (541) 236-3095 or send your details, and Bill gets back to you with an evaluation, usually within 48 hours. He asks what is owed, what else is attached to the house, what condition it is in, and how much time you feel you have. Then he walks the property and looks at comparable sales, the same way he does for every house he buys.
From there it comes down to the numbers. Sometimes a fair cash offer is enough to pay off what is owed and leave you something. Sometimes the numbers do not work, and he says so plainly. In his own words, sometimes he is able to help homeowners stop foreclosure completely, and sometimes the honest answer is that a sale is not the right tool for your situation.
If a cash offer is on the table, he shows you exactly how he got to the number, and there is no obligation to take it. If you would rather list the house, he will help you list it on the MLS for a set period. If neither makes sense, he will thank you for your time and end the conversation. He does not lock people into a contract on the first call.
Chapter 03
What happens after a sale, and what to read first
When you do say yes, you choose the closing date. A cash buyer has no bank loan to wait on, so there is no appraisal and no financing contingency to fall through. Closing runs through a local, reputable title company. There are no fees and no commissions, and Bill pays the closing costs, so the money you would have handed to an agent stays with you.
You also do not have to clean or repair anything. A house that is behind on upkeep because everything else got behind is exactly the kind of house he buys as-is. If it is sitting empty or has tenants in it, that is fine too.
Bill keeps a free guide called 5 Ways To Stop or Avoid Foreclosure In Today's Market. Ask about it when you call. And if you want to hear from someone other than a home buyer first, the reading list below points to outside sources. Looking at a different kind of property? See how Bill handles a mobile home, or compare an agent sale and a cash sale line by line.
Sometimes we are able to help homeowners stop foreclosure completely. When we can't, we'll say so.
Outside reading
Read it from someone who isn’t buying your house
Bill buys houses, so he has a stake in this. These three sources do not. Read what you like, and call (541) 236-3095 when you want a straight answer on your own house. To see how a sale compares with listing, there is a line-by-line comparison.
FDIC Foreclosure Prevention Toolkit
A federal consumer resource on talking to your lender and weighing your choices.
Urban Affairs Coalition foreclosure guide
A plain-language guide for homeowners facing foreclosure.
Washington Post article on selling a house to an investor
A newspaper look at what to expect when you sell to an investor instead of listing.