Check List of things you must do ASAP! (continued...)

5. Make sure your Taxes are paid in full.

The only thing worse than the bank not being paid is the county not being paid. –Your bank really doesn’t own the land you are paying for as much as the county does, and that’s why you pay property tax. Even 100 years after you have paid off this property, your descendants will be paying the tax on it. –If that goes unpaid too long, you’ll lose your house for sure, and so will your lender!

Find out if your property taxes are paid in your mortgage loan (it’s usually found in the Escrow account with your insurance) or if you pay them separately. Whichever way you pay it, make very sure it is up to date, or there is little point in giving your lender any money at all!

6. Calculate your home’s actual worth.

You’ll need to decide many things soon like if you can sell your home, for how much, and how much you can afford to pay by when. To even start to calculate any of these questions, you’ll need to know exactly how much your home is currently worth, or how much Equity you have in your home.

Simply find in your latest mortgage statement the amount of PRINCIPLE (don’t include any interest, taxes, or insurance) that you have paid to date, and subtract that from the total price you paid for the home. Then, subtract all the backpayments, fees, and fines you’ve gathered lately from that number. If you still have 15% of your equity or more left over, then it is possible that you can sell the home in time, either through a realtor, or faster but for less money to a private investor. Don’t worry about those now though, just make sure you’ve got a good idea how much equity you have and how much the fees & backpayments will eat into that number.

7. Start looking for another place to live.

As painful as it is to think about, make sure you have a backup place to stay by the time the auction comes around, with storage space for all of your belongings. Heaven forbid you have to use it, but the last thing you want to do is get to that point without thinking of this detail beforehand.

After you’ve done all seven of the tasks on your to-do list, it will be time to weigh your final options.