What we bring when you are behind on the mortgage
Falling behind on mortgage payments brings a lot of noise with it: letters, phone calls, and several parties offering help of varying quality.
We are straightforward about what we are. We buy houses, we can close quickly and quietly, and a sale that pays off the mortgage and the missed payments together ends the problem on a date you choose. We also know who to send you to if keeping the Commack house is the better outcome, and we would rather make that introduction than take you somewhere you should not go.
Three real options when you are behind on mortgage payments
Curing missed mortgage payments means the servicer agreeing to a workout: a modification that folds the arrears into the mortgage balance, a forbearance that pauses mortgage payments, or a repayment plan stacked on top of the regular mortgage. Servicers have discretion about all of it and nobody can guarantee an outcome, so start early and let a HUD-approved counselor make the case for you.
Selling is the other real answer. It ends the missed mortgage payments completely and, where there is equity, leaves money in your pocket rather than in fees.
Why local knowledge changes the number
A three-bedroom on Elder Drive. A house on Cobb Lane. Both in Commack, bought and paid for by us.
Commack is roughly 36,536 people in Suffolk County, ZIP 11725, and the housing stock is mostly colonial, split-level, ranch. Around Jericho Turnpike and Commack Road, most of it is old enough that the mechanicals are on their second or third life. We have been buying across Suffolk County for 15+ years. We know what the Commack Union Free School District does to a resale price, which blocks still have oil tanks in the ground, and what a house like yours is actually worth here.
The payoff figure is the number that matters
Not what you originally borrowed, and not the balance printed on last year's statement. The mortgage payoff includes the missed payments, the late fees, the default interest and the lender's costs through the closing date, which is why it is usually higher than owners expect.
Get it from the servicer in writing, early. It determines whether selling leaves you with anything, and it is the single fact that shapes every other decision once you are behind on mortgage payments.
Missed mortgage payments compound in ways people do not expect
The unfair part of falling behind on mortgage payments is that the cost is charged to the person least able to pay it. Late fees first, then default interest, then legal costs, all added to the payoff.
That is the whole argument for dealing with missed mortgage payments earlier rather than after the next letter arrives. Not because something terrible happens tomorrow, but because every month behind on the mortgage quietly moves money from your side of the closing statement to theirs.
What you do not pay when you sell a house in mortgage arrears
Listing a house in mortgage arrears the usual way brings each of these costs with it. Selling to us brings none of them.
- Agent commission
- $42,000 at 5% of the Commack median none
- Seller closing costs
- About $16,800 on a $840,000 sale. We can cover these. none
- Repairs to make it listable
- Everything a buyer would flag, paid for before you list none
- Cleanout and removal
- Dumpsters or haulers by the load, ahead of any viewing none
- Carrying costs while it waits
- Taxes, insurance and utilities through the 74 to 89 days a listing takes to sell and close none
Selling a Commack house quietly while behind on mortgage payments
No sign, no listing, no showings, no neighbors asking questions. One visit, a written number, and a closing date you pick.
The part of mortgage arrears people dread is rarely the paperwork. It is somebody they know finding out. A sale to us involves one person coming to the house once, and nothing about it goes on the internet or on the lawn.
What the two paths cost in Commack
These are the two routes open to you with a house in mortgage arrears, priced against what Commack houses actually sell for.
Work it against Commack's own numbers. The median sale here is $840,000. A 5% commission on that is $42,000, and seller closing costs of about 2% add roughly $16,800. Those are costs we can cover on our side. That is $58,800 gone before anyone counts the repairs it took to get the house listable.
There are two waits in a listed sale and people usually only count the first. In Commack the median house takes about 29 days to go from listed to a signed contract. Then it waits again, typically 45 to 60 days, while the buyer's lender orders an appraisal and underwrites the loan. Call it 74 to 89 days from sign to keys, assuming nothing goes wrong.
The part worth understanding is what a signed contract actually guarantees, which is less than most sellers assume. A retail buyer with a mortgage contingency can walk away right up to the end. If they do not qualify, if the appraisal comes in under the price, if they change their mind and let the financing lapse. A share of deals die exactly there, after months of waiting, and the house goes back on the market with time on it. We are not borrowing anything, so there is no lender to satisfy, no appraisal to come in low and no contingency to exercise.
| Listing with an agent | Selling to us | |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | $840,000 (Commack median) | Our written offer |
| Commission | −$42,000 | None |
| Seller closing costs | −$16,800 | We can cover them |
| Repairs before listing | Out of pocket | None |
| Cleanout | Yours | Ours |
| Showings | Until it sells | One visit |
| Listed to signed contract | 29 days (Commack median, once listable) | 24 hours to a written offer |
| Contract to closing | 45 to 60 days (waiting on the buyer's lender) | A date you choose |
| Total wait | 74 to 89 days if nothing falls through | Yours to set |
| Can the buyer walk? | Yes (mortgage contingency runs to the end) | No financing to fall through |
| Before repairs and carrying | $781,200 | The number we put in writing |
For the listing side we have used a 5% commission and about 2% in seller closing costs; your real figures may differ. Repairs and carrying costs are left out because they depend on the house. If yours is in good shape, a good agent may well get you more than we would, and we will tell you if so.
The window is wider today than it will be
The single most useful thing you can do about mortgage arrears today is find out exactly where you stand. What the payoff is, whether anything has been filed, and what the house is actually worth.
Those three facts take about a week to assemble and they turn a vague dread into a decision you can make. We will do the third one for free and tell you honestly what the other two mean, whether or not the answer involves selling to us.
Common questions
How far behind on the mortgage is too far?
There is no fixed point, and it depends on where the lender has got to rather than on the number of missed payments. Call earlier rather than later, and speak to an attorney at the same time.
Can you pay off my arrears and let me stay in the house?
No. We buy houses, we do not lend against them, and we are not going to offer you a rent-back arrangement dressed up as a rescue. Be careful with anyone who does.
Will selling cover the arrears?
That depends entirely on the payoff set against what a Commack house like yours is worth. Get the payoff in writing and we will give you the value in writing, and then you will know rather than guess.
Should I keep making partial payments?
We are not going to tell you what to do with your money, but we will tell you it is a question worth asking a counselor. How partial payments get applied against arrears varies by servicer, and the answer matters.
Does being in arrears stop me selling a Commack house?
No. Arrears are paid from the proceeds at closing like anything else secured against the property. The title company obtains a payoff figure, the mortgage and the arrears are settled out of it, and the balance goes to you.