Keeping the Property vs Selling the Property
If your monthly house payment (including property taxes and insurance) does not exceed 40% of your gross monthly income, it should be possible for you to keep the property. If the payment is greater than 40% of gross monthly income, consider selling or transferring the property to avoid negative impacts to your credit. 

  NEW!!--  Our newest loan programs may work even if your payments are substantially higher than shown above.  see Loans.

                  The objectives in usual order of importance are:
1. Keep the property if possible.  The actions that most commonly allow you to keep your property are as follows:

1. Lender Negotiation (see below)

2. Bankruptcy -- A Chapter 13 will almost always allow you to keep your home and it does much less damage to your credit than commonly thought  see To BK or not to BK.

3. Refinance-- Yes, even if behind in payments, it can be done. see Loans.

Professional Realtor, 

Experienced Investor or examine

Creative Sales Approaches.

2. Don't give away equity if you can keep it or liquidate and put it in your pocket.

3. If possible, minimize damage to your credit. You might need it later on.

LENDER NEGOTIATION
Before exploring new options, have you tried to come to terms with your existing lender? Lenders want the loan to be current, They do not want to have to complete a foreclosure. Can you make up the defaulted amount over a period of months? Can you re-write the note and include the defaulted amount?  These are questions you should ask yourself and possibly your lender if you haven't done so already. They will want to know why the loan is in default and why you think you will be able to make the payments in the future. Temporary financial setbacks that have since been cured are the best candidates for this. Your lender will probably not be inclined to stop foreclosure proceedings if they have reason to believe they will have to start again in 6 months.

REFINANCING AND NEW JUNIOR LOANS
Basic lending guidelines will require all home loans will total up to less than 75% of the current market value of the property. If you have more equity than that, you should have no difficulty in obtaining a new refinance or 2nd Trust Deed to bring your loan current. Expect higher interest rates and loan fees. For a free evaluation of refinancing possibilities consider contacting, Money Tree Group.   They do business in all states other than NY and they will give you a realistic and honest opinion of what your options are.  If they are unable to get you the financing you need, they, at least, should be able to point you in the right direction.

LOANS TO GET YOU CURRENT
If you experienced a temporary financial setback that has since been cured and are going to be able to keep the property, first consider family and friends for a loan to get current. It's much cheaper than hard money loans, but MAKE SURE you will be able to pay them back. You do not want to put them in the position of having to foreclose to get their money back. Hard money loans are typically private investors who will lend money based on equity in the property. Credit and income are not issues of importance and loan approval is usually a matter of days with funding following shortly.  Although, a hard money loan is not the optimal solution, it is sometimes the only solution.  If it appears that this is the most reasonable alternative based on your circumstance, these are also available through, the above mentioned Money Tree Group.  Loan amounts will usually be enough to bring existing loans current, pay the financing costs and put some money in your pocket. Loans can be amortized over 30 years to keep the payments lower and the balance will be due in 2 to 5 years.

BANKRUPTCY
This is a major step that should be a last resort. But often it is the very best option.  See "To BK or not to BK".  If the Notice of Default has just been recently filed on your home, you have sufficient time to explore the options for new loans or selling the property. If the foreclosure sale is going to be held very shortly, bankruptcy is a very common way to delay or completely avoid the sale.