For Sale By Owner

Everything has a beginning. Really? Then which came first the chicken or the egg? To make a beginning somewhere in this round world where there is neither beginning nor end let us start with the seed embedded in the soil sprouting into either the majestic sheltering tree or the banyan in the crevice of the house slowly choking, breaking and pulling it down. The seed and the soil are the same. It is what we make of it. The Foreclosure story starts with the laudable intention of providing shelter for everybody in the new world of USA. America being the leading nation the rest of world looked up to her for ideals and mimed her to take the cream of what life has to offer. Unfortunately in foreclosures the cream went sour.

To foreclose is to close a mortgage deal beforehand. There is the rare happy instance of the borrower repaying dues ahead of time and getting out of the burden of a loan. What is happening today is the lender closing in on the loan taker because the latter failure to repay. The mortgage agreement is closed ahead of schedule – foreclosed. Foreclosures start with a notice of warning and ends with the lender auctioning off the property.

The game of lending and realizing loans has been going on even before the days of Shakespeare’s Shylock. The difference is that fashions have change. The swank banks of today are just glorified pawnbrokers shops! Why is it that foreclosures have suddenly hit the headlines and shaking thrones? It is because the laws of Nature have been abused and the balance upset. Summer takes from the earth the moisture and gives back to it in the form of blessed Rains. But if Summer continues to take and squeeze the earth will become parched and barren. The sub-prime mortgage has squeezed the people dry. There is nothing left but a barren desolate landscape.

There are many ways to tackle this summer of discontent. The first is to sell off the house. When the owner directly sells it is known as FSBO (for-sale-by-owner). This dispenses with huge fees and commissions of agents. The next alternative is to opt for MLS (multiple-listing-services). The local agent will include the property in its official listing site. In a buyer’s market this is the best way to expose the property to suitable buyers for the best bargain.