You may already be at the point where you know that foreclosing your home is inevitable. Likely, you are several months behind on mortgage payments and unable to meet your debt obligations. A loss of income, illness, or some other set back is making it painfully obvious to you that you have no expectancy of rebounding any time soon. A foreclosure on your residence is not only likely; it is simply a matter of time.

One way for you to avoid the pain of having your home foreclosed and your credit rating destroyed is to sell your home prior to the foreclosure date. A small window of time exists between when you are served notice that your home will be foreclosed and when the actual court hearing is to be held.

During the waiting period you can expect outside interest in your home to ramp up. You may receive calls from buyers who are interested in purchasing your home now, thereby staving off foreclosure later. A solid buyer could be the ?white knight? that you need to see you through your trouble, but he could also be a shark who may steal your home!

Yes, there are foreclosure hunters out there who post signs saying, ?We Buy Houses,? knowing full well that distressed homeowners are most likely to take the bite. Some times notices are sent to your home or even by email as personal information about yourself is made publicly available once a foreclosure date has been established, so unsolicited appeals to purchase your home are likely to flourish.

No possible buyer should be dealt with unless he passes the scrutiny of your current mortgage company first. Indeed, in many cases the mortgage company has a provision in their contract with you forbidding you to transfer title or deed of ownership without their consent. If the buyer proposes to allow you to stay in the home by allowing you to take back a lease option, the mortgage company could step in immediately and consider the mortgage due and payable.

Should you decide to sell your home before foreclosure you may want to retain the services of an attorney to look over the paperwork in advance of the sale. You certainly do not want to engage in a transaction that violates your current relationship with your mortgage provider nor do you want to leave your rights unprotected. If there is a scam involved, a competent attorney can sniff it out and protect you from lasting damage.