Reports say that the number of home foreclosures is decreasing, but should we still be aware?  Recent reports claim that the number of foreclosed homes is decreasing and that many people are managing to keep their homes, but are these numbers only temporary? What can you do to keep your home if you are struggling to make your mortgage payments each month? Should this recent experience change the way people purchase homes?

Temporary numbers?
Many people might be put in the same situation as they were not too long ago if they chose to temporarily modify their mortgages. With many of the first home loan modifications, the option of paying interest only for a short amount of time was all that was available. While the drop in payments was helpful to many, it might be about time for the mortgage payments to return to what they were originally.

What can you do?
If you are struggling to make your mortgage payment each month, don’t panic or skip mortgage payments. Call your lender. One of the best ways to stop home foreclosures is to begin a conversation with your lender about what you can do to lower your payments and keep your home. There are new modification options which you might be able to benefit from, so before you skip a payment, you need to make the call. Yes, you should know that you will have to keep calling your lender, but as long as you are working with them to lower your payments so that they are affordable to you, your lender cannot pursue foreclosure, nor do they want to. Here’s a tip from the bank foreclosed homes guide: keep paying what you can, something, even if it’s only a couple of hundred dollars monthly. This show’s you’re willing to make it work and will keep your back payments down.

Will this change how we buy homes?
The bottom line for new home buyers is that lenders are no longer lending the large amounts of money to potential homeowners as they used to. Now, in order to get a mortgage, you have to prove beyond a doubt that you can more than afford the amount of your mortgage and that you have the credit to back you up. In the end, this should hopefully create a more secure housing market with homeowners who can afford to make their payments again.