A lot of times, when we make a major purchase like a home or a car, we have the present in mind rather
than the future. In other words, when we first bought those kinds of high-priced items, we may have had
a steady job, which produced a stable income, and so there was no concern about whether or not we could
meet our monthly mortgage or car note.

But then life happens and we may lose our job or incur other expenses like a new addition to the family.
Suddenly, what once seemed like a fairly easy financial expense is now burdensome. If you feel this way as
it relates to your mortgage and you would like to explore some options on what to do when your monthly
payments seem like they have gotten out of control, here are a few tips that may help relieve the financial
pressure and internal stress.

Speak with your lender. It may feel a bit intimidating, but it’s far better to let your mortgage lender
know about your situation as soon as possible than to let your mortgage payments lapse. Oftentimes, your
lender has ways to help you that you may have not considered such as a modification (where they may
agree to lower your interest rates) or a forbearance (where you may be able to temporarily stop making
loan payments until you can get into a better financial state). Or, if you have good credit (high 700s), you
may be able to get your bank fees reduced or eliminated altogether.

Shorten your mortgage. This one may seem like a bit of stretch because you may be thinking, “If the
mortgage is too high, the last thing that I want to do is make my mortgage shorter.” But, the benefit here
is that if you go from, say, a 30-year mortgage to a 15-year mortgage, look at all of the interest [Read more…]