[JRLZ]

sale now or stay in home for free until foreclosure? Close family member is in trouble and needs help. Since she is only 2 months behing now and has no job, no money and bad credit, would it make any sense to stay in the home until foreclosure.. instead of negotiating a short sale now?...to save on future rent after short sale goes through? Right now she is considering negotiating short sale, but that could mean sale/closing in 2-3 months, and then she has to be out and find a rental...and still may be unemployed. I'm just trying to figure out how long she can stay in the property with short sale vs foreclosure....and weigh the credit consequences of each. And negotiating with lender for loan modification won't help. She has no job or money.

[Coco]

We were in the same position. We did a short sale. Short sale stays on your credit report for only 2 years, a foreclosure stays on for 7. If they do a foreclosure its better to just file for bankruptcy. Both are 7 years, (well, here in CA its 10 years for bankruptcy now) You can still live in your house for free until you sell it. If you dont sell it it will go into foreclosure.

[Ambivalence]

good luck...