I bought a home in the year 2007 for 535,000. Now it's worth approx 380,000 can the bank lower my payments?

Question

I bought a home in the year 2007 for 535,000. Now it's worth approx 380,000 can the bank lower my payments?

Answer 1

Just because you paid too much for the house does  not mean you owe the bank any less than you borrowed. If you bought the house because it was a place you liked and wanted to live in and if you could afford the payments you agreed to make when you took the loan, you should have no problem keeping up with your payments. Why do you need to reduce them? What does the fact that your house is worth less than what you paid have to do with your loan?

If you bought the house in order to make a quick buck and lost, why should anybody bail you out? I buy and sell stocks all the time. Sometimes I win. Sometimes I lose. Why should anybody bail me out if I make a bad investment choice? Same applies to a house bought on speculation.  

Answer 2

The bank won't adjust your loan payments because the home value declined. They loaned you $535,000 that came from their depositors and their depositors will still want all their money back!  The only ways to get your payments down are 1) to refinance at a lower interest rate, 2) setup the payments for a longer time period, like switch from 15 years to 30 years or even interest only, 3) Paydown the amount that you owe at the same time as you refinance, or 4) a combination of these.  

If you think you'll have trouble making the payments, contact your bank BEFORE you get behind. They may be able to help you with some ideas involving some of these, or help you with budgeting.  Good luck!

Answer 3

No, the best you will get from them is a short sale. Meaning you sell your house for less than you paid for it and they let you out of your mortgage for less than you owe.

Answer 4

No! No! No!

The price you paid has nothing to today's or the amount pay per month. The balance you owe does not change with any change in value.balance.  

Answer 5

Of course not!  Let me reverse this question:  If your home increased to $735,000, would you write your bank a check for $200,000?