Single Women Facing Foreclosure

Like a lot of women in this country, I spent this past Friday night at the movies. I bought my ticket for the premier of “Sex and the City” early that day, got a little dressed up, met the girls for pre-show Cosmos, and enjoyed my night at the cinema. The “single girl life” displayed so lavishly in the film is one that women around the world envy and aspire to – Jimmy Choo’s, nights out on the town, downtown apartments, and lots of clothes. However, that lifestyle can cost us if we’re not careful.

The subprime crisis has a new victim – the single woman. In this day and age, many women don’t wait for a partner or marriage to take advantage of the American dream of homeownership. In the past few years, with home mortgage products being so easy to get into, many women could handle their monthly payments on one salary. But when expenses rise, housing prices fall, and the one salary is all we have to depend on, what happens then?

Or imagine the single working mother whose goal was to have a home in which to raise both her children and her net worth. If you were depending on the appreciation of the housing market to boost the equity in your property, which would allow you to refinance and take some cash out, that is no longer a possibility.

The single woman’s decision to buy property is an excellent one. Now, in this age of foreclosure, it’s time to be even smarter. Refinance out of an adjustable rate mortgage into a fixed rate loan. Keep track of your spending to see how it is affected by rising gas and food prices. If you are facing foreclosure, take action NOW. Follow the steps we outline in The Foreclosure Workbook to gather all the information about your loan and lender, take stock of your income and expenses, and exercise all the options available to you.