We buy houses in Greenville, SC regularly, and we’ve seen many homeowners who are struggling to get out of bankruptcy. It’s never pretty when you have to file for Chapter 5, or 11, or 13, but it’s an unfortunate circumstance that many Americans go through every year.
However, contrary to popular belief, filing for bankruptcy isn’t the end of the world; in fact, many people and businesses file for bankruptcy and are able to recover quickly and rebuild their fortunes without having to take out multiple loans. Here are some easy tips to make sure you get out of bankruptcy fast.
Focus on Rebuilding Your Credit Score
Depending on your credit score, you’ll see your score plunge down by as much as 200 points, or you might see a small boost by as much as 50 points. The former usually happens to people who started out with average or above-average credit scores, while the latter usually happens to people with below-average scores.
Regardless, you’ll want to do everything you can to rebuild your score, and the good news is that it doesn’t take as long as some people think. On average, even people who lose 150 to 200 points can recover those points –and, ideally, out of bankruptcy –in around 12 to 18 months.
Restart Your Savings and Stick to a Budget
Within those 12 to 18 months, you have a lot of options to help get yourself out of bankruptcy, and two of the most effective and fool-proof ways to do it require nothing but discipline: restart your savings and stick to a budget.
Of course, the latter serves the former: by crafting a sustainable budget (i.e. a budget you can actually stick to and follow religiously), you’ll be able to pay off your debts, rebuild your credit score, stay abreast with payments, and restart a savings account. That way, you’ll be able to insulate yourself from future expenses without having to worry about your credit score dipping again.
Avoid High-Interest Purchases
Another surefire way to get yourself out of bankruptcy is by paying for things with reasonable interest rates. If you filed for bankruptcy and are trying to get out of it, avoid high-interest purchases as much as possible. Yes, it’s tempting to buy that luxury item and getting it fast in exchange for a high interest rate, but it just won’t do you any favors.
Again, set a monthly budget and follow it. This doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t buy luxury items that need monthly payments: it just means you need to find better and friendlier deals that allow you to purchase that item with reasonable interest charges.
Monitor Your Credit Report Carefully
When you start rebuilding your credit score, you’ll need to monitor your credit report as often as possible. This is to ensure that you’re on the right track and that you’re steadily building up and getting yourself out of bankruptcy in a way that banks will notice.
Monitoring your credit report can also help you avoid incorrect, negative information from reflecting and hurting your score. In fact, according to the Federal Trade Commission, 1 in 5 Americans have at least one error in their credit report. This is usually a small problem for people who are within an average or above-average score, but if you’re just coming out of bankruptcy, this could snowball relatively quickly.
Sell Your House
Now, this might seem like a last resort option, but it’s actually one that makes financial sense. Selling your home means you won’t have to pay for hefty mortgages, and, in fact, your home could have been the reason you went bankrupt in the first place. Instead of trying to salvage the situation, downsize and purchase a smaller house instead, one that you can upkeep regularly and stay on top of mortgage payments.
Of course, this will only work if you sell to a direct cash home buyer. That’s because cash home buyers will almost-always try to complete the purchase as fast as legally possible. They’ll also be offering you straight cash in exchange for your home regardless of mortgages, so long as the property is still a viable investment opportunity for them.
We’re Here to Help You!
Sell My House Fast – GSAP is one of South Carolina’s most trusted direct cash home buyers. That’s because we’ve proven ourselves to be fast, smooth, and honest buyers that clients can trust completely. We buy houses in Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Pickles, and many more places in the state. We do our best to offer prices that are close to fair market value as possible so that you can get the most bang for your buck.
Want to learn more? Contact us, today, to learn more about how we can help you!