Behind on the mortgage
Selling a house in foreclosure in Michigan
Get your cash offer
About two minutes. No obligation, no fee, and your details stay with us.
A few missed payments don't mean the house is lost. You still have a say in how this ends, and selling to us is one of the ways out, not the only one.
A local team, no obligation, and a real answer either way.
You still have choices
Once you fall a few months behind, the mail turns ugly and every company in Michigan seems to know about it. Put the mail down for a minute. Depending on where you are in the process, you can usually still catch up the missed payments and reinstate the loan, get free help from a HUD-approved housing counselor through MSHDA, list the house with an agent, or sell it for cash and keep whatever equity is left. Selling to us is one option on that list, not the whole list, and we will say so on the phone.
The one thing that is true in every case: the earlier you act, the more of those doors are still open. Waiting is the only choice that closes them.
How does foreclosure actually work in Michigan?
Most Michigan lenders foreclose by advertisement, which means no judge and no courtroom. Across West Michigan, from Muskegon down to Kalamazoo, it runs roughly like this: you miss payments, the lender publishes a notice of the sale, and the house eventually goes to a sheriff's sale. Before that sale happens, most loan contracts let you reinstate by catching up what you owe (check your paperwork for the cutoff date), or you can sell the house and pay the loan off at closing.
After the sale, for most owner-occupied homes, a redemption period begins: commonly six months, longer in some situations. That period matters more than most people realize, and we cover it below. We are buyers, not lawyers, so treat this as general information rather than legal advice.
Can you still sell after the sheriff's sale?
For most owner-occupied homes, yes. The sheriff's sale is not the end of the story in Michigan. During the redemption period you keep possession of the house, and you can still sell it. A sale during redemption pays the redemption amount Michigan law sets (the sale price plus interest and fees) and can put any remaining equity in your pocket. How any of this shows on your credit report depends on your situation, and a HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it.
Letting the clock run out does the opposite. The house goes, and in almost every case the equity goes with it, and in some cases you can still owe the lender a deficiency afterward. If there is real equity in the property (and in plenty of Muskegon and Ottawa County houses, there is), riding out redemption without acting is usually the most expensive way to lose it.
How does selling to us work?
A phone call to start, minimal disruption (often no walkthrough at all), and a cash offer. We are Home and Neighbor Home Buyers, a cash buyer based in Kent County, and we buy houses in every condition from Ludington down to Benton Harbor. Call (616) 300-2586 or use the form on this page, and you will have a cash offer within 24 hours. If the number works, we can close in as little as 14 days. That is fast enough to matter when a sale date or a redemption deadline is on the calendar. You do not repair anything, clean anything, or pay a commission.
We are a business and we do not pretend otherwise. If the payoff on your loan is more than we can pay for the house, the deal does not work, and we will tell you that on the first call rather than waste time you do not have.
What if the sale date is only days away?
Then you need more people in your corner than a cash buyer. Timing is everything in a foreclosure, and even a fast closing has moving parts, like title work and payoff letters, that take some days to line up. If your sheriff's sale is close, call a HUD-approved housing counselor or a foreclosure attorney at the same time you call us, not after. The counseling is free through MSHDA, and those counselors talk to lenders every day. We would rather you have people protecting your position than pretend a purchase agreement by itself solves everything on that timeline.
When we're the wrong call
A good share of people facing foreclosure shouldn't sell to us, and we'd rather say that here than after you've filled out the form. If you're only a payment or two behind and you want to keep the house, reinstating the loan is the better road, and MSHDA's free housing counselors will walk you through it. If the house is in decent shape and the sale date is still months away, listing with an agent will usually leave you with more than we can pay. Our offer has to leave us a margin, and a house in Holland or Grand Rapids that would pass an appraisal doesn't need us. You'll hear the same thing from us on the first call. Nobody should let go of a house they could have kept.
Everything on this page is general information about these situations in West Michigan, not legal advice. For your own case, a Michigan attorney (or, if you are facing foreclosure, a HUD-approved housing counselor) is the right person to confirm your options, and we'll never talk you out of calling one.
Straight answers
Foreclosure: questions sellers bring us
Can I sell my house during the redemption period in Michigan?
Yes. For most owner-occupied homes, the redemption period after the sheriff's sale is a window in which you can still sell. You also keep possession of the house during that time. A sale during redemption pays the redemption amount set by Michigan law and can keep any remaining equity in your hands. How it shows on your credit report depends on your situation, and a HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it. The window is commonly six months, sometimes longer, so do not assume the sale date ended your options.
Will selling my house stop the sheriff's sale?
A sale that closes and pays the loan off in full before the sheriff's sale takes the foreclosure off the table in the most direct way there is: the debt is gone. The practical problem is time, because closings involve title work and payoff steps that take days to arrange. The earlier you start, the more workable this is. If the sale is nearly here, talk to a housing counselor or attorney at the same time you talk to any buyer, including us.
Do I have to move out right after the sheriff's sale?
Usually not. For most owner-occupied homes the homeowner keeps possession during the redemption period, though the buyer at the sheriff's sale has inspection rights and an abandoned house can lose the protection quickly. For most owner-occupied homes the period is six months, and in some situations it runs longer, up to a year. That time is not just room to pack. It is time in which you can still sell and protect your remaining equity, rather than let the foreclosure run all the way to the end of redemption. Confirm the dates on your own paperwork with a counselor or attorney, because cases differ.
What does it cost to get an offer from you?
Nothing. The offer is free and it obligates you to nothing. Most of the time we do not even need to see the inside. If we do, it is a short look, not an inspection. Either way you will have a cash offer within 24 hours. If you take it, we can close in as little as 14 days. If you do not, you have lost half an hour and you will know exactly what a cash sale looks like next to reinstating, listing, or waiting.
Where can I get free foreclosure help in Michigan?
Start with a HUD-approved housing counselor. MSHDA connects Michigan homeowners with them at no cost. Those counselors work with lenders every day and can walk you through reinstating the loan, your timeline, and every option besides selling. We'd tell anyone facing foreclosure to make that call, whether or not they ever talk to us again, because the earlier you get real information, the more choices you keep.
Whatever the situation, start with the house.
Start with a call or the short form, and you'll have a number within 24 hours and a date that works for you. If a different route would serve you better, that's what you'll hear from us first.