As real estate markets continue to decline around the country, many homeowners are wondering what they can do to protect themselves and the investment they have made in their home. There are actually many different steps you can take to help stop foreclosure and make sure you stay ahead of the softening real estate market.

One of the first steps that should be taken is to check with either your city or county property tax office to research your current tax assessment. This will tell you what the county or city states your home is actually worth. You should then compare this rate to what your home is currently worth based on current market conditions. It is not uncommon for homeowners in several states, such as in California, to discover that they are paying more money in property taxes than they should be based on the value of their home in the current market.

In some states, homeowners are actually paying up to 40% more than they should be. If you are not sure of your home?s current value in the existing market, it is also a good idea to have your home appraised to determine its current value. Taking both of these steps will give you a realistic idea of the value of your home in the current market and ensure that you are not paying more money in taxes than you should be.

If you do have an adjustable rate mortgage it is certainly worth it to consider refinancing your mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage. Before you actually refinance; however, there are several steps which you should take first. Begin by inspecting your existing mortgage documents to determine whether you will be penalized for paying off the existing loan early. While you will be taking on a new loan, your existing loan will be paid off when you refinance it and this could subject you to penalties is such a clause exists in your mortgage documents.

In some cases, you may discover that you actually owe more on your home than it is worth. This is actually quite common now among homeowners who took out exotic mortgage loans a few years ago when prices were rising rapidly and the market was red hot. Today; however, this can cause quite a bit of dismay among homeowners who are facing large mortgage payments on homes that have dropped rapidly in value. While it is anticipated that the market will begin to stabilize sometime next year, you will need to give some careful thought to whether it would be in your best financial interest to simply walk away from such a situation and try to start fresh.

Additionally, you need to consider how long you plan to remain in the home and balance out that time in comparison to the amount of closing costs you will need to pay when you refinance your home. While a number of mortgage companies advertise ?no cost? refinance loans you should be aware that such loans rarely, if ever, exist. The costs for refinancing your loan are typically financed in with the loan under this type of arrangement. This means that instead of paying the costs for the loan up front you will be paying interest on them throughout the duration of the loan. In addition, it is important to research any mortgage company you consider to ensure there have been no complaints filed against them before you refinance your mortgage.

If you plan to remain in your home, it is also a good idea to check your homeowner?s insurance policy to be certain that it is up to date. This can prove to be critical in the event you suffer any type of loss on your home in the future. If you live in an area that is susceptible to hurricane or storm damage it is especially important to make sure that your policy accurately reflects your home in its current state.

Third year into the housing correction, the slide continues. 260,000 and 405,000 homes repossessed in 2006 and 2007 respectively (Jan 2008, CNNMoney.com) and possibly 2.5 million in 2008 (US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, July 2008, Reuters). The recent enactment of the 3.9 billion dollar housing bill (Housing and Economic Recovery Act 2008) is surely a welcomed relief for many.

However, Americans tend to be below par in financial literacy (Bankrate.com telephone survey). For those who are caught in foreclosures, this could be a real problem. Ideally, homeowners themselves should be the ones calling the shots in foreclosure situations but they need to be knowledgeable enough in order to perform that task. This is vital as each foreclosure situation is unique in its own right and has its own options.

How to stop foreclosure is always a major undertaking and it can be accomplished through various ways most common of which are refinancing, forbearance, loan restructuring, supplementary loan and shortfall forgiveness. Where giving up the home cannot be helped, deed-in-lieu, pre-foreclosure and short sale are ways to avert foreclosure which harms the credit score, not to mention incurring penalties and legal costs.

Whether it?s keeping or dropping the property, the endeavor to stop foreclosure must be laid out with a sound game-plan. Once that?s done, the homeowner must set out in a highly expeditious fashion. A typical profile of execution would look something like this: -Review the financial situation thoroughly -Check out all options -Spot and skip the scams -Consult professionals or experts -Never say never

Foreclosures hurt the lenders and authorities as much as they do the homeowners these days. Given the housing crisis, financial malaise and faltering economy, we can be sure that they would go out of their way to help stop foreclosure. Put bluntly, foreclosure is the knife-edge between an asset and liability insofar as houses are concerned and the last thing that’s needed now is another one crossing over into the heap.

All sorts of information and help agencies have mushroomed everywhere, not least the internet. Public information and assistance websites, real-estate brokers, banks and other lending institutions, investors and capitalists, attorneys and consultants and guides and handbooks can be found in abundance online, all possible solutions to how to stop foreclosure. Then, there are also loads of scams and crooks so watch out, you don’t want to be burnt further!

The average foreclosure rate nationwide has now topped 30%, with many in the pessimistic camp of the trade predicting that it will continue to get worse before getting better. Behind this statistic is the fact that the majority of these foreclosures could have been averted. With the right mindset and guidance, affected homeowners actually have the upper hand in negotiating their way through their respective foreclosures.

Having that said, facing foreclosure now isn’t any easier than at any time before. When foreclosure looms as a result of mortgage payment default, more than just the property is at stake. It’s therefore a matter to be attended to with utmost diligence and deliberation. The foremost question is always whether to resist or submit to it. Either way, how you go about it will have a significant impact on how you come out of it.

This is a big decision and should never be rushed into although a foreclosure situation is really always a pressing one. More and more options and breaks are brought to the table these days, both by the regulatory authorities and lending institutions and the affected homeowner would do well to capitalize on them. Examples of potentially feasible avenues are refinancing, partial claim, forbearance, loan modification, disaster assistance, deed in lieu, pre-foreclosure and short sale.

As soon as it is decided on which direction to go, the homeowner must move swiftly especially if the choice is to confront and counter the foreclosure. A day of inaction in the fight to stop a foreclosure is a day lost into thin air but don?t overreact and jump the gun instead. The two basic approaches to avert foreclosure are DIY (do-it-yourself) or third-party specialists. DIY is enriching but testing while specialists is convenient but cost money.

What has become popular nowadays is a combination of both, purportedly for the “best of both worlds”. There’s a certain pattern to many of the eventual success stories about surviving foreclosure: -The affected homeowner takes charge and makes the calls. -Never fall for scams and cons. -Check out every option including those that seem out-of-reach. -Positive, tireless and focused engagement.

This is undoubtedly a mammoth task but the internet and other agencies are well-stocked with information resource. Numerous guides and handbooks on how to stop foreclosure have also mushroomed all over the shop.

While the overall situation remains grim, the horizon seems to have cleared up a little. Consumer confidence index (Conference Board, June 2008) actually improved, albeit marginally and in a symbolic twist, home prices in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis and Portland increased month-on-month over April (S&P/Case-Shiller, May 2008). Meanwhile, the government is now even helping lenders to help their mortgagers with their latest bill (Housing and Economic Recovery Act 2008), on top of continually bringing more rescue channels to defaulting homeowners.