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Just about every month, housing values in the U.S. fall. That, in turn, increases the number of people who owe more on their houses than they are worth-either trapping them in homes they may no longer want or putting them in danger of financial catastrophe if they lose a job or are otherwise unable to meet the mortgage. Underwater: Options When Your Mortgage Is Upside Down offers valuable advice to homeowners on ways they can unload a house they no longer want, save a home from foreclosure, or undergo foreclosure and start anew. The book offers smart advice from lawyers, bankers, real estate agents, personal finance experts, and homeowners who have seen the foreclosure process firsthand, as well as those who have been able to save their homes through loan modifications and other creative methods. Those faced with tough choices will find invaluable guidance to help them make well-informed decisions while managing the emotional fallout each brings.

Many of the eleven million people in the U.S. now facing the "underwater" dilemma wonder: Is staying put the only option? What if I can´t pay the monthly mortgage bill? Can I save my home? Underwater: Options When Your Mortgage Is Upside Down outlines the options-when foreclosure is a good idea, how to best protect the equity you´ve built up, the financial repercussions of going into foreclosure, strategies for renegotiating a loan, taking advantage of government programs designed to keep you happily housed, and more. Veteran financial journalist Chris Lauer provides the facts, ideas, and advice that can help any underwater homeowner-especially those facing foreclosure-make smart decisions for a better future.

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The Real Estate Crash
How Bad is the Underwater Problem
Advice from an Underwater Homeowner
Advice from a Real Estate attorney
Advice from a Real Estate Agent
Advice from a Mortgage Broker
Advice from a Real Estate Agent
Advice from a Real Estate Agent
Advice from a Mortgage Broker
Advice from a Real Estate Expert
Advice from a Real Estate Economist
Advice from an Economist
Advice from CoreLogic Chief Economist Mark Fleming
What You Should Know About Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Lenders Settle with Homeowners for $25 Billion for Abuses
Twelve Valuable Government Programs
Glossary of Terms
Additional Resources

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Chris Lauer is the author of Southwest Airlines (Corporations That Changed the World), Breaking Free: How to Quit Your Job and Start Your Own Business, and The Management Gurus: Lessons from the Best Management Books of All Time. He is also the owner and editor in chief of Lauer Editorial Services (www.laueredit.com) where he writes and edits for a variety of businesses and publishers. As a journalist and editor with more than 20 years of experience, Lauer works in a variety of fields, including business, news, music, and art. After graduating with an English Journalism degree from the University of Delaware, where he was a features editor for The Review, he worked as a writer and editor for the SF Weekly in San Francisco. He was also the owner and publisher of Edge City and Anthem Monthly, two local arts and entertainment magazines in Northern California. After that, he worked for the NBC affiliate in Eureka, Calif., KIEM, as a TV news reporter, videographer, and assignment editor. In 2006, Lauer founded Lauer Editorial Services.

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