Sell Your House Before Foreclosure in Massachusetts

Closing timelines vary depending on the details of the property and your situation. In many cases we can move quickly once terms are agreed on — reach out and we can talk through what a realistic timeline looks like for your specific property.

No repairs are needed. We buy pre-foreclosure properties in any condition - as-is. You don't need to invest any money into the property before selling.

Zero fees. We pay all closing costs. The cash offer we make is the amount you walk away with at closing.

We evaluate the property's location, condition, and current market values. For pre-foreclosure properties, we also factor in any specific challenges and provide a fair offer that reflects the true value.

Simply fill out our form or call us. We'll gather some basic information about your property and situation, then provide a no-obligation cash offer within 24 hours.

We start with a short conversation about the property and your timeline, then explain next steps clearly. If it makes sense to move forward, we provide a no-obligation offer and walk you through the closing process.

Most Massachusetts foreclosures are nonjudicial — the lender forecloses under the power of sale in the mortgage rather than through a lawsuit. Before that can start, a lender must send the owner of an owner-occupied one-to-four-family home a 90-day right-to-cure notice under state law (M.G.L. c. 244, § 35A). Only after that period can the lender move to a sale: it mails notice of the auction at least 14 days ahead and publishes it in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks. From a first missed payment to the auction is usually several months — time you can use to sell.

Yes. You can sell right up until the foreclosure auction takes place. Selling before the sale lets you pay off the mortgage and any liens from the proceeds, keep whatever equity is left, and avoid the deeper credit hit a completed foreclosure leaves for seven years. Because we buy for cash and coordinate directly with your lender's payoff department and a closing attorney, we can often close inside the window before an auction date — the earlier you reach out, the more room there is to work.

Usually not, but the margin for error is gone, so act immediately. Two things make a late sale workable in Massachusetts. First, a cash sale has no financing contingency: once title is checked and the lender's payoff statement is in hand, a closing can often happen within one to two weeks rather than the months a financed buyer needs. Second, an auction date is not necessarily final — foreclosure attorneys can and often do postpone a scheduled auction when the borrower presents a signed purchase agreement with a firm closing date, because a completed sale pays the lender in full without the cost and uncertainty of auctioning the property. A postponement is the lender's choice, not a right you can demand, which is exactly why a real signed contract matters so much more than a verbal plan to sell. If your sale date is close, reach out with the auction date and your most recent mortgage statement in front of you, and we will tell you honestly whether the timeline is still workable.

It is a protection built into Massachusetts law (M.G.L. c. 244, § 35A). Before a lender can accelerate the loan and start foreclosing on an owner-occupied one-to-four-family home, it must give you written notice and 90 days to cure the default by paying the overdue amount. During those 90 days you can catch up, negotiate an alternative with the lender, or sell the home. You may still see articles online describing a 150-day cure period — that longer version of the law expired at the end of 2015, and the current window is 90 days, which makes acting early matter even more.

Generally no — which is why timing is critical. In a Massachusetts nonjudicial (power-of-sale) foreclosure you have an equity of redemption right up until the auction: you can stop the sale by paying the full amount owed or by selling the home. But once the property is sold at auction, there is no post-sale redemption period to buy it back. Selling before the sale date is the way to stay in control of the outcome.

Possibly — and it is one of the strongest reasons to sell before the auction rather than let it complete. If a foreclosure sale brings in less than the total owed on the mortgage, the lender can pursue the shortfall as what is called a deficiency. In Massachusetts the lender must mail you a Notice of Intent to Foreclose and of Deficiency at least 21 days before the sale, and then file a separate lawsuit within two years of the auction to collect it. When you sell the home yourself before the sale and pay off the loan and liens from the proceeds, the debt is satisfied and there is no deficiency left to chase. This is general information, not legal advice.

Then the sale is what lenders call a short sale, and it works differently from a normal one. If there is equity — the home is worth more than the mortgage and liens — we pay those off at closing and the rest comes to you, with no lender approval needed. If you are underwater and the sale would not cover the full balance, the lender has to approve accepting less than it is owed, which usually means documenting a genuine hardship. A properly negotiated short sale can also include a waiver of the deficiency, meaning the lender agrees not to pursue the shortfall afterward. We work with homeowners in both situations and coordinate with the lender's loss-mitigation department where a short sale is needed.

Yes — after the auction, the proceeds go first to foreclosure costs and the mortgage balance, then to any junior liens, and whatever surplus remains belongs to you. But counting on a surplus is usually a mistake, for two reasons. Foreclosure auctions routinely bring less than a home's market value — bidders are pricing in risk, buying sight-unseen, and paying cash on auction terms — and the lender's legal fees, auctioneer costs, and accrued interest all come off the top before you see anything. Selling the home yourself before the auction means you control the price, a buyer is paying for the house rather than bidding on a distressed asset, and the equity that survives is measured against a real sale price instead of an auction result. If there is meaningful equity in your home, protecting it is the strongest reason to sell before the sale date rather than let the auction decide.

Selling is one option among several, and the right one depends on whether you want to keep the home and whether your income can support it. If you want to stay, the paths are reinstating the loan (catching up the missed payments), a repayment plan or temporary forbearance, or a loan modification that changes the loan's terms — and for certain mortgage loans, Massachusetts law (M.G.L. c. 244, § 35B) requires the lender to consider you for a modification before foreclosing. Free help exists: Mass.gov's foreclosure-prevention resources and HUD-approved housing counselors can work through these options with you at no charge, and we genuinely encourage homeowners who want to keep their home to use them. Selling makes sense when the payments are no longer sustainable or you are ready to move on — it ends the debt, protects the equity you have left, and avoids a completed foreclosure on your credit. We are a fit for the second group, and we will say so honestly if we think you have better options.

Yes — and it catches many Massachusetts condo owners off guard, because the mortgage can be perfectly current. Under the state condominium law (Chapter 183A, § 6), unpaid common charges automatically become a lien on the unit, and once an owner is about 60 days behind, the association can begin the legal steps to enforce it — ultimately by foreclosing on the unit the same way a mortgage lender would. The lien is unusually powerful: up to six months of unpaid fees plus the association's attorney's fees and collection costs get paid ahead of even the first mortgage. The good news is that the exit works the same way as any pre-foreclosure sale: sell the unit before the process completes, and the closing attorney pays the association's full balance out of the proceeds — the fees, the legal costs, the mortgage — and the equity that remains is yours. We buy condos in exactly this position.

Yes, and acting quickly matters, because a reverse mortgage works on a faster clock than a regular one. When the last borrower on a federally insured reverse mortgage (HECM) dies, the loan becomes due and payable — the lender sends the estate a notice, has the home appraised, and under federal guidelines is expected to begin foreclosure within about six months if the loan is not resolved, though extensions are often available while heirs arrange a sale. Heirs have real options: sell the home and keep whatever the sale brings above the payoff, or — if the loan balance has grown larger than the home's value — satisfy the entire loan by selling for 95% of the current appraised value, with federal insurance covering the shortfall so the estate owes nothing more. A cash sale fits this window well because there is no financing timeline to add to the probate one: we coordinate with the reverse-mortgage servicer's payoff department and the probate attorney, and the family closes before the foreclosure clock runs out. This is general information, not legal advice.

No, but it is a sign the lender is preparing to foreclose. Before most Massachusetts foreclosures, the lender files a case in the Land Court asking the court to confirm that no owner of the property is on active military duty and protected by the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. You receive an Order of Notice, and the same notice is published in a local newspaper. Lenders file these against essentially every borrower they plan to foreclose on, whether or not anyone in the household has served. If you are not in the military, the case does not give you a defense and the court will enter a judgment saying so — but that judgment is not a foreclosure and does not set an auction date. If you have served or are on active duty, respond by the deadline on the notice, because the Act can stop the foreclosure. Either way, the notice means the clock is running: the lender will typically move to schedule the auction after the judgment, and this is the point where selling before the sale date still leaves the most equity in your hands. This is general information, not legal advice.

No — but you also do not get to stay indefinitely. After a Massachusetts foreclosure auction, the former owner who remains in the home becomes what the law calls a tenant at sufferance. The new owner (often the lender itself) cannot change the locks or remove you on its own; it must serve a notice to quit and then bring a summary process eviction case in Housing Court or District Court, which takes weeks to months, and you have the right to appear and raise defenses. Tenants renting in a foreclosed property have separate protections under Massachusetts law (M.G.L. c. 186A): a written lease survives the foreclosure and must be honored, and a tenant at will can only be evicted for just cause. The practical point is that the auction is still the worst outcome even though it does not mean an immediate move: you lose the house, any equity above the debt goes through the lender's accounting instead of your bank account, and the foreclosure stays on your credit for seven years. Selling before the auction lets you choose your move-out date and leave with the proceeds.