Friends Property To Foreclose On March 2nd Need Help
I have a friend whose house is being foreclosed on next week. I am trying to help him avoid foreclosure since he has kids and need some more time. Bank does not want to do short sell. Says that property has to be listed for 3 months. Sounds like BS to me. They stand to lose. He has a second mortgage. Can the 2nd do anything. 
OK, now I'm quoting Florida stuff here, so don't hold me to it wherever you're from...
Option 1**Short Sale
The first mortgagee usually doesn't budge because they have a greater interest than the second mortgagee, so the second stands to lose the greatest unless they buy out the first.
EX: $100,000 on 1st Mortgage, and
$30,000 on 2nd Mortgage.
The first mortgagee thinks, "Hmmmn...If the second felt that the house was worth an additional $30,000, then they should buy our note." They know that there's equity there. Unless you have some way of proving that the house has SIGNIFICANT, OUTRAGEOUS damages, they may not even think about budging.
HOWEVER...The second says, "Oh $#!+" when they realize that the full $130,000 is owed on the property that they assessed at $130,000. They know that they have 2 options:
1. If they buy out the 1st, they have no additional equity and still have to pay for repairs, marketing, usury and holding fees, etc. Hence, they loose money!
2. If they don't buy out the 1st mortgagee then they loose the WHOLE note. Of course, they will file a deficiency judgement against the mortgagor, as they will if you're short sale to them is not satisfactory.
So, the second is who to negotiate with. They'll probably take almost anything, but if it's real low you may hurt your buddy's credit.
Option 2**Subject To/ Rental
Call the mortgage company and tell them that you're trying to help a friends and would like to make some payments for him if they can work out a payment plan. As soon as he signs his deed over to you and you own the property (don't tell the mortgage company that this will transpire), make his back payments and then let him pay you for the mortgage every month (you may even set up a rental agreement with him.) You then own a home for...How much were the back payments, $4000.00?!
Just some thoughts from a rookie.