Not to downplay the pending foreclosures and evictions faced by millions of families, but the current national furor is a bit overblown.

The possibility of losing your home is not to be taken lightly, for sure. But foreclosures and evictions are not events, but processes. And in some cases, they could take months or even years.

Let's look at evictions first. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reinstituted a ban on evictions. The original moratorium expired July 31, but now tenants are relatively safe until Oct. 3. If the new order stands up to legal challenges, it will cover communities experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases -- meaning about 80% to 90% of the country.

Either way, evictions are not instantaneous; they take time. Your landlord can't just move your stuff to the street at will. He or she has to follow state and local laws, which can vary widely.

Let's look at Massachusetts as an example. If you have been unable to pay your rent, your landlord must first send you a 14-day "Notice to Quit" your tenancy. The notice will set a court date, at which time you can present a written response stating why you should not be evicted. If you lose the case, you have 10 days to file an appeal and request a new hearing.

Even if you lose again, you can't be removed until 10 days after the judge issues an eviction order. Then you must receive written notice of the eviction at least 48 hours in advance. If my math is correct, this gives a renter in the Bay State a 36-day cushion.

Foreclosures usually take longer -- much longer. Once a mortgage is 90 days past due, the loan is considered in default. At that point, the lender issues a notice of default that says foreclosure proceedings will commence in 90 days if payments are not brought up to date by then.

That gives you three months to make good. If you fail, the lender can petition the court to auction the property at foreclosure, and that step could give you even more time before you can be evicted.

In jurisdictions that allow nonjudicial foreclosures, filing the necessary paperwork is all that's needed to get the ball rolling. But even in West Virginia -- currently the state with the fastest foreclosure process, according to credit reporting company Experian -- it still takes 48 days, on average, to complete the process.

If you live in a state that requires judicial foreclosures, the process could take substantially longer because of backlogs. And some states, Experian says, have consumer protection laws that further prolong the proceedings. In Arizona, the state with the lengthiest foreclosures, the entire process takes more than five years.

None of this is to say someone facing eviction should take that possibility lightly. Rather, they should get on their horse and do whatever they can to save their home. That includes contacting a federally approved housing counselor to help navigate the process.

But act quickly. The Private Equity Stakeholder Project has found tens of thousands of incidents in which corporate landlords and private equity firms have moved against tenants, even when the initial eviction moratorium was in place.

For tenants, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (cfpb.gov) has a rental assistance finder that tenants can use to locate aid. And the Eviction Lab at Princeton University (evictionlab.com) has a list of more than 600 community resource organizations working to prevent evictions. If you can afford it, you might want to consult an attorney.

For financially strapped homeowners, Uncle Sam is offering new ways for borrowers to get back on track. Currently, they apply only to borrowers whose loans are touched by the federal government in some way, but other lenders often follow suit.

Here is some of the help now available:

-- In addition to traditional loss-mitigation options, the Federal Housing Administration is now requiring servicers who administer FHA-insured loans to offer zero-interest subordinate liens to eligible homeowners who are able to resume their existing mortgage payments. If you cannot do so, the servicer can extend the term of a mortgage to 360 months at market rate and target a 25% principal and interest reduction.

-- The Veterans Administration will purchase borrowers' past-due payments and unpaid principal, subject to certain limits. In some cases, the agency will lower a borrower's payments by 20%. The deferred indebtedness will become a junior lien that won't accrue interest and will not require monthly payments. It will become due only when the property is sold or the loan is paid off.

-- The Rural Housing Service now permits a 20% reduction in a borrower's monthly payments and offers a combination of interest rate reduction, term extension and mortgage recovery advance.

-- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have extended the moratorium on booting occupants from properties they have acquired through foreclosure or deed-in-lieu-of foreclosure transactions, but only until Sept. 30. Their conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Board, is also encouraging landlords of rental properties financed by mortgages touched by Fannie and Freddie to apply for emergency rental assistance before starting an eviction process.

If you think you qualify for any of these options, move quickly. The system is likely to be strained to the limit as loan servicers struggle to work with the millions of owners facing foreclosure.

Ben Graboske, president of data-crunching firm Black Knight, put it this way: "The operational challenge this represents is staggering."

The way homebuilders erect and sell their products is changing.

Not to any great degree. So-called "stick building," in which houses are put together piece by piece at the job site, is still the norm. And most builders are still using model homes to show off their wares in the best light possible.

But slowly and surely, they are changing the way they do business -- some say for the better.

In Washington's Northern Virginia suburbs, for example, upscale builder Van Metre Homes is toying with putting up townhouses comprised of various modules. And several firms are pushing forward with 3D-printed houses -- mostly one-offs, but in at least one case, an entire (albeit small) community.

Modular construction isn't new. It is a more efficient way to build because it limits waste under factorylike conditions, and it's often less expensive. Even so, it accounts for only 3% of all new houses, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

But Van Metre's experiment takes it to another level. In partnership with Joseph Wheeler, a professor of architecture at Virginia Tech, the builder's POWERHaus product will include such cutting-edge technology as ductless HVAC systems, energy control panels that track consumption, electric car-charging capabilities and induction cooking that limits the amount of heat that escapes into the house.

Once the sections are trucked to the site and assembled using Wheeler's "plug-and-play" concept, solar panels will be added to achieve "net zero" status, in which the units should produce at least as much energy than they consume.

Meanwhile, in Richmond, Virginia, a 3D-printed home construction company called Alquist is erecting a 1,550-square-foot house with three bedrooms and two baths. The expected selling price is about $210,000, but energy-saving features are expected to cut utility costs in half (from those of a traditional home).

The house was built with concrete, extruded row upon row until it reached the prescribed height. That alone is projected to cut costs by 15% per square foot. But it was also built in under 15 hours -- as opposed to the normal four weeks -- and with a crew of just two. In this house, Alquist printed only the exterior walls, but the company says it will also build interior walls in future houses.

Concrete construction isn't new, either. But only 8% of new houses are concrete-framed, whereas 91% are wood-framed, NAHB reports. (The other 1% are steel.) Builders shy away from these and other methods largely because they can't find experienced workers. They also cite cost as an issue. But with the cost of lumber so high, that could be changing.

Whereas most 3D-printing construction endeavors have focused on urban areas, Alquist is taking particular aim at rural locations -- many of which face even greater affordable housing challenges than big cities. The company, which also is working with Habitat for Humanity, intends "to build homes for people who live outside of the places where most funding for housing programs is spent," said CEO Zachary Mannheimer.

Elsewhere, ICON, an Austin, Texas-based company that uses a giant 3D printer and concrete as a substrate, has built six such houses in a 51-acre master-planned property. And in Rancho Mirage, California, Mighty Buildings, in conjunction with a local developer, will put up 15 houses that are built in panels. The panels will use a polymer material comparable to synthetic stone, and will be assembled at the site.

"In early 2018, there were no 3D-printed houses in North America," said ICON CEO Jason Ballard. "Now we're gearing up for hundreds."

Selling is changing, too, with at least two major builders going far beyond 360-degree video tours. Now, you can design and buy a house completely online without ever leaving the comfort of your living room.

With the new reservation system from Taylor Morrison, the nation's fifth-largest homebuilder, customers can choose a floor plan, select a home site using an interactive map and reserve the house -- all online. The tool complements technology that the company unveiled last year, including 3D virtual tours, self-guided tours and an online shopping cart.

The system "takes the friction out of homebuying," said CEO Sheryl Palmer. "Consumers crave ease and simplicity, whether they're purchasing a car, groceries or a new home."

Similarly, the Atlanta-based Pulte Group, which has operations in more than 40 markets, is now offering a fully integrated online process where buyers in some of its communities can complete the entire transaction, including securing financing.

"The events of 2020 dramatically accelerated the transition to online shopping, as more people are purchasing a broader array of products and services than ever before," said Pulte President Ryan Marshall. The online option lets buyers "purchase their new homes on their own terms and timeline," he said.

Added regional president Brandon Jones: "Now the last piece of the online homebuying process is in place: the ability to click and buy."

Home sellers have made a killing over the past year, as buyers outbid one another on practically every property that comes to market.

In fact, sellers have made so much money -- in some cases, hundreds of thousands over their original asking prices -- that some homeowners might be tempted to test the waters and put their places up for sale. They don't really have any intention to sell, unless the offers they receive are outrageous. They just want to see what their homes might be worth.

In June, new listings increased almost 11% from May and 5.5% year-over-year. Undoubtedly, some were serious sellers. But others likely wanted to see what the market would bear, just for the fun of it.

If that's your modus operandi, you might want to think twice. You may not be forced to sell if you really don't want to, but you could be on the hook for a 5% or 6% sales commission -- whether you sell or not.

At play here is an often-unnoticed clause in most listing agreements, which essentially says that if the agent brings a legitimate buyer to the table who offers to match your selling requirements, said agent is due his or her commission.

All real estate is local, so the rules differ from state to state. But here's what a listing contract says in Louisiana:

"Seller agrees to pay broker professional brokerage fee ... if the broker locates a prospect ready, willing and able to purchase or exchange for the property and the Seller refuses to complete the transaction after all terms and conditions have been met by the prospect."

According to realty professionals I've spoken with, the clause is rarely, if ever, enforced. The Louisiana agent who provided the above says that in her three decades in the business, she's never seen anyone sue a consumer over this clause.

A Maryland agent agreed: "Technically, they earned their commission, but most agents just move on."

Maybe so, but the question remains: If nobody pays attention to the "ready, willing and able" clause, why is it still part of the listing agreement?

Perhaps it's because if agents want to play hardball, they can -- especially if they believed you were a serious seller when you signed up, not just a tire-kicker.

"These provisions are binding and enforceable in a civil court," said Kinski Moss of the Texas Realtors. But she, too, is unaware of any instances where it has been invoked.

Still, savvy sellers -- or just curious owners -- should make sure the clause also includes a sentence or two stating that the commission is payable only if the property actually sells or a change in the title occurs. "Without that (protection)," said another agent, "you might have to pay."

Adrese Roundtree of the California Regional Multiple Listing Service says the MLS has received only two or three reports of the clause being violated in the last six years. But even if the agent moves on without suing, he or she is obligated to report the clause violation to the listing service.

Consequently, you may end up with a black eye, as far as agents in your area are concerned. Hundreds of agents who participate in the MLS will be notified that you reneged and refused to accept a written offer satisfying the terms and conditions stated in the listing.

That would put all other realty professionals on notice that you don't follow through on your promises. And presumably few, if any, other agents would be willing to list your place when you really do want to sell.

Another possibility: You might run into an unscrupulous listing agent, such as the one reader Keith Falkner did some years ago in Sarasota, Florida. The agent suggested that if Falkner offered exactly what the seller was asking, he would be forced to sell. But even if the seller declined, which the agent knew he would, he would be required to pay the agent's commission.

Falkner demurred, and warns other sellers not to fall into this kind of trap.

While we're discussing legal issues, let's talk about buying a house sight-unseen. Doing so is certainly not a new phenomenon, but the practice took off during the pandemic. However, agents could be in legal trouble if a buyer determines the place didn't meet his or her expectations after all and decides to sue.

"Disappointed purchasers may bring claims" against the listing agent, their own agent, or both if they discover a "previously unidentified defect or other undesirable feature," Deanne Rymarowicz, associate general counsel of the National Association of Realtors, warned NAR members recently.

She advised agents to reveal to would-be buyers all known material defects and avoid any misrepresentations or exaggerations. In a listing, it's OK to enhance the color of the lawn, she said, but not to airbrush out power lines that run across the backyard. And while it's not an agent's job to look for hidden defects, they must report those of which they are aware.

That's why some listing agents don't want to see any inspection reports made for the seller or for would-be buyers who, who after reviewing the inspector's findings, decided not to proceed. If the agent or the seller-client doesn't know what the report contained, their reasoning goes, they have no obligation to report what's in it.

In other words, they get to play ignorant. Which is just one more reason for every buyer to hire their own independent home inspector.